Released 25th Aug 1998 - Ruffhouse Columbia

Upon inserting my scratched up, overplayed copy of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill into my cd player I asked myself whether this album was actually as great as I remembered or whether time, age and my own maturity would alter my initial judgement of first hearing it 11 years ago. It did. The Miseducation... sounded better - even through the scratches and skipping - than it did back in the summer holidays of 1998. This is hip-hop soul at its greatest, as the ten grammy nominations and five eventual awards went on to prove.

Following the global success that the then 23 year old Hill had enjoyed as part of the critically acclaimed Fugees trio alongside Wyclef Jean and Prakazrel "Pras" Michel in 1996, when her debut solo recording dropped two years later it was music that had soul, meaning, and myself as a 14 year old boy head bopping - though much of what Hill rapped/sung about was a little deeper than I was to know. Though hip-hop soul was a familiar sound, with Erykah Badu, Mary J Blige and D'Angelo championed by my mother during the Saturday morning housework, Lauryn had a righteous air; coolness, beauty, and real star quality that allowed her to effortlessly fuse rap, hip-hop, soul, reggae, motown and gospel onto a 16 track compact disc.

Set against an audio backdrop of a teacher attempting to educate his classroom of children the meaning of love, from the introduction and opening song ' Lost Ones', the ease at which Hill delivers her personal messages from the heart are clear throughout the entire album. 'I Used to Love Him' featuring Mary J Blige dealt with the break-down of the relationship between Hill and fellow Fugee Wyclef Jean, 'Ex-Factor' could possibly be one of the greatest love songs ever penned, a passionate tale of the emotional aftermath that follows a split "I keep letting you back in/How can I explain myself/As painful as this thing has been/I just can't be with no one else" whilst 'To Zion' was written in reference to Hill's decision not to abort her baby in pursuit of further fame. Sung over the top of Carlos Santana's unmistakable strings this is again Lauryn in fine form. "Woe this crazy circumstance/I knew his life deserved a chance/But everybody told me to be smart/Look at your career they said/"Lauryn, baby use your head"/But instead I chose to use my heart".



The Miseducation ...wasn't all love and pain melancholy-tinged midrange. The hip-hop shoulder shakers 'Everything is Everything' and 'Forgive them Father' gives you the edgier - yet just as effective - rap element and 'Doo-Wop (That thing)' is an upbeat sing-along that attempts to alert both men and women to the promiscuous intentions of the opposite sex. With its 1950's Chordettes influenced vocals, its a song that could successfully get any block party, barbecue, wedding, christening (or wake for that matter) singing and dancing. Like much of the album, its that good.

Over a decade on and 19 million sales later, listening to The Miseducation... it could easily be the masterpiece the likes of Alesha Keys, John Legend (who ironically, played piano on 'Everything is Everything') or Jill Scott aspire to create today. If real hip-hop soul is still being ground out, it would be challenged to put together a better album than this, for this is an education from the school of great music.