Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Hill |
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Lauryn Noel Hill (born May 25, 1975) is a Grammy Award-winning American singer, rapper, musician, songwriter, producer, and film actress. Early in her career, she established her reputation in the hip-hop world as the lone female member of The Fugees. On August 25, 1998 she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, an album which helped to spur the neo-soul genre to a wider commercial platform. After a four year hiatus, she released MTV Unplugged No. 2.0; a live recording taped on July 21, 2001 at MTV Studios in Times Square. She has won eight Grammy Awards and is the mother of five children with Rohan Marley, the fourth son of reggae legend Bob Marley.
Biography
Early life
Lauryn Hill was born in South Orange, New Jersey. Hill was the second of two children born to high school English teacher Valerie Hill and computer programmer Mal Hill. As a child, Hill incessantly listened to her parents' Motown and 1960s soul records. Music was a central part of the Hill home. Mal Hill sang at weddings, Valerie played the piano, and Lauryn's older brother Melaney played the saxophone, guitar, drums, harmonica, violin, and piano.
Hill graduated from Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey. Hill was an active student, cheerleader, and performer. She began her acting career at a young age. In 1988, 13-year old Hill appeared as an Amateur Night contestant on It's Showtime at the Apollo. Hill sang her own version of William "Smokey" Robinson's song "Who's Lovin' You?". A nervous Hill sung far away from the mic and was heckled at first; but persisted and finished her song to a standing applause, though she did not win.
Hill was childhood friends with actor Zach Braff and they both graduated from Columbia High School in 1993. Braff mentioned inviting Hill to his bar Mitzvah in 1988.[1]
Hill appeared on the soap opera As The World Turns as Kira Johnson. In December 1993, she starred in "Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit" as Rita Louise Watson. In the film, she performed the songs "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" (a duet with Tanya Blount) and "Joyful,Joyful" . It was in this role, as Rita, that she first came to national prominence, with Roger Ebert calling her "the girl with the big joyful voice". Although the Sister Act films were originally conceived as vehicles for comedian Whoopi Goldberg, the second installment won Hill equal notice.[citation needed]
Her other acting work includes the play Club XII with MC Lyte, and the motion pictures King of the Hill (as Arletta the Elevator Operator), Hav Plenty (1997), and Restaurant (1998). She appeared on the soundtrack to Conspiracy Theory in 1996 with "Can't Take My Eyes Off You and on Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood in 2002 with the track "Selah".
Personal life
Since 1996, Hill has been a in a relationship with Rohan Marley, son of the late reggae music icon Bob Marley. Though she refers to Marley as her husband, it has not been confirmed publicly that they are legally married. According to an October 2003 Rolling Stone article by Touré, Marley never divorced his first wife Geraldine Khawly,[2][3] whom the article stated he married in 1993 and had two children; daughter Eden Marley, and son Nicolas Marley.[4][5] However, in the summer of 2005, Trace magazine interviewed Lauryn Hill and Rohan Marley; Marley said none of this was true and that many lies had been written about them.[6]
Together they have four children: son Zion David Hill-Marley (August 3, 1997); daughter Selah Louise Marley (November 12, 1998); son Joshua Marley (January 2002)[7][8] and son John Marley (summer 2003).[9] As of October 2007, the couple were expecting their fifth child.[10]
She has written a song about her eldest son, titled "To Zion", which can be found on her first solo effort, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. A song titled "Selah", is featured on the Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood soundtrack.[11]
Hill is noted as a humanitarian, and in 1996 she received an Essence Award for work which has included the 1996 founding of the Refugee Project, an outreach organization that supports a two-week overnight camp for at-risk youth, and for supporting well-building projects in Kenya and Uganda, as well as for staging a rap concert in Harlem to promote voter registration. In 1999 Hill received three awards at the 30th Annual NAACP Image Awards. In 1999 Ebony named her one of "100+ Most Influential Black Americans". She was named with Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. and others among the "10 For Tomorrow," in the EBONY 2000: Special Millennium Issue.
