Happy Birthday Lauryn

Born in Newark, New Jersey on this day in 1975, Lauryn Hill is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as being one of the most influential musicians of her generation. Hill is credited for breaking barriers for female rappers, popularizing melodic rapping and for bringing hip hop and neo soul to popular music.

She grew up with music all around her, recalling listening to Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder and Aretha Franklin on her parents stereo while also listening to Marvin Gaye’s What’s Going On repeatedly until she fell asleep.

In middle school, she performed “The Star-Spangled Banner” before a basketball game and eventually made her way to the stage on It’s Showtime at the Apollo. Eventually, in high school, through mutual friends, Pras Michel approached Hill about a music group he was creating, Translator Crew. Eventually Wyclef Jean joined the two and they began performing in local showcases.

By the early 1990’s, the band renamed themselves the Fugees, a derivative of the word “refugee”, which was a derogatory term for Haitian Americans. They signed with Columbia Records and in 1994, released their debut album. In 1996, their second album, The Score, peaked at number one and stayed in the top ten for over half a year. Hill’s rendition of “Killing Me Softly” became the group’s breakout hit. They split in 1997 to pursue solo careers.

In 1998, Hill released The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, widely considered one of the best albums of the decade. A neo soul and R&B album with some songs based in hip-hop soul and reggae. Its lyrics touch upon Hill's pregnancy and the turmoil within her former group the Fugees, along with themes of love and God. The album's title was inspired by the film and autobiographical novel The Education of Sonny Carson, and Carter G. Woodson's The Mis-Education of the Negro.

At the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill earned 10 nominations, winning five awards, making Hill the first woman to receive that many nominations and awards in one night. The album's success propelled Hill to international superstardom, and contributed to bringing hip hop and neo soul to the forefront of popular music.

The album is a declaration of independence and combined the best of rap, R&B and old school doo-wop. Her flow between singing and rapping is easy breezy and at only 23 years old, Hill delivered an album with maturity way beyond her years. Listening to the greats back in her parents house really paid off - she wrote and produced most of the album which is one of the rare hip-hop soul albums without thousands of posse cameos. D’Angelo and Mary J. Blige show up but they blend right in.

On and off throughout the years, Hill went into exile including dropping out of the public eye in 2000. The pressure of fame began to overwhelm her. She released songs and albums sporadically and performed at various shows including with the Fugees at Dave Chappelle’s Block Party.

Despite all the trouble she ran into and the issues she had with fame, fortune and family, Lauryn Hill will remain one of the greatest artists ever. With her solo music and work with Fugees, Hill popularized the technique of blending rapping and singing into one singular song, otherwise known as Melodic rap; this has since become popular, with many modern artists like Beyoncé, Drake, Nicki Minaj and Kanye West emulating it.