Lauryn Hill, born in South Orange, New Jersey in 1975, went from the Fugees to one of the most celebrated solo debuts ever made. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998) won five Grammys including Album of the Year — the first hip hop album to take the top prize — and it remains her lone studio album. Find Lauryn Hill vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
Lauryn Noelle Hill was born in South Orange, New Jersey on May 26, 1975. She joined the Fugees (with Pras Michel and Wyclef Jean) as a teenager, contributing to Blunted on Reality (1994) and the landmark The Score (1996), which sold over 22 million copies. Her solo debut The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998) won five Grammy Awards including Album of the Year - the first hip hop album to win the top Grammy prize. The album has sold over 19 million copies worldwide and is widely cited as one of the most important albums in popular music history. She subsequently retreated from the recording industry after public discussion of her professional and personal difficulties. She has continued performing live across multiple decades but has not released a new studio album. Her 2002 MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 was her only subsequent full-length release. She has five children with Rohan Marley (son of Bob Marley) and another with a different partner.
Lauryn Hill's sound combines neo-soul, hip hop, R&B, soul, reggae, and conscious hip hop with her distinctive vocal delivery (combining singing and rapping with virtuosic ease) and lyrical content addressing love, family, faith, and Black American experience. Her foundational influence on neo-soul, contemporary R&B, and women in hip hop is widely cited as one of the most important contributions to the form.
Original Ruffhouse / Columbia pressings of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill are foundational items in hip hop, R&B, and broader popular music collecting. Multiple anniversary editions, audiophile reissues, and the comprehensive 20th and 25th anniversary editions have been released.
Listeners new to Lauryn Hill should start with The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998).
