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Avg: 4.0 (109 ratings)
- Date Released: August 25, 1998
- Genre: Rock/Pop
- Style: Pop
- Label: Ruffhouse
- Copyright: 1998 Ruffhouse Records LP WARNING: All Rights Reserved. Unauthorized duplication is a violation of applicable laws.
A searingly honest, deeply wrung portrait of a great artist at her peak
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We Say...
Wanting to shed the sexist perception that fellow Fugee and ex-boyfriend Wyclef Jean had shaped her, Lauryn Hill retaliated by creating one of the best albums of the 90s. "Music is supposed to inspire," she sings on "Superstar" — perhaps to Jean, her failed svengali, perhaps to her label bosses, perhaps to her own demanding audience. "So how come we ain't getting no higher?" She then sets out to answer the question for herself.
Like Marvin Gaye's epic albums of the 1970s, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" is an emotionally raw set of performances. Hill's voices proliferate, sometimes moving in unison or harmony, sometimes commenting on or responding to one another, sometimes pleading, preaching, declaring and doubting all at once.
The incendiary, hard-rocking "Lost Ones," the witty, winning "Doo Wop (That Thing)," the angry, avenging "Final Hour," and the sweetly remembered "Every Ghetto, Every City" are her moments of clarity. But for the rest of the record, she works through the confusion and ambivalence wrought by love and betrayal — never more intensely than on "Ex-Factor" and "I Used To Love Him." Even the songs about uplift, like "Tell Him," "Everything Is Everything" and "Forgive Them Father," are rooted in the possibility things truly might not improve.
"The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" reached its commanding heights only by ruthlessly plumbing the depths. It remains a searingly honest, deeply wrung portrait of a great artist at the peak of her powers. -
They Say...
Though the Fugees had been wildly successful, and Lauryn Hill had been widely recognized as a key to their popularity, few were prepared for her stunning debut. The social heart of the group and its most talented performer, she tailored The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill not as a crossover record but as a collection of overtly personal and political statements; nevertheless, it rocketed to the top of the album charts and made her a superstar. Also, and most importantly, it introduced to the wider pop world an astonishingly broad talent. Hill's verses were intelligent and hardcore, with the talent to rank up there with Method Man. And for the choruses she could move from tough to smooth in a flash, with a vocal prowess that allowed her to be her own chanteuse (à la Mariah Carey). Hill, of Haitian heritage, rhymed in a tough Caribbean patois on the opener, "Lost Ones," wasting little time to excoriate her former bandmates and/or record-label executives for caving in to commercial success. She used a feature for Carlos Santana ("To Zion") to explain how her child comes before her career and found a hit single with "Doo Wop (That Thing)," an intelligent dissection of the sex game that saw it from both angles. "Superstar" took to task musicians with more emphasis on the bottom line than making great music (perhaps another Fugees nod), while her collaborations with a pair of sympathetic R&B superstars (D'Angelo and Mary J. Blige) also paid major dividends. And if her performing talents, vocal range, and songwriting smarts weren't enough, Hill also produced much of the record, ranging from stun-gun hip-hop to smoother R&B with little trouble. Though it certainly didn't sound like a crossover record, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill affected so many widely varying audiences that it's no surprise the record became a commercial hit as well as a musical epoch-maker.
