Lauryn Hill

Infobox musical artist
Name = Lauryn Hill


Img_capt = Ms. Hill performing in Prague, Summer 2007
Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Lauryn Noel Hill
Alias =
Born = birth date and age|1975|05|25
Died =
Origin = South Orange, New Jersey, USA
Instrument = vocals, guitar, pianoFact|date=September 2008
Genre = Hip hop, underground hip hop, alternative hip hop, soul, neo-soul, R&B, reggae, folk, acoustic
Occupation = singer, rapper, songwriter, record producer, actor
Years_active = 1988-present
Label = Columbia, Ruffhouse
Associated_acts = The Fugees, Mary J Blige, Talib Kweli,Aretha Franklin,
URL = http://www.lauryn-hill.com/
Notable_instruments = Voice and guitar

Lauryn Noel Hill is a Grammy Award-winning American singer, rapper, musician, songwriter, producer, and film actress. Early in her career, she established her reputation in the hip-hop world as the lone female member of The Fugees. On August 25, 1998 she launched her solo career with the release of the commercially successful and critically acclaimed album "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill", an album which helped to spur the neo-soul genre to a wider commercial platform. After a four year hiatus, she released "MTV Unplugged No. 2.0"; a live recording taped on July 21, 2001 at MTV Studios in Times Square. She has won eight Grammy Awards and is the mother of five children with Rohan Marley, the fourth son of reggae legend Bob Marley.

Biography

Early life

Lauryn Hill was born in South Orange, New Jersey. Hill was the second of two children born to high school English teacher Valerie Hill and computer programmer Mal Hill. As a child, Hill incessantly listened to her parents' Motown 1960s soul records. Music was a central part of the Hill home. Mal Hill sang at weddings, Valerie played the piano, and Lauryn's older brother Melaney played the saxophone, guitar, drums, harmonica, violin, and piano.

Hill began her singing career at a young age. In 1988 13-year old Hill appeared as an Amateur Night contestant on "It's Showtime at the Apollo". Hill sang her own version of Smokey Robinson's song "Who's Lovin' You?". A nervous Hill sung with the microphone far away from her mouth and was heckled at first; but she persisted and finished her song to a standing applause, though she did not win.

Hill was childhood friends with actor Zach Braff and they both graduated from Columbia High School in 1993, where Hill was an active student, cheerleader, and performer. Braff mentions inviting Hill to his bar Mitzvah in 1988 [cite web | title=BRAFF: 'LAURYN HILL WAS MY COKE AND PEPSI PARTNER' | author= | publisher=PR-inside.com | url=http://www.pr-inside.com/rss/braff-lauryn-hill-was-my-coke-and-pepsi-partner-r15839.htm | accessdate=September 6 | accessyear=2006] .

Hill began her acting career at a young age. Hill appeared on the soap opera, "As The World Turns" as Kira Johnson. In December 1993, she starred in "" as Rita Louise Watson. In the film, she performed the songs " [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0nvsWQwd53I His Eye Is on the Sparrow] " (a duet with [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0089417/ Tanya Blount] ) and " [http://youtube.com/watch?v=C_c_MHkba5c Joyful, Joyful] " . It was in this role, as Rita, that she first came to national prominence, with Roger Ebert calling her "the girl with the big joyful voice".

Her other acting work includes the play "Club XII" with MC Lyte, and the motion pictures "King of the Hill" (as Arletta the Elevator Operator), "Hav Plenty" (1997), and "Restaurant" (1998). She appeared on the soundtrack to "Conspiracy Theory" in 1996 with "Can't Take My Eyes Off You", and on "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" in 2002 with the track "Selah".

Personal life

Since 1996, Hill has been a in a relationship with Rohan Marley, son of the late reggae music icon Bob Marley. Though she refers to Marley as her husband, it has not been confirmed publicly that they are legally married. According to the October 2003 "Rolling Stone" article by Touré, Marley never divorced his first wife Geraldine Khawly, whom the article stated he married in 1993 while a sophomore at University of Miami, Florida. With Khawly he has two children: daughter Eden Marley and son Nicolas Marley [ [http://www.rootsweb.com/~htiwgw/familles/fiches/097689.htm Géraldine Khawly family tree] ] [ [http://rollingstone.com/news/story/5940100/the_mystery_of_lauryn_hill Rolling Stone: The Mystery of Lauryn Hill] ] .

However, in the summer of 2005, "Trace" magazine interviewed Lauryn Hill and Rohan Marley; Marley said none of this was true and that many lies had been written about them [ [http://webuser.fh-furtwangen.de/~krapf/fugees-online/special_interview_trace.htm July 2005 Trace Magazine Interview] ] .

Together they have five children: son Zion David Hill-Marley; daughter Selah Louise Marley; son Joshua Marley; and son John Marley. The couple's fifth child is a baby girl who was reported to be born in early 2008; [http://allhiphop.com/stories/rumors/archive/2008/02/04/19232808.aspx Lauryn Hill had a baby girl "in the very recent past"] [ [http://theybf.com/2007/10/13/lauryn-hill-is-preggers YBF Exclusive: Lauryn Hill Is Preggers!] ] [http://www.bossip.com/11573/lauryn-gives-birth Lauryn Hill just had her 5th kid] her name hasn't been released.