Career
The Fugees
The Refugee Camp ("Fugees") formed after Prakazrel "Pras" Michel approached Hill in high school about joining a music group he was creating. Soon after, she met Pras' cousin and fellow Haïtian immigrant, Wyclef Jean. At some point, Hill was given the nickname "L Boogie," as she began to convert her poetic writing into rap verses. Hill's singing gained worldwide acclaim with the Fugees' remake of "Killing Me Softly with His Song", accompanied by a sample from Rotary Connection's "Memory Band" (also sampled in A Tribe Called Quest's "Bonita Applebum").
The Fugees' first album, Blunted on Reality, featured the songs "Boof Baf", "Nappy Heads" and "Vocab". "Nappy Heads" peaked at #49 on the U.S. Hot 100. The album sold over 2 million copies worldwide. Blunted on Reality was followed by The Score, a multi-platinum, Grammy-winning album that established two of the three Fugees as international rap stars. Singles from The Score include "Ready or Not", "Fu-Gee-La", "No Woman, No Cry", and "Killing Me Softly" (written by Lori Lieberman and made famous by Roberta Flack).
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998)
In 1998, Hill released The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, a commercially successful album that was also one of the most critically acclaimed releases ever. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill sold over 423,000 copies in its first week and topped the Billboard R&B Album chart for 6 weeks. The first single off the album was "Lost Ones" (US #27) followed by "Doo Wop (That Thing)", which debuted at number one in the United States in the summer of 1998, along with singles "Ex-factor" (US #21) and "Everything Is Everything" (US #35, and " To Zion". In 1999's Grammy Awards, Hill was nominated ten times and won Album of the Year (beating Madonna's critically acclaimed album Ray of Light), Best New Artist, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, Best R&B Song, Best R&B Album, setting new records for women in the industry.
Soon after the album became a global success, Hill and her recording company were sued by Vada Nobles, Rasheem Pugh, Johari Newton and Tejumold Newton, known as New Ark Entertainment, who claimed to have been denied full credit and compensation for their assistance on the album. Initially, Hill fought back and denied what they claimed was production input. But the matter was settled, and they received an undisclosed amount of money and were given credit for drum programming and a small amount of production work.
MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 (2002)
On July 21, 2001, Lauryn unveiled her highly-anticipated new material to a small crowd, for a taping of an MTV Unplugged special. The 2002 released MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 album exhibited a new Hill, as she focused on the lyrics and the message she was spreading rather than the musical arrangements. "Fantasy is what people want, but reality is what they need", she said during the concert. "I’ve just retired from the fantasy part."
Most of the songs featured only an acoustic guitar and her voice, somewhat raspy from rehearsal on the day before the recording. Hill used the set as an opportunity to give information on why she had been absent from the public for a period of time and what she had found while away. Critical reception was mixed, but the album received platinum status.
Despite Hill's intentional departure from the media and celebrity, she continued to create commercially and critically successful music. Her song "Mystery of Iniquity" was nominated for a Grammy without promotion or radio airplay and used as an interpolation by hip-hop mega-producer Kanye West for his single "All Falls Down" (eventually recorded by Syleena Johnson).
In the months and years after the release of her debut album, Hill became increasingly disaffected with the music industry. In the February 2006 issue of Essence magazine[12], Hill described this time in her life:
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During this time, Hill stopped doing interviews, watching television and listening to music. She explored other methods of expressing herself, including creating and writing an extensive amount of music, poetry, screenplays, and clothing designs. Hill said:
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and she went on to say:
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Short-lived return of the Fugees (2004-2007)
The Fugees performed on September 18, 2004 at Dave Chappelle's Block Party in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. They headlined a bill that included a star-studded cast of hip hop celebrities. The concert featured Hill's nearly a cappella rendition of "Killing Me Softly". The block party was recorded and directed by Michel Gondry and released on March 3, 2006, to movie theaters.
The Fugees also appeared at BET's 2005 Music Awards on June 28, 2005, where they opened the show with a 12-minute set.
