Age, Biography and Wiki
Lauryn Hill was born on May 26, 1975, in East Orange, New Jersey. She began her musical journey at a young age and became a member of the Fugees in the early 1990s. The group's album "The Score" in 1996 catapulted them to international fame. Hill's solo debut, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," released in 1998, earned her five Grammy Awards and solidified her status as a musical powerhouse. She has since maintained a private life, focusing on her family and personal growth.
| Occupation | Soap Opera Actress |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 26 May 1975 |
| Age | 50 Years |
| Birth Place | East Orange, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Gemini |
| Country | Jersey |
Height, Weight & Measurements
There is limited public information available about Lauryn Hill's current height, weight, and measurements. However, she is known for maintaining a modest lifestyle.
Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She is celebrated as one of the most influential musical artists of her generation. Hill is credited with breaking barriers for female rappers, contributing to the mainstream success of both hip-hop and neo soul, and blending rap with melodic vocals. She has been honored as one of the 50 Great Voices by NPR, and one of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone. In 2015, Billboard named her the greatest female rapper. Among her accolades are eight Grammy Awards—the most for any female rapper.
While a freshman in high school, through mutual friends, Prakazrel "Pras" Michel approached Hill about a music group he was creating. Hill and Pras began under the name Translator Crew. They came up with this name because they wanted to rhyme in different languages. Another female vocalist was soon replaced by Michel's cousin, multi-instrumentalist Wyclef Jean. The group began performing in local showcases and high school talent shows. Hill was initially only a singer, but then learned to rap too; instead of modeling herself on female rappers like Salt-N-Pepa and MC Lyte, she preferred male rappers like Ice Cube and developed her flow from listening to them. Hill later said, "I remember doing my homework in the bathroom stalls of hip-hop clubs."
While growing up, Hill took acting lessons in Manhattan. She began her acting career in 1991 appearing with Jean in Club XII, MC Lyte's Off-Broadway hip-hop rendering of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. While the play was not a success, an agent noticed her. Later that year, Hill began appearing on the soap opera As the World Turns in a recurring role as troubled teenager Kira Johnson. She subsequently co-starred alongside Whoopi Goldberg in the 1993 release Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, playing Rita Louise Watson, an inner-city Catholic school teenager with a surly, rebellious attitude. In it, she performed the songs "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" (a duet with Tanya Blount) and "Joyful, Joyful".
Singles from The Score included "Fu-Gee-La" and "Ready or Not", which highlighted Hill's singing and rapping abilities, and the Bob Marley cover "No Woman, No Cry". Her rendition of "Killing Me Softly" became the group's breakout hit. Buttressed by what Rolling Stone publications later called Hill's "evocative" vocal line and her "amazing pipes", the track became pervasive on pop, R&B, hip hop, and adult contemporary radio formats. It won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. On the album, Hill combined African-American music and Caribbean music influences with socially conscious lyrics. Newsweek mentioned Hill's "irresistibly cute looks" and proclaimed her "the most powerful new voice in rap".
In terms of production, Hill collaborated with a group of musicians known as New Ark, consisting of Vada Nobles, Rasheem Pugh, Tejumold Newton, and Johari Newton. Hill later said that she wanted to "write songs that lyrically move me and have the integrity of reggae and the knock of hip-hop and the instrumentation of classic soul" and that the production on the album was intended to make the music sound raw and not computer-aided. Hill spoke of pressure from her label to emulate Prince, wherein all tracks would be credited as written and produced by the artist with little outside help. She also wanted to be appreciated as an auteur as much as Jean had within the Fugees. She also saw a feminist cause: "But step out and try and control things and there are doubts. This is a very sexist industry. They'll never throw the 'genius' title to a sister." While recording the album, when Hill was asked about providing contracts or documentation to the musicians, she replied, "We all love each other. This ain't about documents. This is blessed."
