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Hmmmm.
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill by Lauryn Hill |
| Distinctiveness: | No doubt. It's Lauryn and it ain't nobody else. |
| Dopeness Rating: | This is two albums interwoven. I really like one of them and I'm not quite as impressed with the other one. Hip Hop: Phat. R&B: Phat-, due soley to production. |
| Rap Part: | The Hip Hop is original, well-written and well-delivered. Phat+. The R&B is also all of those things. Phat+. |
| Sounds: | The production, though.... On the the Hip Hop it's mostly slammin' if not particularly amazing. Phat. On the R&B, it's lacking on average, in my most humble opinion. Okay+. |
| Predictions: | There are no predictions to make. She's already made more money than I ever will. |
| Rotation Weight: | Less than you think, but it'll still be in there. |
| Message: | Yes.
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| Tracks: | 14 tracks. There should be twice as many though, so I could program out those #@!)$(@ interludes. |
| Label: | Ruffhouse. Production is done by Ms. Hill. |
| Profanity: | All references to the f-word are dubbed out. Still, she uses the word 'trim' once. How's that? |
I'll just be up front, I guess.
I love Lauryn Hill. She's got attitude and mad skillz. In an industry and artform dominated by men, she stands out, kickin' it on her own terms and beating them at their own game. Plus, I like her hair.
Of course, anyone who's read my review of The Score knows that I'm all on her jock (as it were), MC-wise. So, I was naturally quite the hyped one, waiting for her first solo release, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Having left that cultural (un)black hole that is Boston to be near the hiphop mecca itself--New York City--I'd even been able to hear lots of the best cuts off the album before it hit. I got even more amped.
So, naturally, when I got the LP for myself, I was somewhat disappointed.
It's taken me a very long time to write this review. In fact, it's taken me a while to really get into this album, much more so than usual.
The reason for all this is simple. First, I've been really busy, but that only lasted so long. Second, and more important, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is really two albums. One is straight-up Hip Hop done the way you expect it from L-Boogie. It's original, full of clever lyrics and teeming with great delivery and energetic production.
The other album is straight-up R&B, also more or less the way you expect it from Lauryn Hill. Solid (but not diva-like) voicing, and good heartfelt lyrics... but the production is (by and large) completely uninspired. At bottom, it lacks... texture. At the end of the day the production is so uninspired that it drags everything down.
I love the Hip Hop album, but I feel ambivalent about much of the R&B album.
Now, it's important to note that I'm not one of these Hip Hop headz who hates R&B on principle. First off, I love the old stuff, from Aretha to Bill Withers even up to Rick James, and I find a lot of the newer mainstream stuff entertaining, if nothing else. That's not the issue here. The issue is that much of the R&B production is just plain vanilla. It feels like someone put a drum machine in a room with a singer, hit record and then went and ordered some Chinese food from King Hua.
This is made worse by the fact that the delivery and almost all of the lyrics for this R&B stuff are so damn top notch. And it's made even worse by the fact that the production works so much better on most of the Hip Hop tracks. It's just kind of frustrating.
Having said that, let me say that the album is more than worth getting, and some of the R&B production rises to the level that we expect from an artist of Ms. Hill's caliber. And in any case, the lyrics and delivery remain top-notch.
Let me show you what I mean.
The album opens with "Intro," as is now required by the Hip Hop Album Rules and Bylaws, revision 2.1. It introduces us to the skits that appear throughout the album. We are in a classroom of school kids, and the topic of discussion will be love and sex.
"Lauryn Hill? Lauryn Hill?"
The volume then jumps a notch with her first release, "Lost Ones."
It's the kind of track that makes you want to buy the album. It's
bouncy, well-produced and full of lyrical gems.
"It's funny how money change a situation
Miscommunication lead to complication
My emancipation don't fit your equation
I was on the humble you on every station"
"Consequence is no coincidence"
Basically, this is a nice track. It's about something, it's
forcefully delivered, and the rhymes are tight. What, what?
"Every man wanna act
like he's exempt
need to get down on his knees
and repent"
Naturally there's singing as well as rapping and it's all done by
Lauryn. And done quite well I might add. You probably know this.
After the skit, "Ex-factor" follows up. It captures my feelings about the album fairly well. Check this out:
"No matter how I think we grow
You always seem to let me know
It ain't workin' (it ain't workin')
And when I try to walk away
You hurt yourself to make me stay"
Now there's something here. This isn't just sex, and it isn't just
s/he did me wrong. It feels a bit more, I dunno, personal and
heartfelt than the usual R&B stuff that we get on pop-R&B radio.
"Loving you is like a battle
and we both end up with scars"
"Is this just a silly game
that forces you to act this way?
Forces you to scream my name?
Then pretend that you can't stay?"
Unforunately, despite some nice musical bits here and there,
especially from what seems to be Johari Newton's efforts, the
production just seems, I dunno, flat. I don't know how else to
describe it. The more I listen, the more I find, but the more I
listen, the more the incessant beat, beat of the drum gets on my
nerves.
