Lauryn Hill - The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by JohnnyQuest, Aug 31, 2015.

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  1. amoergosum

    amoergosum Forum Resident

    Location:
    Germany
    ...just stumbled upon this article:
    http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-mystery-of-lauryn-hill-20031030

    "In 2000, Hill became close with Brother Anthony, a shadowy spiritual adviser, then abruptly fired her management team and the people around her. In 2001, she recorded her MTV Unplugged 2.0. Few bought the album, but many talked about how she could be heard on the record breaking down in tears and saying, "I'm crazy and deranged . . . . I'm emotionally unstable," and repeatedly rejecting celebrity and the illusions that make it possible. "I used to get dressed for y'all; I don't do that anymore," she said on the album. "I used to be a performer, and I really don't consider myself a performer anymore . . . . I had created this public persona, this public illusion, and it held me hostage. I couldn't be a real person, because you're too afraid of what your public will say. At that point, I had to do some dying."

    Her honesty was both touching and confusing. She was rejecting so much of what she'd spent years being. The only thing that was clear was that she was suffering. "Artists do fall apart," a record executive says. "The most commonly held falsity in the game is that they have it all together. They fall apart. Look at Mariah, Whitney, Michael, all the great ones. They all have a moment where you go, 'Are they really all there?' And I think Lauryn chose to expose that to the world."
    "
     
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  2. JohnnyQuest

    JohnnyQuest Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Paradise
    She crumbled under the hype and pressure. She felt like she wasn't able to follow up a masterpiece with another one.
    She didn't even try. :sigh: She could've at least utilize the same formula like Santana did with Shaman. Oh well...
     
    Last edited: Sep 1, 2015
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  3. Naughty Chord

    Naughty Chord Hole in my Socrates

    Location:
    Sub-Tropo Texas
    I thought I logged into a music forum and somehow ended up on TMZ. :blah:
     
  4. JohnnyQuest

    JohnnyQuest Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Paradise
    It's all speculation.
     
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  5. PHILLYQ

    PHILLYQ Forum Resident

    Location:
    Brooklyn NY
  6. Naughty Chord

    Naughty Chord Hole in my Socrates

    Location:
    Sub-Tropo Texas
    Ha ha! I'm good. But you guys did inspire me to spin my original vinyl tonight. I'm on side 2 and if my neighbors can't hear the bass then they're deaf! :angel:

    This album has no betters. Equals, yes. Betters, no.
     
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  7. Naughty Chord

    Naughty Chord Hole in my Socrates

    Location:
    Sub-Tropo Texas
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  8. kanno1ae

    kanno1ae Forum Resident

    Location:
    Dallas, Texas, USA
    Are you saying there's a lot of Miseducation in this thread? :eek:
     
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  9. head_unit

    head_unit Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles CA USA
    Miseducation is a really great album; it is indeed too bad she spun off or whatever and never followed up well.
     
  10. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    She managed to pay nearly $1 million in back taxes and penalties, so she has money coming from somewhere.

    She continues to tour and her shows seem to get good reviews - plays new music and radically rearranged versions of older songs. She is playing in Tokyo this month, but I'll probably pass.
     
  11. JohnnyQuest

    JohnnyQuest Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Paradise
    People are still praying and hoping for a comeback but it's too late.
    Lauryn didn't seize the moment.You have to strike while the iron is hot. She didn't and life went on.
     
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  12. SecondHandNews

    SecondHandNews Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA, USA
    Actually, I thought there was talk of a new album coming out. I think it's been talked about for over a year or so now, however, so I'm not sure.

    I've seen her live like three or four times, all within the last few years and she's incredible.

    I highly suggest you see her if you can.

    Incredible performer, which includes both her rapping and her singing. Band is always fantastic and she's got a group of three women that are always great and provide some truly transcendent moments at times.

    Last time I saw her, she did start two hours late...but she killed it, and there was a DJ playing fun jams while people were chatting, so it didn't bother me personally much.
     