Released on August 25, 1998, the album received rave reviews from contemporary music critics, and was the most acclaimed album of 1998. Critics lauded the album's blending of the R&B, doo-wop, pop, hip-hop, and reggae genres and its honest representation of a woman's life and relationships. David Browne, writing in Entertainment Weekly, called it "an album of often-astonishing power, strength, and feeling", and praised Hill for "easily flowing from singing to rapping, evoking the past while forging a future of her own". Robert Christgau quipped, "PC record of the year—songs soft, singing ordinary, rapping skilled, rhymes up and down, skits de trop, production subtle and terrific". In 2017, NPR rated the album as the second-best album of all time created by a woman.
In the run-up to the 1999 Grammy Awards, Hill became the first woman to be nominated in ten categories in a single year. In addition to Miseducation works, the nominations included her rendition of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You" for the 1997 film Conspiracy Theory, which had appeared on Billboard charts, and Hill's writing and producing of "A Rose Is Still a Rose", which became a late-in-career hit for Aretha Franklin. She appeared on several magazine covers, including Time, Esquire, Rolling Stone, Teen People, and The New York Times Fashion Magazine. During the ceremony, Hill broke another record by becoming the first woman to win five times in one night, taking home the awards for Album of the Year, Best R&B Album, Best R&B Song, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and Best New Artist. During an acceptance speech, she said, "This is crazy. This is hip-hop!" Hill had brought forth a new, mainstream acceptance of the genre.
In January 2010, Hill returned to the live stage and performed in stops across New Zealand and Australia on the Raggamuffin Music Festival. Many of the songs that Hill had performed and recorded over the past six years were included on an April 2010 unofficial compilation album titled Khulami Phase. The album also features a range of other material found on the Ms. Hill compilation. Hill appeared at the Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa, California, in June 2010, her first live American performance in several years. An unreleased song called "Repercussions" was leaked via the Internet in late July 2010, debuting at No. 94 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (and peaked at No. 83 the following week), making it her first Billboard chart appearance as a lead artist since 1999.
In 2015, Vogue mentioned her as one of the female hip hop entertainers of 1990s, whose style they considered to be influential to 2010s fashion, with Emily Barasch of Vogue, writing "Lauryn Hill's sense of style endures today, as nineties nostalgia continues to pervade the runways." She was hailed as a "fashion and music icon" by CR Fashion Book and was also included on the list of the most stylish rappers of all time by Complex.
* which first grew in popularity among black women in the 1970s, before reaching a wider audience after female hip hop artists like Hill wore them in the 1980s and 1990s. Considered as an inspiration for Kanye West's fashion, singer Solange Knowles also cited Hill among her style influences in an interview for Fashionista.
* which first grew in popularity among black women in the 1970s, before reaching a wider audience after female hip hop artists like Hill wore them in the 1980s and 1990s. Considered as an inspiration for Kanye West's fashion, singer Solange Knowles also cited Hill among her style influences in an interview for Fashionista.
* which first grew in popularity among black women in the 1970s, before reaching a wider audience after female hip hop artists like Hill wore them in the 1980s and 1990s. Considered as an inspiration for Kanye West's fashion, singer Solange Knowles also cited Hill among her style influences in an interview for Fashionista.
* which first grew in popularity among black women in the 1970s, before reaching a wider audience after female hip hop artists like Hill wore them in the 1980s and 1990s. Considered as an inspiration for Kanye West's fashion, singer Solange Knowles also cited Hill among her style influences in an interview for Fashionista.
* which first grew in popularity among black women in the 1970s, before reaching a wider audience after female hip hop artists like Hill wore them in the 1980s and 1990s. Considered as an inspiration for Kanye West's fashion, singer Solange Knowles also cited Hill among her style influences in an interview for Fashionista.
* which first grew in popularity among black women in the 1970s, before reaching a wider audience after female hip hop artists like Hill wore them in the 1980s and 1990s. Considered as an inspiration for Kanye West's fashion, singer Solange Knowles also cited Hill among her style influences in an interview for Fashionista.