"No one loves you more than me
And no one ever will"
On the other hand, the lyrics and delivery are unassailable. It is
the personal of who she is that helps to make Lauryn's work seem
more real. She's convincing in what she's saying and how she's
saying it. She is not alone in this. Meshell NdegeOcello conveys this
same sense of personal honesty, though hers is more about being raw,
and more self-critical. In hiphop, Lauryn doesn't quite stand alone
in this regard, but in recent years only Common seems well-ahead of
her.
"No one's hurt me more than you
And no one ever will"
This natural self comes out again in "To Zion," and ode to her son.
"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 problem here is, once again, production. You'd think with the
magic of the legendary Carlos Santana that one couldn't go wrong. And
large parts of this track are so right. The chorus, especially as it
goes gospel, it very phat. And of course, the aforementioned Santana
remains Santana. Still it isn't quite right....
"How beautiful if nothing more
To await at Zion's door
I've never been in love like this before"
The track ends with a skit. I find the barely restrained laughter of
the teacher as he asks if anyone in the room has ever been in love to
be bittersweet, but I have to admit that this isn't why I bought the
album.
"Doo Wop (That Thing)," on the other hand, is why many bought the album, I suspect.
"Let's not pretend
They wanna pack pistol by they waist men
Cristal by the case men
still in they mother's basemen'
The pretty-faced men
Claimin' they did a bid men
Need to take care of their three or four kids men
They face a court case when the child support late
Money takin' heart breakin'
You wonder why women hate men"
Fine lyrics, good voicing and singing and a nice trumpet.
"Now Lauryn is only human
Don't think I haven't been
through the same predicament"
I don't know what it is. Somehow the drum machine doesn't bother me
as much here. Maybe it's the energetic background vocals, or the
relative power of the other instruments. Or maybe I just have a
different measure for faster, danceable hiphop than for slower and
presumably more introspective songs. I dunno.
Anyway, there's that classroom skit again. After the kids say their darndest things, we move on to "Superstar."
"Come on baby, light my fire
Everything you drop is so tired
Music is supposed to inspire
How come we ain't gettin' no higher?"
I suppose no one could argue that Lauryn doesn't have the moral
authority to demand better of her fellow artists. I'm sure what the
middle bit has to do with all this, but it works out pretty well.
"Who you know without any flaws?
That lives above the spiritual laws
And does anything they feel just because
there's always someone there who'll applaud"
BTW, while Lauryn is a very solid singer, her voice and range fit with
some songs better than others. I think "The Sweetest Thing I've Ever
Known" (from Love Jones) is one of the best examples I can think of
off the top of the dome. Her voice seems on the edge there, and one
gets the impression that in a contest someone like Aretha Franklin (or
perhaps more apt, Tracy Chapman or Meshell NdegeOcello) would eat her
alive; nevertheless, it all adds to that honesty thing I was talking
about before.
"Just as Christ was a superstar
You stupid star
They hail you, they nail you
No matter who you are"
"Superstar" and "Zion" demonstrate this, but there are many such
moments on Miseducation. I think there are several mainstream R&B
artists who would love to have this quality.
Let's move on. "Final Hour" is probably the only pure hiphop track on here that doesn't work all that well.
"Had opportunity
Went from Hoodshock to Hood chic
But it ain't what you cop
It's what you keep"
I dunno. It's just too sparse for me.
"When It Hurts So Bad" is back to that painful heart stuff.
"What you want might make you cry
What you need might pass you by"
Again, it suffers from the repeated "tish-tish" that weakens this
production effort.
"I thought this feeling was all I had
But how could this be love and make me feel so bad?
Gave up my power, I existed for you
But whoever knew the voodoo you'd do
But I... I loved the young man
And if you've ever been in love you'd understand"
Still the lyrics come out fine. And, of course, there's the delivery.
It works here, pretty much as it always works in this album.
Lauryn then gives us the same story, but this time with better production, adding Mary J Blige into the mix with "I Used to Love Him."
"Torn and confused, wasted and used
Reached the crossroad, which path would I choose?"
Somehow the words don't quite work as well as the other efforts
here, but it all sounds quite a better than average. The chorus in
particular is catchy and draws you in.
Then there's "Forgive Them Father."
"Why every Indian wanna be the chief?
Feed a man 'til he's full
and he still want beef"
Lauryn still has too much tish-tish here, but, hey, it sounds okay.
Maybe I'm just getting used to it.
"Why for you to increase I must decrease?
If I treat you kindly, does that mean I'm weak?"
Anyway, I do like it in a relaxed Fugees-style sort of way. The
Hey-I'm-West-Indian-isms thrown in for good measure don't hurt either.
From here, Lauryn leaves the man-done-me-wrong section of the album for a bit of an uplifting visit down memory lane (with a hiphop sensibility) in "Every Ghetto, Every City".
"A bag of Bontons, twenty cents and a nickel
Springfield Ave had the best popsicles
Saturday morning cartoons and Kung-Fu (wha-hah!)"