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  13. Naughty Chord

    Naughty Chord Hole in my Socrates

    Location:
    Sub-Tropo Texas
    Maybe it's too late to have a top 40 hit but that's mostly an age thing. But it's not too late to create a great album. I'm sure she's still capable of it if the desire is there.

    I mean, Black Messiah is better than Voodoo in my mind and how long did that take?
     
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  14. JohnnyQuest

    JohnnyQuest Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Paradise
    True but she's way past her prime and I doubt she will be able to create an album on par with her debut.
    It's all a matter of taste but many would disagree with Black Messiah being the greater of the two albums.
     
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  15. Erik B.

    Erik B. Fight the Power

    She wasn't gone. She went all Syd Barrett on us. Without the 'cid
     
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  16. JohnnyQuest

    JohnnyQuest Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Paradise
    She went Brian Wilson on us. :sigh: She was around but wasn't all there.
     
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2015
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  17. Naughty Chord

    Naughty Chord Hole in my Socrates

    Location:
    Sub-Tropo Texas
    Dylan was past his prime by 1975 and look how many great albums he's given us since then. It's a desire thing, not an age or talent thing with Ms. Hill.
     
  18. JohnnyQuest

    JohnnyQuest Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Paradise
    True but I didn't care for anything Post BOTT. ;) She's talented but the true geniuses behind that special sound were New Ark. Without them she lacks the creativity and confidence to pump out a solid follow up album.
     
  19. wavethatflag

    wavethatflag God is love, but get it in writing.

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    I was reading an article about Miseducation on Stereogum last night, and I guess she was sued by a couple people that claimed they co-wrote a lot of the songs on the album but didn't receive credit. The article said Hill's legal team didn't want her to settle, but she did for 5 million because she didn't want to deal with the litigation. On the other hand, others thought that if the suit played out to the end, she would have ended up having to share writing credit for 12 or 13 songs on the album. For this reason, I guess there's a little controversy as to who contributed to what on Miseducation.
     
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  20. JohnnyQuest

    JohnnyQuest Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Paradise
    Exactly. She can't recreate that kind of magic. She's only great as her collaborators. She should get back in the lab, bring in a new production team and see what they come up with.
     
  21. wavethatflag

    wavethatflag God is love, but get it in writing.

    Location:
    SF Bay Area
    I think winning five Grammys for your first solo album can be permanently overwhelming. I'm not sure what other debut albums won so many awards, and what happened to those artists later. But yeah, the norm in the hip-hop world seems to be many collaborators and lots of cross-pollination, so it's weird that she didn't put her head down and get back to it. Maybe it's true that she really wasn't all that into being in the music business.
     
  22. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Interesting - I keep reading positive reviews of her shows. Have her performances been erratic or fairly consistent from show to show? I take it that she shows no inclination to indulge in nostalgia - eg playing familiar hits in their original arrangements/mixes?
     
  23. SecondHandNews

    SecondHandNews Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA, USA
    All of the shows I've seen were consistently really good to great.

    She plays stuff off Miseducation, some Fugees stuff, a handful of new songs I think, possibly some songs from Unplugged (I'm not actually familiar with that release).

    Last time I saw her she did a cover of Sade's "Love Is Stronger Than Pride," which was pretty amazing.

    I don't think she has any issues whatsoever playing the older songs. She gets super into it and the crowds always get super hype. Regarding the arrangements, they are definitely different, but they're almost always interesting in a good way. Sometimes she kind of speed raps, so if I were to voice any complaint it's that. Most people, including myself, like singing/rapping along to their favorite songs, but that makes it significantly more difficult when she's going fast like that, at least for me.

    That's not all the songs, but it's some.

    Definitely recommend that people go see her though. And she's been humble and very appreciative of the crowds and their obvious feelings toward her.
     
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  24. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Thanks. I may try to see her.
     
  25. SecondHandNews

    SecondHandNews Forum Resident

    Location:
    PA, USA
    Cool, you're welcome.
     
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