Hill has written a song about her eldest son, titled "To Zion", which can be found on her first solo effort, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill". A song titled "Selah", is featured on the "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" soundtrack [ [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0279778/fullcredits Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood cd] ] .

Humanitarianism

Hill is noted as a humanitarian, and in 1996 she received an "Essence" Award for work which has included the 1996 founding of the Refugee Project, an outreach organization that supports a two-week overnight camp for at-risk youth, and for supporting well-building projects in Kenya and Uganda, as well as for staging a rap concert in Harlem to promote voter registration. In 1999 Hill received three awards at the 30th Annual NAACP Image Awards. In 1999 "Ebony" named her one of "100+ Most Influential Black Americans". She was named with Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. and others among the "10 For Tomorrow," in the "EBONY 2000: Special Millennium Issue".

Career

The Fugees

The Refugee Camp ("Fugees") formed after Prakazrel "Pras" Michel approached Hill in high school about joining a music group he was creating. Soon after, she met Pras' cousin and fellow Haïtian immigrant, Wyclef Jean. At some point, Hill was given the nickname "L Boogie"," as she began to convert her poetic writing into rap verses. Hill's singing gained worldwide acclaim with the Fugees' remake of "Killing Me Softly with His Song", accompanied by a sample from Rotary Connection's "Memory Band" (also sampled in A Tribe Called Quest's "Bonita Applebum").

The Fugees' first album, "Blunted on Reality", featured the songs "Boof Baf", "Nappy Heads" and "Vocab". "Nappy Heads" peaked at #49 on the U.S. Hot 100. The album sold over 2 million copies worldwide. "Blunted on Reality" was followed by "The Score", a multi-platinum, Grammy-winning album that established two of the three Fugees as international rap stars. Singles from "The Score" include "Ready or Not", "Fu-Gee-La", "No Woman, No Cry", and "Killing Me Softly" (written by Lori Lieberman and made famous by Roberta Flack).

"The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" (1998)

In 1998, Hill released the critically and commercially successful "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill", which sold over 423,000 copies in its first week and topped the "Billboard" R&B Album chart for 6 weeks.

The first single off the album was the rap song "Lost Ones" (US #27), released in Spring 1998. The second was "Doo Wop (That Thing)"; it debuted at number one in the United States in the summer of 1998; Other singles were "Ex-factor" (US #21) and "Everything Is Everything" (US #35), and the ballad "To Zion" dedicated to her then 1yr old son.

At the 1999 Grammy Awards, Hill was nominated ten times and won five awards: Album of the Year (beating Madonna's critically acclaimed album "Ray of Light"), Best R&B Album, Best R&B Song, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and Best New Artist. Lauryn Hill set a new record in the industry as she became the first woman to win 5 grammys in one night.

"MTV Unplugged No. 2.0" (2002)

On July 21, 2001, Lauryn unveiled her highly-anticipated new material to a small crowd, for a taping of an "MTV Unplugged" special. The 2002 released "MTV Unplugged No. 2.0" album exhibited a new Hill, as she focused on the lyrics and the message she was spreading rather than the musical arrangements. "Fantasy is what people want, but reality is what they need", she said during the concert. "I’ve just retired from the fantasy part."

Most of the songs featured only an acoustic guitar and her voice, somewhat raspy from rehearsal on the day before the recording. Hill used the set as an opportunity to give information on why she had been absent from the public for a period of time and what she had found while away. Critical reception was mixed, but the album received platinum status.

Despite Hill's intentional departure from the media and celebrity, she continued to create commercially and critically successful music. Her song "Mystery of Iniquity" was nominated for a Grammy without promotion or radio airplay and used as an interpolation by hip-hop mega-producer Kanye West for his single "All Falls Down" (eventually recorded by Syleena Johnson).

In the months and years after the release of her debut album, Hill became increasingly disaffected with the music industry. In the February 2006 issue of "Essence" magazine [ [http://blackvoices.aol.com/black_entertainment/featurecanvas/_a/bv-entertainment-newswire-December-21-lauryn/20051221132909990001 "Essence"] February 2006] , Hill described this time in her life:

hort-lived return of the Fugees (2004-2006)

The Fugees performed on September 18, 2004 at "Dave Chappelle's Block Party" in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York City. They headlined a bill that included a star-studded cast of hip hop celebrities. The concert featured Hill's nearly a cappella rendition of "Killing Me Softly". The block party was recorded and directed by Michel Gondry and released on March 3, 2006, to movie theaters.

The Fugees also appeared at BET's 2005 Music Awards on June 28, 2005, where they opened the show with a 12-minute set.

One track, "Take It Easy", was leaked online and therefore was released as an internet single on September 27, 2005. It peaked at #40 on the "Billboard" R&B Chart. The song was not without critics, as "The Village Voice" wrote, :"Turns out that a Fugees reunion wasn't really what anyone was waiting for; we just wanted Lauryn to start rapping again" [ [http://www.villagevoice.com/blogs/statusainthood/archives/2005/09/the_fugees_reun.php The Fugees: Reunited and Not Very Good] Tom Breihan, Villagevoice.com, September 26,2005] .