British fashion designer John Galliano chose Hill as his muse for the 2000 Spring/Summer Dior collection, he designed; The Hill-inspired collection featured models wearing dreadlocks and hoop earrings, and introduced the Dior 'Saddle Bag', which was made famous by the character Carrie Bradshaw in the television series Sex and the City; and according to Who What Wear, it is one of the ten most popular designer handbags ever. In 2017, the hip hop-based collection designed by Alexander Wang, as well as Tory Burch's resort collection, were both inspired by Hill.
Hill is widely considered to be one of the greatest rappers of all time and has often been called the greatest female rapper. * * * * * The New York Times once referred to Hill as "the most popular woman in hip-hop". Rapper Kool Moe Dee gave Hill the highest score of any rapper on his rap 'Report Cards' list from the book, Ego Trip's Book of Rap Lists. Furthermore, Beyoncé once stated that she is "one of the best hip-hop rappers ever". Donna Summer named her as a favorite in a 1999 interview. In 1998, Time declared her as the "Queen of Hip Hop"; while Academy of Achievement, The Boston Globe, and Billboard, among others, have also crowned her with the same title. In 2015, Billboard ranked Hill as the seventh greatest rapper of all time on their "10 Best Rappers of All Time" list, with her being the only woman on the list.
Music critic Brandon Tensley argued that "few artists have marked culture as profoundly as Hill did with her solo debut". In 2012, VH1 ranked Hill as one of the Greatest Woman in Music. In 2014, she was named the most influential woman in hip hop history by AllHipHop. Hill was also included on the NPR list of the '50 Great Voices'; and on the Consequence of Sound list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time. In 2019, Hill ranked No. 1 on the Ranker poll of the greatest singer/rappers. In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked Hill at number 136 on its list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time. American Journalist Touré stated that "She was—she is—the greatest female MC of all time".
Former RIAA president Hilary Rosen, recognized Hill as a leading contributor to the blurring of lines that distinguished hip hop and R&B. Minaj alluded to Hill's impact on melodic rap on the song "Can Anybody Hear Me", where she mentions that prior to fame, Def Jam Recordings wouldn't sign her because she wanted to integrate rapping and singing on her album, but the record label told her she "wasn't Lauryn Hill". Lizzo who started her career as a rapper, later incorporated singing into her debut record. She stated in an interview in 2018, "I was always afraid of being a singer, but then when I heard Lauryn Hill, I was like, maybe I can do both", further adding that her debut album drew influence from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, "rapping, singing, being political". According to Da Brat, Hill's "sound shifted the whole game".
In 1999, Billboard considered Hill's success to be a breakthrough for female rappers, which resulted in a brief increase of female rappers in the music industry at the time, that the publication dubbed 'The Lauryn Hill Effect'. Author Nelson George noted, "the presence of women is increasing"; while Missy Elliott also added that "Latifah opened the door for doing TV, and she might have opened it for Brandy. Now, it's open for everybody. This is just the beginning". That same year, a public survey was conducted by MTV, which directly impacted its programming. In the survey, she was ranked the most respected solo artist, and placed among the acts that participants thought best defined their generation; with former Viacom executive Todd Cunningham referring to Hill as a "massive phenomenon". Music journalist Danyel Smith credited Hill with reviving the hip hop genre, following the murders of The Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur.
Furthermore, musicians Erykah Badu and Jazmine Sullivan have both mentioned her as their musical hero. In addition Kehlani has a tattoo of Hill on her arm. After performing with Hill, The Weeknd described the experience as the "most important experience of my life". During her 2018 Grammy award acceptance speech, Spanish singer Rosalía thanked her for being influential to her.
Billboard stated that Hill "is to hip-hop as a gardener is to soil", and added that "the rapper/singer planted classic gems in her catalog — especially her pristine 1998 debut The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill — that have become samples for many rap game MVPs".
Hill won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album as a member of The Fugees, for their album The Score, becoming the first woman to win the award. The Score also peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 chart. Her first solo studio album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, also peaked at number one, making Hill the first solo female hip hop act to reach number one on that chart. The album sold more than 422,000 copies in its first week, which had broken the record previously held by Madonna, for highest first-week sales by a female artist. Both The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and its lead single "Doo Wop (That Thing)" debuted at number one in the U.S., making Hill the first act to have debuted at number one on both the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 with their first entries on each chart. The album also topped the Billboard Year-End Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart, making it the first album by a female artist to accomplish this feat.