One track, "Take It Easy", was leaked online and therefore was released as an internet single on September 27, 2005. It peaked at #40 on the Billboard R&B Chart. The song was not without critics, as The Village Voice wrote, "Turns out that a Fugees reunion wasn't really what anyone was waiting for; we just wanted Lauryn to start rapping again."[15]
The Fugees embarked on a European tour from November 30, 2005 through December 20, 2005. The group played in Austria, Slovakia, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Germany, Belgium, Italy, France, England, Ireland and Switzerland.
On February 6, 2006, the Fugees did a special "Reunion Concert" in Hollywood, that was offered as a live webcast on the Verizon Wireless website. The Fugees were featured in numerous Verizon Wireless VCast advertisements in magazines and on TV around that same time. A new song titled "Foxy" was made available on VCast and a third new song was leaked, unofficially titled "Wannabe", which uses the same hook as the Michael Jackson song "I Wanna Be Where You Are".
Pras confirmed in an interview[16] that the Fugees reunion had stopped moving forward. He indicated that this was due to Ms. Hill having "some things she needs to deal with".
Controversies
Vatican statements
On December 13, 2003, Hill shocked officials at a Christmas benefit concert at the Vatican by denouncing "corruption, exploitation, and abuses", in reference to the molestation of boys by Catholic priests in the United States and the cover-up of offenses by Catholic Church officials. Hill told the crowd of 7,000:
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Hill called on the church leaders to "repent" and encouraged the crowd to "not seek blessings from man but from God."
There was silence for several minutes from the audience as many could not speak English. There were cries of "Enough" and "Shame" from those who understood while others whistled and clapped before she picked up her guitar and performed two songs, entitled "Damnable Heresies" and "Social Drugs", both about social pressure. After her performance her comments were translated for Cardinal Camillo Ruini, head of the Italian Bishops Conference, who was sitting in the front row, and he walked out in protest. Among those in attendance were Edmund Cardinal Szoka, American-born President of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City, and President of the Governorate of Vatican City. The segment was cut from the television broadcast by the Church, and a full transcript of Hill's statement has yet to be released.
The global response Hill received was varied. Monsignor Rino Fisichella, one of the organizers of the traditional concert, said: "It was in poor taste and very bad mannered. It showed a complete lack of respect for her invitation and for the place where she had been invited to perform", while the Catholic League responded by calling Hill "pathologically miserable".[18]
While returning to New York, Hill's only response to the press about the controversy was: "What I said was the truth. Is telling the truth bad manners? What I asked was the church to repent for what has happened."[19] FUTURE PROJECTS Lauryn is working hard on her second album and hopes to release in August 2008 in celebration of the 10 year anniversary of The Miseducation. She is also planning on working with Kanye West,John Legend,Common,Erykah Badu,Andre 3000,Talib Kweli and Mos Def. She is also playing Rita Marley in the upcoming BobMarley biopic.
Awards
Grammys Career Statistics[20][21]
- Career wins: 8
- Career nominations: 19
| Category | Genre | Song/Album | Year | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group | R&B | Killing Me Softly | 1996 | Won |
| Best Rap Album | Rap | The Score | 1996 | Won |
| Album of the Year | Top | The Score | 1996 | Nominated |
| Best Female Pop Vocal Performance | Pop | Can't Take My Eyes Off You | 1998 | Nominated |
| Best Female Rap Solo Performance | Rap | Lost Ones | 1998 | Nominated |
| Best Female R&B Vocal Performance | R&B | Doo Wop (That Thing) | 1998 | Won |
| Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group | R&B | Nothing Even Matters feat. D'Angelo | 1998 | Nominated |
| Best R&B Song (award goes to songwriter) | R&B | A Rose Is Still A Rose - by Aretha Franklin | 1998 | Nominated |
| Best R&B Song (award goes to songwriter) | R&B | Doo Wop (That Thing) | 1998 | Won |
| Best R&B Album | R&B | The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill | 1998 | Won |
| Best Female Rap Solo Performance | Rap | Lost Ones | 1998 | Nominated |
| Best New Artist | Top | The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill | 1998 | Won |
| Album of the Year | Top | The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill | 1998 | Won |
| Album of the Year | Top | Supernatural (Santana album) | 1999 | Won |
| Best Music Video (Short Form) | General | Everything Is Everything | 2000 | Nominated |
| Best R&B Song (award goes to songwriter) | R&B | All That I Can Say - Mary J. Blige | 2000 | Nominated |
| Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals | Pop | Turn Your Lights Down Low, with Bob Marley from The Best Man soundtrack | 2001 | Nominated |
| Best Female Rap Solo Performance | Rap | Mystery Of Iniquity | 2003 | Nominated |
| Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group | R&B | So High, with John Legend | 2005 | Nominated |
Other awards nominated and won
As of 2008, Lauryn Hill has won over 30 awards, including eight Grammy Awards and three World best-selling Music Awards. In 1998 she was the first female solo artist awarded five Grammys in one year. Following her lead, Alicia Keys (2002), Norah Jones (2003), Beyonce Knowles (2004), The Dixie Chicks (2007) and Amy Winehouse (2008) also won five in one year.
