L-Boogie's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill: Simply Classic

It's been five years since Lauryn Hill released her classic solo debut. Her album was expected to be fire. And she delivered. But it's not like she was a rookie at the time. She was the most talented artist on one of the best rap bands ever, the Fugees. She had the look of a star. Everyone said that she needed to ditch the braided dudes and go on her own. And in the end, everyone was right. She did just that. And that follow up to The Score that everyone was waiting for never happened. Why did the Fugees break up? I'm sure if you ask Pras, Wyclef, and L-Boogie, you'd probably get three different stories. I remember reading an article when Wyclef's debut solo album was coming out, and he said that he was going to finish his album, then finish Lauryn's album, and then do Pras' album. Let's just say that after he did his album, he didn't work on any of the others. Lauryn took it as a slap in the face that Wyclef would automatically assume she would want him to oversee her album. She wanted to be on her own, making her own decisions. Wyclef would then say in the Source that he and Lauryn had an intimate relationship and that Lauryn's most successful single, Ex-Factor was about him. I'm pretty sure he's been married for a while now and I don't think that information went along well with his wife. Let's just say that if he thought that gossip would bring Lauryn back to him, he was simply dead wrong. As for Praswell? He's supposedly making a new album after his Ghetto Superstar album exited the billboard charts as soon as it entered.

What makes The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill a classic? It's an album that was expected to be a standout and it performed on every level. It's an album that is extremely detailed. Every facet felt like it was under her delicate care. Even the non-musical skits seemed as if to have a purpose.

The album starts out with Lost Ones where Lauryn raps about how, "you might win some, but you just lost one." The song details how an unnamed person (Wyclef probably) is not doing business the right way according to Lauryn. She raps, "I was on the humble, you on every station." She then stresses that this person (Wyclef probably) is serpent like and says, "now, now how come your talk turn cold, gained the whole world for the price of your soul." In my opinion L-Boogie is very underrated as an MC. Her flow is nice, but it's her words. The meaning of her words. Ever hear a Lil' Kim song that meant anything and had words with more than two syllables? Me neither. Forgive Them Father has a similar vibe. Has some similar hard hitting lyrics which seemed to be directed at Wyclef. She raps, "Why every Indian want to be the chief, feed a man 'til he's full and he still want beef." She also spits, "Sick of men trying to pull strings like Geppetto, why black people always be the ones to settle." Lauryn does a few things well in Forgive Them Father. She does all the singing on the song, and then guest MC's on it as well. She didn't have while she did have guests on the album, none of them were rappers. As a musical artist, L can sing and rap well. Put her in an R&B group, she'd be stellar. Put her in MTV Making of the Band 2, she'd be the star. Not too many artists can do both, and do both extremely well (ahem Missy Elliot).

Doo Wop (That Thing) was her first single, and it was a great pick for the first single. It's not the best song on the album, or the most commercial song, but it's the one song that defines her as a rapper slash singer. She sings the hook and raps all the verses. It showed America that she was good at doing both. The song that probably hit the females right in the heart was Ex-Factor. I love the first part of the song. She sings, "It could all be so simple, but you'd rather make it hard. Loving you is like a battle, and we both end up with scars." The song is about two people who continue in a relationship even though it's not good for them. She sings about her lover telling her that it's not right for them to be together, and then when she tries to leave, he pains himself so that she'll stay. One of the more intense love songs that you'll hear in R&B.

Probably my favorite song on the album because I'm a sap, is To Zion which is the story of her first born son. She sings about how people tried to get her to have an abortion because of her budding career. Her most emotion on the album is displayed when she sings, "And I thank you for choosing me, to come through unto life to be, a beautiful reflection of his grace, for I know that a gift so great, is only one God could create." Her son is probably a year or so older than my oldest, and I'm sure my wife related to this song extremely well. I Used To Love Him is a duet with Mary J. Blige and takes a song that Mary would slow down and cry about into a sort of uplifting song. The song is about a broken heart that is eventually mended by God. Not what you'd expect from the two, but great song nonetheless.

D'Angelo (ahem, thanks Mike) and L-Boog go toe to toe with Nothing Even Matters. This is a dream pairing for some, but because I'm not a big D'Angelo fan, nor a big fan of his genre of R&B music, it's doesn't do it for me. The song is snail slow and while the vocals are beautiful, it's what Lauryn had strayed from for most of the album; slow and boring. In contrast, Everything Is Everything is everything the prior track wasn't and then some. And who can forget the video where the world was a turntable? Musically, this song is the best produced of the hip hop inspired ones on the album. The production is on point.

In a weird twist of marketing, there was a song placed during the end credits of the movie Conspiracy Theory. The song was an oddly successful song that was played on the radio that summer in anticipation of this album. Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You is a cover of the Frankie Vallie song and was an odd choice to wet the appetite of Hill fans because the song is a simple cover. Nothing much is changed. It's sped up a little and there are some hip hop aspects that were added to the beat, but other than that, it's simply a cover. It worked fairly well though and because of it, it's added as a "hidden" song. I remember trying to find that song everywhere, but it wasn't released except on a few radio station mixtapes. The other "hidden" song is Sweetest Thing (Mahogony Remix). The original was on the Love Jones soundtrack. The remix is not too much like the original.

As you can tell, I loved the album. We may never hear Lauryn in this way again as with her MTV Unplugged album, she's changed her style into a folk singer/rapper. Hearing her play the guitar and rap at the same time is truly art, but she may not make another album like this one again.


Great Music to Play While: Understanding the Fugees will never get back together