At the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, Hill received ten Grammy Award nominations and won five that night, including Album of the Year, with The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill being the first Hip hop album to win the award. She also set the record for most nominations for a female artist in one night, broke the record at the time previously set by Carole King for the most wins by a female artist in one night, and became the first female rapper to win the Best New Artist award. Furthermore, she also became the first black solo act to win MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year at the 1999 MTV Video Music Awards.
In 2021, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was certified Diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), making Hill the first female hip hop artist to ever receive a Diamond certification in the United States. That same year, Rolling Stone placed her single "Doo Wop (That Thing)" and the Fugees version of "Killing Me Softly" on their revised list of the 500 Greatest Songs. The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture included "Doo Wop (That Thing)" on their Anthology of Hip-Hop and Rap box set. In 2024, The Recording Academy selected it to be inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame. It was also featured as the number one album of Apple Music's 2024 list of the 100 best albums.
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Dating & Relationship status
Lauryn Hill's personal life has been relatively private. She has six children and has emphasized the importance of family and spiritual growth over public relationships.
Her mother, Valerie Hill, was an English teacher and her father, Mal Hill, a computer and management consultant. Her Baptist family moved to New York for a short period before settling in South Orange.
Hill has said of her musically oriented family: "there were so many records, so much music constantly being played. My mother played the piano, my father sang, and we were always surrounded by music." Her father sang in local nightclubs and at weddings. While growing up, Hill frequently listened to Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, and Gladys Knight; years later she recalled playing Marvin Gaye's What's Going On repeatedly until she fell asleep to it.
Pras, Hill and Jean renamed their group Fugees, a derivative of the word "refugee", which was a derogatory term for Haitian Americans. Hill began a romantic relationship with Jean. The Fugees, who signed a contract with Columbia/Ruffhouse Records in 1993, became known for their genre blending, particularly of reggae, rock and soul, which was first experimented on their debut album, Blunted on Reality, released in 1994. It reached No. 62 on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart but overall sold poorly and was met by poor critical reviews due to their management's insistence they adopt gangsta rap attitudes. Although the album made little impact, Hill's rapping on "Some Seek Stardom" was seen as a highlight. Within the group, she was frequently referred to by the nickname "L. Boogie". Hill's image and artistry, as well as her full, rich, raspy alto voice, placed her at the forefront of the band, with some fans urging her to begin a solo career.
When she was 21 years old, Hill was still living at home with her parents. She had been enrolled at Columbia University during this period, and considered majoring in history as she became a sophomore, but left after about a year of total studies once sales of The Score went into the millions. In 1996, she responded to a false rumor on The Howard Stern Show that she had made a racist comment on MTV, saying "How can I possibly be a racist? My music is universal. And I believe in God. If I believe in God, then I have to love all of God's creations. There can be no segregation."
In 1997, the Fugees split to work on solo projects, which Jean later blamed on his tumultuous relationship with Hill and the fact he married his wife Claudinette while still involved with Hill. Meanwhile, in the summer of 1996 Hill had met Rohan Marley, a son of Bob Marley and a former University of Miami football player. Hill subsequently began a relationship with him, while still also involved with Jean. The couple lived in Hill's childhood house in South Orange after she bought her parents a new house down the street.
Hill had a cameo appearance in the 1997 film Hav Plenty. In 1998, Hill took up another small, but important role in the film Restaurant; Entertainment Weekly praised her portrayal of the protagonist's pregnant former girlfriend as bringing vigor to the film.
Several songs on the album concerned her frustration with the Fugees; "I Used to Love Him" dealt with the breakdown of the relationship between Hill and Wyclef Jean. Other songs such as "To Zion" spoke about her decision to have her first baby (Zion David Marley, the first of five she was to have with Rohan Marley), even though some at the time encouraged her to have an abortion so to not interfere with her blossoming career. Indeed, Hill's pregnancy revived her from a period of writer's block.