1999 Award wins
- Favorite Soul/R&B New Artist
- Favorite New Artist - Female
- Video of the Year
- Best Female Video,
- Best R&B Video, and
- Best Art Direction (Gideon Ponte) - Doo Wop (That Thing)
- R&B/Soul Album of the Year
- Best R&B/Soul Single, Solo (Ex-Factor)
- Best R&B/Soul or Rap Music Video (Doo Wop (That Thing))
- Artist of the Year (Rhythm/Urban)
- Best Album
- Best New Artist
- Outstanding Female Artist
- President's Award for the Refugee Project
- Best Female R&B/Soul Album
- Best Music Video ("Doo Wop (That Thing)")
- Best R&B/Soul or Rap Album
- Sammy Davis, Jr. Entertainer of the Year Award
1999 award nominations
- Best Hip-Hop Video
- Best R&B/Soul Album
- Most Fashionable Artist (Female)
- Visionary Video Award
- Best Female Artist
- Best Album
- Best R&B Artist
- Best R&B/Soul Single, Female
2000 Award Wins
- Favorite Female Soul/R&B Artist
- Favorite R&B Album
- Best R&B/Soul Single, Female (Ex-Factor)
- World's Best-Selling Female R&B Artist
- World's Best-Selling Female Rap Artist
- World's Best-Selling New Artist
2000 Award nominations
Soul Train Lady of Soul Awards
- Best R&B/Soul Single - Solo (Everything Is Everything)
- Best Hip-Hop Video - Everything Is Everything
- Best Direction (Sanji) - Everything Is Everything
- Best Special Effects (Method) - Everything Is Everything[22]
Discography
Solo albums
| Album information |
|---|
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
|
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. | U.S. R&B | U.S. Rap | UK | |||
| 1996 | "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" (Nas featuring Lauryn Hill) |
53 | 15 | 17 | 12 | It Was Written |
| 1997 | "The Sweetest Thing" | — | — | — | 18 | Love Jones (soundtrack) |
| "All My Time" (Paid & Live featuring Lauryn Hill) |
— | — | — | 57 | All My Time | |
| 1998 | "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" | 351 | 45 | — | — | The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill |
| "Deep In My Heart"² | — | — | — | — | ||
| "Doo Wop (That Thing)" | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | ||
| 1999 | "Lost Ones" | 271 | — | — | — | |
| "Ex-Factor" | 21 | 7 | — | 4 | ||
| "Everything Is Everything" | 35 | 14 | — | 19 | ||
| "To Zion" | — | 77 | — | — | ||
| "Nothing Even Matters" (featuring D'Angelo) |
105³ | 25 | — | — | ||
| "Turn Your Lights Down Low" (with Bob Marley) |
86 | 49 | — | 15 | Chant Down Babylon | |
| 2002 | "Mr. Intentional" | — | — | — | — | MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 |
| 2005 | "So High" (John Legend featuring Lauryn Hill) |
105³ | 53 | — | 118 | Get Lifted |
| 2006 | "Say" (Method Man featuring Lauryn Hill) |
— | 66 | — | — | 4:21... the Day After |
| 2007 | "Lose Myself" | — | — | — | — | Surf's Up Soundtrack |
- 1 Peaked at the Hot 100 Airplay chart.
