Just a curious question, this album was no doubt huge. But i noticed Lauryn Hill doesn't actually have... many hits. Doo-Wop went number 1, Ex Factor went 21 & Everything Is Everything went to 35.

And that is pretty much it, i understand that Turn Your Lights Down Low & Sweetest Thing where huge on R&B radio. And even had some MTV Play, also making it on the hot 100.

But what is it about Lauryn Hill that make's her so loved & remembered? i myself adore Miseducation & i adore The Fugees album. But as big as Lauryn Hills album was and her name in general she just had so few hits, and only one album.

So i am curious what was the hype for the album like? and what do you think it is that make's her have this big legacy?

[Edited 2/15/12 22:31pm]

Gunsnhalen said:

Just a curious question, this album was no doubt huge. But i noticed Lauryn Hill doesn't actually have... many hits. Doo-Wop went number 1, Ex Factor went 21 & Everything Is Everything went to 35.

And that is pretty much it, i understand that Turn Your Lights Down Low & Sweetest Thing where huge on R&B radio. And even had some MTV Play, also making it on the hot 100.

But what is it about Lauryn Hill that make's her so loved & remembered? i myself adore Miseducation & i adore The Fugees album. But as big as Lauryn Hills album was and her name in general she just had so few hits, and only one album.

So i am curious what was the hype for the album like? and what do you think it is that make's her have this big legacy?

[Edited 2/15/12 22:31pm]

I love the miseducation of Lauryn Hill. For many reasons:

1) She showcased her talent in BOTH rapping and singing. I still think Lauryn is the best female MC ever, only for her rap verses on this album

2) The lyrics. No sex filled stuff, and sometimes really clever verses that showed Lauryn was not only a good singer but a cultured person (wow, the rap verse of "Everything Is Everything"!). She sang about love in a smart way too

3) The music. Whereas Hip-hop was gradually becoing mainstream, and relied on heavy used of sampling, she took the vintage/organic way. Besides probably The Roots, which song has the instrumentation of "Final Hour"? (Flute, harp imrovisations) I haven't heard an acoustic harpsichord on a R&B song since "Superstar". Though it's still considered a hip-hop album, many genres are blended ("Superstar interpolates the Doors 'Light my Fire', a rock song. 'Forgive Them Father' is a reinterpretation of a reggae song by Bob Marley. "To Zion" with his latin-flavored guitar, features Carlos Santana).

4) The interludes. Well, they were actually quite annoying since you couldn't skip them ... When I first heard the name of the album was "The Miseducation Of lauryn Hill", i thought it was going to be conceptual, with a common theme and song cycle (a la "What's Going On"), but it was not, every song is different and the interludes throughout the album make it quite conceptual as they explain the 'miseducation' stuff.

5) Integrity. No clthes taken off to promote this album. No dumbed down lyrics. Besides "Doo Wop", no profanity. No corny stuff. A woman with soul and personnality.

To me, this album is in my top 20 albums EVER realised. For these reasons

Gunsnhalen said:

Just a curious question, this album was no doubt huge. But i noticed Lauryn Hill doesn't actually have... many hits. Doo-Wop went number 1, Ex Factor went 21 & Everything Is Everything went to 35.

And that is pretty much it, i understand that Turn Your Lights Down Low & Sweetest Thing where huge on R&B radio. And even had some MTV Play, also making it on the hot 100.

But what is it about Lauryn Hill that make's her so loved & remembered? i myself adore Miseducation & i adore The Fugees album. But as big as Lauryn Hills album was and her name in general she just had so few hits, and only one album.

So i am curious what was the hype for the album like? and what do you think it is that make's her have this big legacy?

[Edited 2/15/12 22:31pm]

I was in NYC (a very long way from home) the week the album dropped.

I was mostly into hip hop at that time and the track that was getting big play on the radio was "Lost Ones" which is a pretty heavy hip hop track. Her raps were killer and it was really a track for the hardcore hip hop heads, so I think that pulled in alot of listeners from that scene. Then it was like a one two punch when "Doo Wop" came out right after because that was a very catchy track which seduced the pop and r&b listeners.

There was a big buzz going around overall, based on those two tracks which built on the legacy of "killing me softly" just 2 years prior. She was touring around record stores signing albums in the city and I saw the entourage around Tower Records Times Square, there was a big turnout of people with excitement in the air.