In February 1999, Hill received four awards at the 30th Annual NAACP Image Awards. In May 1999, she became the youngest woman ever named to Ebony magazine's 100+ Most Influential Black Americans list; in November of that year, the same publication named her as one of "10 For Tomorrow" in the "Ebony 2000: Special Millennium Issue". In May 1999, she made People magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People list. The publication, which has called her "model-gorgeous", praised the 5 ft Hill for her idiosyncratic sense of personal style. In June 1999, she received an Essence Award, but her acceptance speech, where she said there was no contradiction in religious love and servitude and "[being] who you are, as fly and as hot and as whatever", drew reaction from those in the public who thought she was not a good role model as a young, unwed mother of two. This was a repetition of criticism she had received after the birth of her first child, and she had said that she and Marley would soon be married. In early 2000, Hill was one of the producers to share the Grammy Award for Album of the Year awarded for Santana's 1999 multi-million-selling Supernatural, whereon she had written, produced, and rapped on the track "Do You Like the Way" (a rumination on the direction the world was headed, it also featured the singing of CeeLo Green and the signature guitar runs of Carlos Santana). She was also nominated for Best R&B Song for "All That I Can Say", which she had written and produced for Mary J. Blige. Also, her concocted duet with Bob Marley on "Turn Your Lights Down Low" for the 1999 remix tribute album Chant Down Babylon additionally appeared in the 1999 film The Best Man and later received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.
Hill began writing a screenplay about the life of Bob Marley, in the production of which she planned to play his wife Rita. She also began producing a romantic comedy about soul food with a working title of Sauce, and accepted a starring role in the film adaptation of Toni Morrison's novel Beloved; she later dropped out of both projects due to pregnancy. She also reportedly turned down acting roles in the remake for A Star Is Born (the movie was later released in 2018, with the part going to Lady Gaga), Dreamgirls (the role of Deena, later played by Beyoncé), Charlie's Angels (the part that went to Lucy Liu), The Bourne Identity, The Mexican, The Matrix Reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions.
He was followed a year later by their fourth, John Nesta. While Hill sometimes had spoken of Marley as her husband, they never married, and along the way she was informed that Marley had been previously married at a young age. According to a 2003 Rolling Stone report, he had never secured a divorce. Marley later disputed this and made public to a blog a 1996 divorce document from Haiti. The two had been living in a high-end Miami hotel, but around 2003 she moved out into her own place in that city. Hill later said that she and Marley "have had long periods of separation over the years". Hill slowly worked on a new album and it was reported that by 2003, Columbia Records had spent more than $2.5 million funding it, including installing a recording studio in the singer's Miami apartment and flying different musicians around the country.
The couple were not living together, although Marley considered them "spiritually together" even while listing himself as single on social media. Hill later said that she and Marley "have [had] a long and complex history about which many inaccuracies have been reported since the beginning" and that they both valued their privacy. By August 2008, Hill was living with her mother and children in her hometown of South Orange, New Jersey.
Hill joined the Rock the Bells hip-hop festival series in the U.S. during August 2010, and as part of that year's theme of rendering classic albums, she performed The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in its entirety for the first time. She increased the tempo and urgency from the original recording, but at times had difficulty in communicating with her band. Hill continued touring, including a set at the 6th Annual Jazz in the Gardens, in Miami Gardens, Florida in December. In Spring 2011, Hill performed at the Coachella Valley Music Festival, New Orleans Jazz Fest, and at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas. In July 2011, Hill gave birth to her sixth child, Micah, her first not with Rohan Marley; the father remains publicly unknown.
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Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, Lauryn Hill's net worth is estimated to be around $9 million, although some sources suggest it could be between $8 million and $10 million. Her wealth primarily stems from her successful music career, including album sales and tours. Despite her influential career, her net worth is lower than expected due to limited commercial output and past legal issues.
