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The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is now more than two decades old. Released back on August 25, 1998, Miseducation is regarded by many to be the most influential ‘90s rnb, hip hop, and neo-soul album of all time. In the same year that Mos Def and Talib Kweli collaborated on the first Black Star album, Jay-Z dropped Vol. 2… Hard Knock Life, and Mariah Carey released her Number 1’s compilation, Miseducation is still considered by many hip hop and rnb fans and musicians to be the greatest release of 1998.
“When some women are pregnant, their hair and their nails grow, but for me it was my mind and ability to create. I had the desire to write in a capacity that I hadn’t done in a while,” explains Hill in an interview in 1998 where she talks about the process of writing and producing the album. There’s no doubt that Hill’s pregnancy heavily influenced the iconic album’s creative direction, exploring everything from love and dedication to the political movements of the last years of the 20th century.
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Much of the controversy surrounding the album is connected to one song: To Zion. In 2001, when musicians Rasheem “Kilo” Pugh, Vada Nobles, Johari Newton, and Tejumold Newton sued Hill for partial credit of 13 of the album’s 14 songs, the one song they didn’t touch was To Zion, which was penned as a love letter to Hill’s then-new baby, Zion David Marley. In the song, Hill exhibited raw emotional transparency, leading some fans to conclude that she was alluding to people telling her to abort the baby, particularly where she sings, “Look at your career they said, ‘Lauryn, baby use your head’ / But instead I chose to use my heart.”
While there were many collaborators throughout the album, To Zion also had the honor of being accompanied by the string work of Latino guitar legend Carlos Santana. Normally, Santana’s skilful abuse of the crunch and sheer grit of the overdrive pedal takes the lead, notably present in classics such as Smooth, Evil Ways, and Soul Sacrifice. Instead, in To Zion, his pristine acoustic guitar picking takes the lead, the perfect accompaniment to Hill’s expression of pure, motherly love.
Meanwhile, on the opposite end of Miseducation’s wide spectrum is the song Doo-Wop (That Thing). Named after a rhythm and blues sub-genre that started in the 1940s, Doo-Wop is the energy-infused bop that you can still hear in radio stations and Spotify playlists. It continues to be lauded by critics as the peak of ‘90s-era pop song writing and production. Similar in energy but not quite in popularity is the boom bap song Lost Ones, which occupies a dearer space in the hearts of those who know Miss Hill as the greatest female MC of all time. Lost Ones does arguably take the lion’s share of the pure hip hop elements in Miseducation.
Unafraid to share the stage with her fellow luminary vocalists, another notable collaborator in the album was soul siren Mary J. Blige, who lent her voice and harmonic chops to the song I Used to Love Him. Meanwhile, D’Angelo who himself had been regarded by many to be a legend on par with Hill, collaborated on Nothing Even Matters, a spiritual celebration of romantic love, still regarded today as one of the greatest ‘90s rnb duets released during the genre’s peak.
With all that being said, creating one of the greatest albums of all time is a mixed bag. When The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill won Album of the Year at the 41st Grammy Awards, mainstream record companies were forced to start recognizing more works by hip hop artists. No other future release by Hill could even touch the impact that Miseducation has had on the culture. Despite this fact, many successful contemporary mainstream neo-soul artists today still recognize Hill as a genre-defining luminary who belongs at the forefront of the musical battle lines. Hailed as a genius, mired by controversy, and vilified as a difficult artist to work with, Hill’s impact on the past, present, and future of music is undeniable. And Miseducation was the spark that started it all.