Love the record. Always been partial to "Superstar".

Outside of a fairly small number of hardcore fans I don't think she is especially beloved. Certainly the average person does not hold her in higher regard than many of her peers. At this point she is essentially an artist with a cult following.

I've always felt that the album was tremendously overrated. Probably due to the fact that nineties R & B was a very pale imitation of the highs the genre enjoyed in the sixties and seventies. It is a good album but far from the masterpiece many people claim it to be.

I remember it well.. It was a great time in music in IMO.. The Fugee's The Score was a massive hit album for them in 1996. Wyclef released his his solo CD in 1997 and that did really well too. and then out of knowhere She drops lost Ones and The Mofo's here in NY lost their minds ( always wished she had did a video for that song) I mean you couldn't escape that song, everywhere you turn someone was blasting it. Of course she released That Thing and the rest is History.. I got a chance to see her when the Tour came through (Prince and Mayte) were in the audience and she put on an amazing show all culminating with her being the first female to win 5 grammy's in on night..

I never got around to buying the album, but I had the maxi single of do (wop) which included the lost ones and can't take my eyes off you. From what I remember, everything is everything and x factor got extremely heavy airplay, but maybe it was different in my country from america. A lot of people have the album and it was great to own, and I believe her talent spoke for itself and people were still in love with Killing Me Softly regardless of age group. My grandfather loved that song a lot too, probably cause of the remake and it's on the radio often till this day. I remember reports of her winning the Grammys too as someone mentioned. I think she combined r&b, hip hop, and neo soul perfectly.

rialb said:

Outside of a fairly small number of hardcore fans I don't think she is especially beloved. Certainly the average person does not hold her in higher regard than many of her peers. At this point she is essentially an artist with a cult following.

I've always felt that the album was tremendously overrated. Probably due to the fact that nineties R & B was a very pale imitation of the highs the genre enjoyed in the sixties and seventies. It is a good album but far from the masterpiece many people claim it to be.

I feel this way too. This came out when I was in high school and I played the album to death but never straight through. It had quite a few of strong cuts on it, but it's never been an album that I rank on my "flawless" list.

alphastreet said:

I never got around to buying the album, but I had the maxi single of do (wop) which included the lost ones and can't take my eyes off you. From what I remember, everything is everything and x factor got extremely heavy airplay, but maybe it was different in my country from america. A lot of people have the album and it was great to own, and I believe her talent spoke for itself and people were still in love with Killing Me Softly regardless of age group. My grandfather loved that song a lot too, probably cause of the remake and it's on the radio often till this day. I remember reports of her winning the Grammys too as someone mentioned. I think she combined r&b, hip hop, and neo soul perfectly.

Maxi singles? Boy, that takes me back in time!

I was a little over one when that record came out.

smoothcriminal12 said:

I was a little over one when that record came out.

You were born in 1997?!

nd33 said:

smoothcriminal12 said:

I was a little over one when that record came out.

You were born in 1997?!

Haven't we gone over this before?

rialb said:

Outside of a fairly small number of hardcore fans I don't think she is especially beloved. Certainly the average person does not hold her in higher regard than many of her peers. At this point she is essentially an artist with a cult following.

I've always felt that the album was tremendously overrated. Probably due to the fact that nineties R & B was a very pale imitation of the highs the genre enjoyed in the sixties and seventies. It is a good album but far from the masterpiece many people claim it to be.

That's not true - people sing her praises to this day - I still hear "Doo wop" at least once a week on commerical radio.

smoothcriminal12 said:

nd33 said:

You were born in 1997?!

Haven't we gone over this before?

Possibly. I have an artistically organised brain...

rialb said:

alphastreet said:

I never got around to buying the album, but I had the maxi single of do (wop) which included the lost ones and can't take my eyes off you. From what I remember, everything is everything and x factor got extremely heavy airplay, but maybe it was different in my country from america. A lot of people have the album and it was great to own, and I believe her talent spoke for itself and people were still in love with Killing Me Softly regardless of age group. My grandfather loved that song a lot too, probably cause of the remake and it's on the radio often till this day. I remember reports of her winning the Grammys too as someone mentioned. I think she combined r&b, hip hop, and neo soul perfectly.