In 2004, Hill contributed a new song, "The Passion", to The Passion of the Christ: Songs. A remix version with John Legend of his "So High" ended up receiving a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Around this time, Hill began selling a pay-per-view music video of the song "Social Drugs" through her website. Those who purchase the $15 video would only be able to view it three times before it expired. In addition to the video, Hill began selling autographed posters and Polaroids through her website, with some items listed at upwards of $500.
In June 2012, Hill was charged with three counts of tax fraud or failing to file taxes (Title 26 USC § 7202 Willful failure to collect or pay over tax) not tax evasion on $1.8 million of income earned between 2005 and 2007. During this time she had toured as a musical artist, earned royalties from both her records and from films she had appeared in, and had owned and been in charge of multiple corporations. In a long post to her Tumblr, Hill said that she had gone "underground" and had rejected pop culture's "climate of hostility, false entitlement, manipulation, racial prejudice, sexism, and ageism." She added, "When I was working consistently without being affected by the interferences mentioned above, I filed and paid my taxes. This only stopped when it was necessary to withdraw from society, in order to guarantee the safety and well-being of myself and my family."
In June 2012, Hill appeared in the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey in Newark and pleaded guilty to the charges. Her attorney said she would make restitution for the back taxes she owed. By April 2013, Hill had paid back only $50,000 of the $554,000 she owed immediately. U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo criticized Hill, saying "This is not someone who stands before the court penniless. This is a criminal matter. Actions speak louder than words, and there has been no effort here to pay these taxes." Hill faced possible eviction from her rented home in South Orange as well as a civil lawsuit from the town for running a business out of a home without a zoning permit.
On May 6, 2013, Hill was sentenced by Judge Arleo to serve three months in prison for failing to file taxes/tax fraud and three months' house arrest afterwards as part of a year of supervised probation. She had faced a possible sentence of as long as 36 months, and the sentence given took into account her lack of a prior criminal record and her six minor-aged children. By this point Hill had fully paid back $970,000 in back taxes and penalties she owed, which also took into account an additional $500,000 that Hill had in unreported income for 2008 and 2009. In the courtroom, Hill said that she had lived "very modestly" considering how much money she had made for others, and that "I am a child of former slaves who had a system imposed on them. I had an economic system imposed on me." Hill reported to the minimum-security Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury on July 8, 2013, to begin serving her sentence.
Career, Business and Investments
Hill's career began with the Fugees, whose album "The Score" was a massive success. Her solo album "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" was critically acclaimed and commercially successful. She has been less active in the music industry since the early 2000s, preferring a selective approach to her career. In recent years, she has embarked on tours celebrating the anniversary of her iconic album. There is no prominent information available about specific business investments outside of her music career.
Hill began her career as a teen actress, appearing in As the World Turns (1991) and Steven Soderbergh's drama film King of the Hill (1993). Her performance as Rita in the film Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993) earned widespread praise. Hill gained further prominence as the frontwoman of the Fugees, which she formed in 1990 with Wyclef Jean and Pras. Their second album, The Score (1996), topped the Billboard 200 and made Hill the first woman to win a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album. The album featured the hit single "Killing Me Softly", which became the best-selling single of 1996 in multiple regions, including the UK. Its popularity was so immense that it was pulled from stores to prioritize the release of the album's next single, "Ready or Not". That same year, she guest appeared on Nas' single "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)".
Her debut solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998), became the first album by a female rapper to debut atop the Billboard 200. Along with critical acclaim, its lead single, "Doo Wop (That Thing)", debuted atop the Billboard Hot 100, making Hill the first artist to debut at No. 1 on both charts with their first entries. The Miseducation became the first recording by a female rapper to become diamond certified by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and spawned three hit songs: "Ex-Factor", "Nothing Even Matters", and "Lost Ones". At the 41st Grammy Awards, she became the first rapper to win Album of the Year. The album remains one of the best-selling albums worldwide and topped Apple Music's 100 Best Albums list.
