National R&B/soul act

Lauryn Hill

Sad girl

See, it's like this -- sometimes you find out that what sustained you in Jerusalem and Jamaica won't get you through the night in Jersey. Sometimes you can't bleed that -sucka-MC ex-boyfriend out of your heart, and he won't give up that reciprocity you've been longing for. When romantic fatalism pulls against nostalgia pulls against idealistic conscious-rap doctrine, hearts go through the breaks like Stax session drummers. That's Lauryn Hill's The Miseducation of . . . (Columbia), '98s most rewarding sad record, on which Lauryn hopscotches sonic boundaries like it ain't no thing, engages with feelings most hip-hop (or R&B, reggae, funk, etc.) can't or won't take on, but still (tragically) ends up back home, trying to get some emotionally unevolved hardrock to open up. "That's when I realized I was pumping too much Al Green," she seems to sigh between every track. Back to the drawing board.

-- Alex Pappademas

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The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
The Official Lauryn Hill page
A bio and info on Lauryn Hill from Rolling Stone

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