Maxi singles? Boy, that takes me back in time!

you mean they no longer exist?

nd33 said:

smoothcriminal12 said:

Haven't we gone over this before?

Possibly. I have an artistically organised brain...

mancabdriver said:

rialb said:

Outside of a fairly small number of hardcore fans I don't think she is especially beloved. Certainly the average person does not hold her in higher regard than many of her peers. At this point she is essentially an artist with a cult following.

I've always felt that the album was tremendously overrated. Probably due to the fact that nineties R & B was a very pale imitation of the highs the genre enjoyed in the sixties and seventies. It is a good album but far from the masterpiece many people claim it to be.

That's not true - people sing her praises to this day - I still hear "Doo wop" at least once a week on commerical radio.

Which people? Hardcore fans? I still hear "Are You Jimmy Ray?" on commercial radio too.

Maybe I am wrong but I think that most people forgot about her a long time ago. If she is remembered at all it is probably for her reclusiveness.

alphastreet said:

rialb said:

Maxi singles? Boy, that takes me back in time!

you mean they no longer exist?

I honestly don't know. I just assumed that the internet killed them off.

Or the racist comment she never uttered in the first place!

Maxi singles are still available, but mostly through itunes now.

alphastreet said:

Or the racist comment she never uttered in the first place!

Maxi singles are still available, but mostly through itunes now.

Isn't that just a digital EP?

To go back to the original posters question (which I never really answered) I remember the album being popular but far from a phenomenon. After "Doo Wop (That Thing)" there weren't any massive hits on it and most people lost interest in it fairly quickly. "Ex-Factor" was reasonably popular but no where near the degree of "Doo Wop (That Thing)." I believe those were the only two videos to receive any degree of airplay on Much Music.

I should point out that at the time I was in my senior year of High School and it was an extremely white school in Nova Scotia, Canada. I can only describe my experience with the album. No doubt it varies greatly from person to person.

Then I guess Torontonians gave her more love than you guys. I was in my sophomore year in high school.

[Edited 2/16/12 5:46am]

I remember well, this album was very highly regarded! It took her from hip-hop/soul & some pop circles to everywhere! Everyone from David Bowie to Paul McCartney were praising her. She was the hip hop star who was on the covers of Time & People and being played on VH1 before it was common. This album sold b/c the entire album was good. Whereas today its all about a single song or two selling but the album not so much.

I'd say it was her voice and the lyrical content that make it so memorable. Also "Killing Me Softly" was huge for the Fugees and still gets hella play on radio. I remember every girl wanted to be Lauryn after Sister Act. Go on YouTube and there are mad "eye is on the sparrow" cover vids. I think her back story played alot into the album's success. Were we miseducated about Lauryn Hill or was Lauryn Hill miseducated?

I enjoy Lauryn's personality and stage presence, personally. The unplugged album!! She took that MTV format of playing your hits without electricity and shot a 2 disc album of new tunes, just her and a guitar. Not a hit in sight. Brilliant artist move, terrible sales move.

I have seen her a few times live now and yea she was late as hell but whatev. How many times can you be warned that she shows up over an hour late but still act surprised when it happens?

I was actually jamming to the Coachella audio last night and I am now almost 100% that the 2010/2011 tour dates she did were not meant to be visual experiences at all but were meant to be purely audible. Honestly the Coachella gig sounds amazing in retrospect. "You might win some but you just lost me" she says towards the end. Maybe the industry doesn't want her but maybe she doesn't want the industry either. That could be a part of her appeal to some, too.

Bottom line is that voice is magical. I think Alicia Keys can hold a candle to Lauryn's talent but that Alicia succeeded by doing a little more pandering, while Lauryn would rather do her own thing instead.

I remember the R&B/Hip-Hop stations wore "Doo-wop" OUT. I was do damn sick of that song lol. You can't really go by how singles chart. We now live a singles age. Rihanna was a million hit singles, but shitty album sales. Lauryn had a great ALBUM. Every song on there is a hit to me.

nd33 said:

silverchild said:

nd33 said:

I was in NYC (a very long way from home) the week the album dropped.