In November 1998, New Ark filed a fifty-page lawsuit against Hill, her management, and record label, claiming that Hill "used their songs and production skills, but failed to properly credit them for the work" on Miseducation. The musicians claimed to be the primary songwriters on two tracks, and major contributors on several others, though Gordon Williams, a prominent recorder, engineer, and mixer on Miseducation, described the album as a "powerfully personal effort by Hill" and said, "It was definitely her vision." Hill responded that New Ark had been appropriately credited and now were seeking to take advantage of her success. New Ark requested partial writing credits on most of the tracks on the album as well as monetary reimbursement. After many delays, depositions took place during the latter part of 2000. In part, the case illustrated the difficult boundaries between songwriting and all other aspects that went into contemporary arranging, sampling, and recording. The suit was eventually settled out of court in February 2001, with Hill paying New Ark a reported $5 million. A friend of Hill's later said of the suit, "That was the beginning of a chain effect that would turn everything a little crazy."
In December 2003, Hill, during a performance in Vatican City, spoke of the "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. High-ranking church officials were in attendance, but Pope John Paul II was not present. The Catholic League called Hill "pathologically miserable" and claimed her career was "in decline". The following day, several reporters suggested that Hill's comments at the Vatican may have been influenced by her spiritual advisor, Brother Anthony.
On May 4, 2013, Hill released her first official single in over a decade, "Neurotic Society (Compulsory Mix)". She later published a message on her Tumblr describing how she was "required to release [it] immediately, by virtue of the impending legal deadline". The release received some criticism for lyrics that appeared to tie societal decay to certain LGBT social movements. Hill responded that the song was not targeted at any particular group but was instead focused on anyone hiding behind neurotic behavior. Following a deal with Sony Music, which involves Hill creating a new record label within the company, Hill was said to be scheduled to release her first album in fifteen years during 2013.
On April 14, 2024, Lauryn Hill made her return to the stage at Coachella. Hill's son, YG Marley, was performing when Hill surprised the crowd by making an appearance. Hill performed several solo songs from her career, but was also reunited with former Fugees bandmate, Wyclef Jean, to perform numerous beloved hit songs.
In the peak of her career, Hill had earned over $25 million for her work. She is one of the best-selling female rappers of all time, with an estimated 50 million records sold worldwide, throughout the course of her career.
As an actress, Hill's most memorable role was portraying Rita Watson in the 1993 film Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit. Hill's performance in the film inspired Janelle Monáe to pursue an acting career. Multiple publications have listed her performance in the film as one of the best acting performances by a rapper.
In November 2023, she was widely criticized for being late to a show in Los Angeles. She responded by saying her fans should consider themselves "lucky" that she appears on stage "every night". The comments were made a week after she said her doctors ordered her to vocal rest after she postponed a series of shows due to vocal injuries. According to Paul Meara of BET, Hill later shared an extended version of her comments that could be perceived as directed more toward the music industry than Hill's fans.
Hill has won numerous accolades throughout her career, including eight Grammy Awards (including Album of the Year), the most won by a female rapper. She has also received six MTV Video Music Awards (including Video of the Year), four NAACP Image Awards (including the President's Award), four Guinness World Records, and three American Music Awards. In 2021, she was among the inaugural nominees for the Black Music and Entertainment Walk of Fame, and was inducted in 2022.
Along with having a successful music career as a member of The Fugees and as a solo artist, Hill also achieved success as a songwriter and producer for other artists. Hill has written songs for Aretha Franklin, Mary J. Blige, CeCe Winans and produced songs for Whitney Houston and Santana, among others. In 2015, she received the Golden Note Award from American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). Hill has also won ASCAP songwriting awards for her credits on Drake's "Nice for What", Aretha Franklin's "A Rose Is Still a Rose", Cardi B's "Be Careful", Mary J. Blige's "All That I Can Say", and Kanye West's "All Falls Down".
Social Network
Lauryn Hill maintains a private life and does not have a significant presence on major social media platforms. Her influence in the music industry continues through her legacy and the artists she has inspired.
