The female MC’s playground may be crawling with Barbies and kaleidoscopic wigs right now, but we all know who shall forever sit atop the monkey bars looking down on these other little rap girls—Lauryn Noel Hill! The hip-hop icon who has been ghost for far too many years (don’t be afraid to blame Rohan Marley’s treacherous island p***s), has been making a few surprising appearances in public lately. She ripped the stage at the LA Harmony Festival a few weeks ago and will also be a headlining act on this year’s Rock The Bells tour—the fans are more excited than a Jamaican with jerk seasoning!
L-Boogie recently spoke with National Public Radio and explained why she had been missing in action for so long.
“There were a number of different reasons,” she says. “But partly, the support system that I needed was not necessarily in place. There were things about myself, personal-growth things, that I had to go through in order to feel like it was worth it. Oftentimes, I think people are forced to make decisions prematurely. And then that sound radiates.”
“I’m trying to open up my range and really sing more,” she says. “With The Fugees initially, and even with Miseducation, it was very hip-hop—always a singing over beats. I don’t think people have really heard me sing out. So if I do record again, perhaps it will have an expanded context. Where people can hear a bit more.”
“I don’t know if you know this, but I have five children,” she says. “The youngest is two now, so she’s old enough that I can leave her for a period of time and know she’s going to be okay. That’s one reason [Hill is starting to perform again]. And I think it’s just time. I’m starting to get excited again. Believe it or not, I think what people are attracted to about me, if anything, is my passion. People got exposed to my passion through music and song first. I think people might realize, you know, ‘We love the way she sounds, we love the music, but I think we just love how fearless she is. How boundless she is, when it comes to what she wants to do.’ And I think that can be infectious.” [NPR]
In case any of you kids are not hip to the magnificence that is Lauryn Hill, here is a quick note: Her debut solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, debuted at number one and has sold over eight million copies in the US alone. It was nominated for ten Grammys and won five including Album of the Year. She was the first female to receive so many Grammy nominations and awards in one night. A single strand of Ms. Hill’s hair is greater than your favorite female rapper and they would probably kill for it.
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