I was mostly into hip hop at that time and the track that was getting big play on the radio was "Lost Ones" which is a pretty heavy hip hop track. Her raps were killer and it was really a track for the hardcore hip hop heads, so I think that pulled in alot of listeners from that scene. Then it was like a one two punch when "Doo Wop" came out right after because that was a very catchy track which seduced the pop and r&b listeners.

There was a big buzz going around overall, based on those two tracks which built on the legacy of "killing me softly" just 2 years prior. She was touring around record stores signing albums in the city and I saw the entourage around Tower Records Times Square, there was a big turnout of people with excitement in the air.

Love the record. Always been partial to "Superstar".

Agreed! I'm from Chicago and I remember my father playing this album from front to back in his car. He had the cassette version and I was mesmerized from the beginning because I knew Lauryn solely from The Fugees and their wildly successful The Score. I was hooked on Lauryn back in '97, around the time "Killing Me Softly" blew up. Then came "The Sweetest Thing" from the Love Jones Soundtrack and that really got all of us hyped up for Lauryn's solo release. I was hearing rumors and taboo about this solo debut coming out and in the end, it was finally here. The rest was history. The Grammy success and hype for industy folks, magazines, and others really surprised me. I remember the night she won 8 Grammys (this was before Santana's sweep the following year) and it was major.

She had won 5 grammys and during that time I believe it was the most any female had won in one night.

ALL well deserved... Well like Smooth I was pretty young to even remember anything which I dont. But I can see why it was such a success and it was very deserving of that success. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is such a great album. I admit like many have said its not a masterpiece but I definitly would place it on a top 10 list of great commercial albums that have came out over the last 20 years. Like the first poster said their were alot of themes that Lauryn covered. While it was commercial, it still stayed true to hip hop and soul. I loved how she mixed rapping and singing. She also showcased that she was an intellectual and proved to be a great songwriter with the complex concepts she focused on. Alot of her lyrical content was cleverly written compared to alot of things that were playing on the radio. While popular, her songs always made you think. People love Lauryn Hill because she is about that shit... she is the TRUTH.

She also is a GREAT singer and GREAT rapper. Shes multitalented, she can sing, rap, writes and I believe plays instruments.

She is the BEST female MC hands down.

mjscarousal said:

I was pretty much "SOLD" on the project after hearing "Lost Ones" the first time. Wore it out.

silverchild said:

mjscarousal said:

She had won 5 grammys and during that time I believe it was the most any female had won in one night.

ALL well deserved... Well like Smooth I was pretty young to even remember anything which I dont. But I can see why it was such a success and it was very deserving of that success. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is such a great album. I admit like many have said its not a masterpiece but I definitly would place it on a top 10 list of great commercial albums that have came out over the last 20 years. Like the first poster said their were alot of themes that Lauryn covered. While it was commercial, it still stayed true to hip hop and soul. I loved how she mixed rapping and singing. She also showcased that she was an intellectual and proved to be a great songwriter with the complex concepts she focused on. Alot of her lyrical content was cleverly written compared to alot of things that were playing on the radio. While popular, her songs always made you think. People love Lauryn Hill because she is about that shit... she is the TRUTH.

She also is a GREAT singer and GREAT rapper. Shes multitalented, she can sing, rap, writes and I believe plays instruments.

She is the BEST female MC hands down.

I stand corrected. She won 5 Grammys. Wonder why I was thinking about 8 Grammys? But that was a big night and well deserved.

I dont think their has been ANY female in history that has ever won 8 grammys in one night.

But yea it was well deserved...

[Edited 2/16/12 11:55am]

Aside from being a good singer, rapper, and being beautiful, I think she represented a strong and positive example of a modern woman, and that she was nearly universally acceptable style-wise and it made people feel cool to like her.

NDRU said:

Aside from being a good singer, rapper, and being beautiful, I think she represented a strong and positive example of a modern woman, and that she was nearly universally acceptable style-wise and it made people feel cool to like her.

I never understood why she felt like she had to change her style of dress so much. She never rocked the coochie cutter shorts and such like many of her peers did/do. I mean, she was in countless fashion magazines for her sophisticated flair and good fashion sense. I never got the drastic change. Maybe that high fashion style wasn't who she really was and she felt that she was "selling out". idk.

I just know, I used to dig her style. It was fly.