Hip Hop Honeys

Visit The Lauryn Hill Shop

Early Life

Lauryn Noel Hill was born May 25th, 1975 in South Orange Village, New Jersey, United States. Her father, Mal, was a computer programmer who sang in his spare time and her mother, Valerie, was a high school English teacher and a keen pianist. She has a older brother Melaney. Hill began singing as a child and at the age of thirteen she appeared on "Amateur Night" on Showtime at the Apollo. Although she did not win the competition, she continued singing throughout her teens. While still at high school she formed the band, the Fugees, with childhood friends, Wyclef Jean and Prakazrel Michel. The trio gained a loyal following in the tri-state area but their progress was limited partly because Hill was perusing her acting career and because of her enrolment at Columbia University.

Career Highlights

The Fugees released their first LP, Blunted on Reality, in 1994. The album spawned two underground hits, "Nappy Heads (Mona Lisa)" and "Vocab", but failed to live up to the reputation of the group's live shows and gained little mainstream attention peaking at #49 on the U.S. Hot 100. The trio got their big break in 1996 with the release of their second album The Score. The album reached # 1 on both the Billboard 200 and the Billboard Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums selling over 6 million copies in the U.S. alone. The album included a cover of the song "Killing Me Softly with His Song" previously relased by Lori Lieberman and Roberta Flack. The Fugees version became a massive hit reaching # 1 on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart and # 1 in the UK, selling over a million copies, becoming 1996's best selling single in the country. Other hit singles include "Ready Or Not", "No Woman, No Cry" and "Fu-Gee-La". The Fugees won two Grammy Awards in 1997 with The Score (Best Rap Album) and "Killing Me Softly" (Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group).

In 1997 The Fugees split and Hill started work on her critically acclaimed The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Released in August, 1998, the album includes collaborations with soul singer D'Angelo on "Nothing Even Matters", guitarist Carlos Santana on "To Zion", singer Mary J. Blige on "I Used to Love Him"; as well as the then little known John Legend playing the piano on "Everything is Everything". The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill sold over 423,000 copies in its first week and topped the Billboard 200 albums chart for four weeks and the Billboard R&B Album chart for six weeks. The albums second single "Doo Wop (That Thing)" also topped the charts debuting at number one on the Billboard Hot 100. To date the album has sold over 18 million copies worldwide giving it Diamond status.

At the 1999 Grammy Awards, Hill was nominated for ten awards, becoming the first female ever to be nominated ten times in one year. Hill won five awards for Album of the Year, Best R&B Album, Best R&B Song and Best Female R&B Vocal Performance for "Doo Wop (That Thing)" and Best New Artist. Lauryn Hill set a new record in the industry, as she became the first woman to win five Grammys in one night breaking Carole King's previous record of four Awards.

After almost a four year hiatus, which was spent designing clothes and writing poetry and a screenplay about the life of Bob Marley, Hill released MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 in May 2002. The album featured a live set performed by Hill for a MTV Unplugged special recorded on July 21, 2001 at MTV Studios in Times Square, New York City. The album peaked at #2 on Billboard's Billboard 200 chart, and peaked at #3 on the magazine's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album featured the song "Mystery of Iniquity" which was nominated for a Grammy despite receiving no promotion or radio airplay. MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 was certified platinum in June 2002 only four months after its release.

In late 2004 rumours surfaced of a possible reunion of The Fugees. The trio put their differences aside and 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. However old tensions between Hill and the other members of the group soon resurfaced, and they again split before an album could be recorded. Wyclef Jean and Pras both blamed Hill's erratic behaviour as the cause of the split.

Lauryn Hill Discography

Albums

1998 The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

2002 MTV Unplugged No. 2.0