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| 01. |  |
Intro |
0:47 |
|
| 02. | |
Lost Ones |
5:34 |
|
| 03. | |
Ex-Factor |
5:27 |
|
| 04. | |
To Zion |
6:09 |
|
| 05. | |
Doo Wop (That Thing) |
5:20 |
|
| 06. | |
Superstar |
4:57 |
|
| 07. | |
Final Hour |
4:16 |
|
| 08. | |
When It Hurts So Bad |
5:42 |
|
| 09. | |
I Used To Love Him |
5:40 |
|
| 10. | |
Forgive Them Father
|
5:15 |
|
| 11. | |
Every Ghetto, Every City |
5:15 |
|
| 12. | |
Nothing Even Matters
|
5:51 |
|
| 13. | |
Everything Is Everything |
4:53 |
|
| 14. | |
The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill |
3:56 |
|
| 15. | |
Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You
|
3:42 |
|
| 16. | |
Tell Him |
4:41 |
|
16 Total Tracks, 77:25 Total Length
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Credits
- Earl Robinson - Vocals (Background) // Shelly Thunder - ? // Sabrina Johnston - Vocals (Background) // Lori Holland - Organ // Lori Holland - Clarinet // Lori Holland - Organ (Hammond) // Lori Holland - Piano (Electric) // Lori Holland - Fender Rhodes // Lori Holland - Wurlitzer // Earle Brown - Assistant Engineer // Tom Barney - Bass // Bud Beadle - Flute // Bud Beadle - Sax (Alto) // Bud Beadle - Sax (Tenor) // Mary J. Blige - Vocals // Mary J. Blige - Vocals // Kenny O. Bobien - Vocals (Background) // Errol Brown - Assistant Engineer // Rudy Byrd - Percussion // D'Angelo - Vocals // D'Angelo - Fender Rhodes // Francis Dunnery - Guitar // Don E. - Piano // Don E. - Organ (Hammond) // Don E. - Fender Rhodes // Don E. - Wurlitzer // Paul Fakhourie - Bass // Dean Fraser - Sax (Tenor) // Christopher Meredith - Bass // Herb Powers - Mastering // James Poyser - Organ // James Poyser - Celeste // James Poyser - Harpsichord // James Poyser - Piano (Electric) // James Poyser - Fender Rhodes // James Poyser - Synthesizer Bass // James Poyser - Wurlitzer // James Poyser - Moog Bass // Tony Prendatt - Engineer // Warren Riker - Engineer // Warren Riker - Mixing // Kevin Robinson - Trumpet // Kevin Robinson - Flugelhorn // Nambo Robinson - Trombone // Earl "Chinna" Smith - Guitar // Earl "Chinna" Smith - Vocals (Background) // Andrew Smith - Guitar // Eddie Stockley - Vocals (Background) // Brian Vibberts - Assistant Engineer // Fayyaz Virji - Trombone // Robert Williams - Assistant Engineer // Matt Howe - Engineer // Elisabeth Valletti - Harp // John Wydrycs - Engineer // Ramon Rivera - ? // Julian Marley - Guitar // Carlos Santana - Guitar // Erwin Gorostiza - Art Direction // Commissioner Gordon - Engineer // Commissioner Gordon - Mixing // Lauryn Hill - Guitar // Lauryn Hill - Guitar // Lauryn Hill - Arranger // Lauryn Hill - Arranger // Lauryn Hill - Vocals // Lauryn Hill - Vocals // Lauryn Hill - Vocals (Background) // Lauryn Hill - Vocals (Background) // Lauryn Hill - Producer // Lauryn Hill - Producer // Lauryn Hill - Main Performer // Lauryn Hill - Main Performer // Lauryn Hill - Executive Producer // Lauryn Hill - Executive Producer // Lauryn Hill - Art Direction // Lauryn Hill - Art Direction // Chris Theis - Engineer // Chuck Young - Vocals (Background) // Robert Browne - Guitar // Greg Thompson - Assistant Engineer // Grace Paradise - Harp // DJ Supreme - DJ // Al Anderson - Guitar // Marc Baptiste - Photography // Ken Johnston - Engineer // Johari Newton - Guitar // Tejumold Newton - Piano // Vada Nobles - Producer // Vada Nobles - Drum Programming // Tara Wilkons - Vocals (Background) // Racheal Wilson - Vocals (Background) // Jennifer McNeil - Vocals (Background) // Stewart Zender - Bass // Lenesha Randolph - Vocals (Background) // Rasheem "Kio" Pugh - Vocals (Background) // Fundisha Johnson - Vocals (Background) // Indigo Quartet - Strings // Squiddly Ranks - Drums // Che Pope - Programming // Everol Ray - Trumpet // Derek Khan - Stylist // Storm Jefferson - Engineer // Storm Jefferson - Assistant Engineer // Devon Kirkpatrick - Digital Editing // Devon Kirkpatrick - Assistant Engineer // Andrea Simmons - Vocals (Background) // Jamie Seigal - Assistant Engineer // Matthew Rubano - Bass // Chip Verspyck - Assistant Engineer // Jared "Chocolate" Crawford - Drums // Neil Tucker - Assistant Engineer // Ahmed Wallace - Vocals (Background) // Debra Ginyard - Stylist // Veronica Fletcher - Hair Stylist // Anita Gibson - Make-Up // Tameka Foster - Stylist // Johnny Wyndrx - Engineer // Eric Johnson - Photography // John Stephens - Piano // Johnny Wydrycz - Engineer // Che Guevara - Producer // Che Guevara - Drum Programming
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Performers
Mary J. Blige // Don Harris // Shelley Thunder // Lauryn Hill Featuring D'Angelo // Lauryn Hill Featuring Carlos Santana // Lauryn Hill Featuring Mary J. Blige
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