The Fugees 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. On February 6, 2006, the Fugees did a special "Reunion Concert" in Hollywood, that was offered as a live webcast on the Verizon Wireless website. The Fugees were featured in numerous Verizon Wireless VCast advertisements in magazines and on TV around that same time. A new song titled "Foxy" was made available on VCast and a third new song was leaked, unofficially titled "Wannabe", which uses the same hook as the Michael Jackson song "I Wanna Be Where You Are".

Pras confirmed in an interview [http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid376530222/bclid192880054/bctid921441457] that the Fugees reunion had stopped moving forward. [ [http://allhiphop.com/blogs/news/archive/2007/08/22/18461347.aspx AllHipHop.com Daily News - : Pras: "It Will Take An Act of God To Change [Lauryn" ] ]

Comeback (2008-present)

.

On October 6, 2005, Lauryn Hill emceed [ [http://www.bet.com/Music/DAILY+MUSIC+NEWS+WRAPUP+Dame+Dash+Lil+Mo+Gwen+Stefani+and+More.htm?wbc_purpose=Basic&WBCMODE=PresentationUnpublished&Referrer=%7B7E1EC1DC-BFEB-4FE5-AAE1-DAEB68532DDD%7D Lauryn Hill hosts Current TV launch] and [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPqJocrLjzM performed] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vTYgA1VBW2c two] songs [http://www.hiphopmusic.com/archives/001164.html] at the "Take Back TV" concert launching Al Gore's CurrentTV.

According to reports, Hill is planning a "major comeback" and is hard at work writing new material. Rohan Marley says: "She writes music in the bathroom, on toilet paper, on the wall. She writes it in the mirror if the mirror smokes up. She writes constantly. This woman does not sleep". [ [http://www.showbizspy.com/news/08042008/recluse-hill-has-material-for-several-albums Recluse Hill Has Material For Several Albums ] ] [ [http://www.ndtvmusic.com/story.asp?id=ENTEN20080060164 Music Story Page] ] .

Controversies

"Miseducation" lawsuit

In 1998, a group of musicians collectively known as New Ark sued Hill, her management, and her record label, claiming that they either co - wrote or co - produced 13 of 14 tracks on "Miseducation," [ [http://articles.latimes.com/1998/dec/19/entertainment/ca-55439 The Legal Tangle of ‘Miseducation’] ] despite the liner notes of the album claiming that it was "produced, written, arranged and performed by Lauryn Hill." The suit was settled out of court in February of 2001, over two years after it was filed. [ [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5919775/lauryn_hill_settles_lawsuit Lauryn Hill Settles Lawsuit : Rolling Stone ] ]

Vatican statements

On December 13, 2003, Hill shocked officials at a Christmas benefit concert at the Vatican by denouncing "corruption, exploitation, and abuses", in reference to the molestation of boys by Catholic priests in the United States and the cover-up of offenses by Catholic Church officials. Hill told the crowd of 7,000:

ingles

Featured and soundtrack singles

Appearances/Other Tracks

*1996: "Stay Gold" (from the Young Zee album "Musical Meltdown (Promo LP)")
*1996: "If I Ruled the World" (from the Nas album "It Was Written")
*1997: "Retrospective For Life" (from the Common album "One Day It'll All Make Sense")
*1998: "On That Day" (from the CeCe Winans album "Everlasting Love")
*1998: "A Rose Is Still A Rose" (from the Aretha Franklin album "A Rose Is Still a Rose")
*1999: "All That I Can Say" (from the Mary J. Blige album "Mary (album)"
*1999: "Turn Your Lights Down Low" from the Bob Marley tribute album "Chant Down Babylon")
*1999: "Do You Like The Way" (from the Carlos Santana album "Supernatural")
*2002: "Selah" (from "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood Soundtrack")
*2004: "The Passion" (from )
*2005: "So High (Cloud 9 Remix) (from the John Legend re-released album "Get Lifted")
*2007: "Music" (from the Joss Stone album "Introducing Joss Stone")
*2007: "Lose Myself" (from the Surf's Up soundtrack)

ee also

*Honorific titles in popular music

References

External links

* [http://www.lauryn-hill.com/ Official site]
* [http://www.laurynhill.com/ Lauryn Hill's personal website]
* January 2006: [http://www.essence.com/essence/themix/entertainment/0,16109,1149478,00.html Interview with "Essence" magazine 2005: They Call Me Ms. Hill]
* July 2005: [http://webuser.fh-furtwangen.de/~krapf/fugees-online/special_interview_trace.htm Lauryn Hill interview with "Trace" magazine]
* June 2005: [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5fr5Dom-2s Lauryn Hill Def Poetry Jam Performance]
* October 30, 2003: [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5940100/the_mystery_of_lauryn_hill/ "Rolling Stone" magazine] , "The Mystery of Lauryn Hill: She made one of the greatest albums of the Nineties—then what happened?" by Touré