- ² The eponymous track off "The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill" was released in 1998 as "Deep In My Heart" as a promo single in Japan.
- ³ Peaked at the Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.
Appearances/Other Tracks
- 1996: "Stay Gold" (from the Young Zee album Musical Meltdown (Promo LP))
- 1996: "If I Ruled the World" (from the Nas album It Was Written)
- 1997: "Retrospective For Life" (from the Common album One Day It'll All Make Sense)
- 1998: "On That Day" (from the CeCe Winans album Everlasting Love)
- 1998: "A Rose Is Still A Rose" (from the Aretha Franklin album A Rose Is Still a Rose)
- 1999: "All That I Can Say" (from the Mary J. Blige album "Mary (album)"
- 1999: "Turn Your Lights Down Low" from the Bob Marley tribute album Chant Down Babylon)
- 1999: "Do You Like The Way" (from the Carlos Santana album Supernatural)
- 2002: "Selah" (from Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood Soundtrack)
- 2004: "The Passion" (from The Passion of the Christ: Songs)
- 2005: "So High (Cloud 9 Remix) (from the John Legend re-released album "Get Lifted")
- 2007: "Music" (from the Joss Stone album Introducing Joss Stone)
- 2007: "Lose Myself" (from the Surf's Up soundtrack)
References
- ^ "BRAFF: 'LAURYN HILL WAS MY COKE AND PEPSI PARTNER'". PR-inside.com.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|accessmonthday=ignored (help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rohan_Marley
- ^ Zonareggae
- ^ Géraldine KHAWLY
- ^ The Mystery of Lauryn Hill : Rolling Stone
- ^ fugees-online.de >> special: interview
- ^ MySpace.com - Lauryn Hill-Marley - HIALEAH, FLORIDA - www.myspace.com/laurynhill
- ^ http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1264/is_3_33/ai_87741110/pg_5
- ^ MySpace.com - Lauryn Hill-Marley - HIALEAH, FLORIDA - www.myspace.com/laurynhill
- ^ YBF Exclusive: Lauryn Hill Is Preggers! : Young, Black, and Fabulous :: It’s A Brand Name
- ^ Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002) - Full cast and crew
- ^ Essence February 2006
- ^ They Call Me Ms. Hill : Essence.com
- ^ They Call Me Ms. Hill : Essence.com
- ^ The Fugees: Reunited and Not Very Good Tom Breihan, Villagevoice.com, September 26,2005
- ^ http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid376530222/bclid192880054/bctid921441457
- ^ What Lauryn Hill told the Vatican
- ^ Poynter Online - Abuse Tracker
- ^ What Lauryn Hill told the Vatican
- ^ Rock On The Net: 39th Annual Grammy Awards - 1997
- ^ CNN - 1999 Grammy Awards - The Big Picture
- ^ Rock On The Net: Lauryn Hill
External links
- Official site
- Lauryn Hill's personal website
- Fugees' fansite with news on Ms. Hill
- January 2006: Interview with Essence magazine 2005: They Call Me Ms. Hill
- July 2005: Lauryn Hill interview with Trace magazine
- June 2005: Lauryn Hill Def Poetry Jam Performance
- October 30, 2003: Rolling Stone magazine, "The Mystery of Lauryn Hill: She made one of the greatest albums of the Nineties—then what happened?" by Touré
- 1975 births
- Living people
- African American rappers
- African American female singers
- African American singer-songwriters
- American actor-singers
- American female singers
- American female guitarists
- American rhythm and blues guitarists
- American rhythm and blues singers
- American soul singers
- English-language singers
- Female rappers
- Grammy Award winners
- Hip hop singers
- Neo soul singers
- New Jersey musicians
- People from Essex County, New Jersey