I didn't grow up anywhere near the northeast, much less NJ (though I
find myself there now, and I recognize a lot of the geographical
references), but I can definitely relate to the nostalgia.
"You know it's hot, don't forget what you've got
Looking back, looking back, looking back, looking back"
I think I'll call my mom. I'll be back....
"'Self-destruction' records drop
and everybody's name was Muslim"
I'm back. Mom's doing fine, thanks for asking. Let's see, where were
we? Ah, yes, "Nothing Even Matters". I think this is in top two
favorites of the non-hiphop tracks. It features D'Angelo, but I
hadn't really noticed that until now.
"Nothing even matters
Nothing even matters no more
Nothing even matters
Nothing even matters no more"
Why do I like it? Well, it's a sweet smooth little effort (and
well-produced I might add), with lyrics like:
"Now my team could score
and make the final four
Just repossess my 4x4
'cause nothing even matters no more"
...sung the same way Luther Vandross would sing something as serious
as "A House is not a Home." I love it.
In "Everything is Everthing" Lauryn aligns herself with the youth.
"It seems we lose this game
before we even start to play
Who made these rules?"
...but she manages a fine bit of braggadocio, too.
"My practice extending across the atlas
I begat this, flippin' in the ghetto on a dirty mattress
You can't match this rapper slash actress
More powerful than two Cleopatras
Bomb graffiti on the tomb of Nefertiti"
What more can you ask for? About the only thing I can think of is no
skit at the end of the track, and she gives me that.
The title track is next. Lyrically, I think it does a good job of summing up a lot of what is on Lauryn's mind.
"My world it moves so fast today
The past is seems so far away
And I squeeze it so tight
I can't breathe"
"I look at my environment
and wonder where the fire went
What happened to everything we used to be?"
She's not the first to say this, or ask it, and she's not even saying
it or asking it better than anyone ever has... but she is saying it,
and in exactly the way Lauryn would. That's the bottom line.
Now, that brings us to two tracks that aren't listed. The first is a remake of the standard "I Can't Take My Eyes Off You."
"I need you baby
and if it's quite alright
I need you baby
to warm the lonely nights
I love you baby
Just trust me when I say it's okay"
It's well-done and is actually one of the nicer tracks on the album.
Sure, it's got that incessant tish-tish, but, well, I like it anyway.
Now, the second track, although unnamed, appears to be the underground version of "Sweetest Thing" (ah, the power of the web).
"Let me be patient
Let me be kind
Make me unselfish
Without being blind
Though I may suffer
I'll envy it not and endure what comes
Cause his's all that I gotta tell him
Tell him I need him
Tell him I love him
And it'll be alright
And tell him, tell him I need him
Tell him I love him
It'll be alright"
But it sounds damn good. It's one of the better tracks here, in fact.
I can't imagine why it isn't in bold letters on the front of the
album.
"Now I may have faith to make moutains fall
but if I lack love, then I am nothing at all
I can give away, everything I posess
But without love I have no happiness
I know I'm imperfect
and not without sin
But now that I'm older
All childish things end
Tell him, tell him I need him
Tell him I love him"
Good stuff.
So, that's that.
Now, what should we do, here?
This is a damn good effort. Half of it is absolutely outstanding and the other half is good but somewhat disappointing, just because it has to compare to the better stuff. Still, even among some of the productionally-challenged non-hiphop, there are some gems. In particular, I count "I Used to Love Him", "Ex-factor", and especially "Nothing Even Matters" and "Sweetest Thing." And even the worst stuff still has good lyrics and seriously potent delivery. On the hiphop side, there's only one weakish track.
Lauryn fancies herself a bit of the philosopher and, it seems to me, very much a part of her generation, her people and her sex. I don't thinks she off. Her album is different enough from both the hiphop and the R&B that's out there to be worth getting on that basis alone. And never mind that, she's given us a fine, if imperfect, album regardless.
Now, as I try to figure out why I liked this album, and why I wanted to like this album, I have to conclude that she shares a trait with so many of my favorite hiphop artists: self-reflective honesty. Combine that with real lyrical talent and distinctive delivery and you have the best of what hiphop is, all rolled up in a nice little package with pretty hair.
So, get The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Then get an MD player and do some creative editing on those damn skits. Enjoy yourself. Enjoy the album. Whether you're a straight Hip Hop Head or you'd rather hear R. Kelly before KRS-ONE, you'll find something here you'll like.
If, by the way, you're really interested in some innovative, honest, funky and inspired R&B-like music, I recommend Plantation Lullabies and Peace Beyond Passion by Meshell NdegeOcello. I bring this up only because if these two very womynly artists got together and did their thangs, it would blow all of our minds.
But that's just one Black man's opinion--what's yours?
(c) Copyright 1998, Charles L Isbell, Jr. All my Hip Hop reviews are available on the World Wide Web. Use the URL: http://www.seditionists.org/HFh and follow the pointers....
Charles Isbell isbell@isbell.org Some of you are homeboys, but only I am The Homeboy From hell