In 1999, Hill became the first rapper to appear on the cover of Time. Later that year, her duet with the late Bob Marley, "Turn Your Lights Down Low", reached the top ten internationally. In 2002, Hill's Grammy-nominated live album MTV Unplugged No. 2.0, debuted in the Billboard 200 top five and received platinum certification. In the years following, she collaborated with John Legend and Nas on songs like "So High (remix)" and "Nobody", while also remaining an active touring artist. Billboard ranks her as the second highest-grossing female rapper in live music history.
The Fugees' second album, The Score (1996), peaked at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and stayed in the top ten of that chart for over half a year. It sold about seven million copies in the United States and more than 20 million copies worldwide. In the 1996 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll, The Score came second in the list of best albums and three of its tracks placed within the top 20 best singles. It won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, and was later included on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. The Score garnered praise for being a strong alternative to the gangsta idiom, and Hill stated, "We're trying to do something positive with the music because it seems like only the negative is rising to the top these days. It only takes a drop of purity to clean a cesspool."
She later described this period of her life to Essence saying "People need to understand that the Lauryn Hill they were exposed to in the beginning was all that was allowed in that arena at that time ... I had to step away when I realized that for the sake of the machine, I was being way too compromised. I felt uncomfortable about having to smile in someone's face when I really didn't like them or even know them well enough to like them." She also spoke about her emotional crisis, saying, "For two or three years I was away from all social interaction. It was a very introspective time because I had to confront my fears and master every demonic thought about inferiority, about insecurity or the fear of being black, young and gifted in this western culture." She went on to say that she had to fight to retain her identity, and was forced "to deal with folks who weren't happy about that."
In May 2015, Hill canceled her scheduled concert outside Tel Aviv in Israel following a social media campaign from activists promoting the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions campaign. She said she had wanted to also perform a show in Ramallah in the West Bank but logistical problems had proved too great. Hill stated: "It is very important to me that my presence or message not be misconstrued, or a source of alienation to either my Israeli or my Palestinian fans."
In April 2016, Hill hosted and headlined what was billed as the inaugural Diaspora Calling! festival at the Kings Theatre in Brooklyn. The festival's purpose was to showcase the efforts of musicians and artists from around the African diaspora like Brooklyn Haitian Rara band Brother High Full Tempo. The following month, Hill was approximately 2 hours and 20 minutes late for her show at the Chastain Park Amphitheatre in Atlanta, though members of Hill's team claimed it was only an hour after their scheduled start time. Moments after the less-than-40-minute show ended due to the venue's strict 11:00 p.m. closing time, Hill said her driver had gotten lost and she could not help that. Less than 48 hours later, after a large backlash from her fans on Twitter, she took to her Facebook page and stated she was late for the concert because of certain needs, including her need to "align her energy with the time".
The Fugees were scheduled to start a reunion tour in August 2024 but the U.S. dates were quietly canceled three days before the first show, with no reason given to customers receiving refunds, but Hill cited "clickbait headlines" and low-ticket sales as an explanation. The cancellations received media scrutiny, to which Hill responded "I can assure you that no one is more disappointed about not being able to perform than I am." Pras released a diss track titled "Bar Mitzfa" which criticized Hill that same month. In October 2024, Pras sued Hill for breach of contract and fraud, accusing her of mismanaging the budgeting of their tour in "a veiled and devious attempt to make a big score for herself". Hill responded to each of the claims made in the lawsuit on Instagram, and said it "is full of false claims and unwarranted attacks. It notably omits that he was advanced overpayment for the last tour and has failed to repay substantial loans extended by myself as an act of good will."
In 2015, she canceled a show in Israel after she was faced with a social media campaign by activists who urged her to boycott Israel over its occupation of Palestinian land. She later clarified that she does not take sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but "believes in dignity for all sides", according to professor Noura Erakat.
With her solo music and work with Fugees, Hill is often credited as the artist who popularized the technique of blending rap and melodic singing together into one single song, sometimes referred to as melodic rap; this has since become popular, with many modern artists like Beyoncé, Drake, Nicki Minaj and Kanye West emulating it. Writing for The Ringer, author Musa Okwonga wrote "Decades before the ubiquity of the MC who could also croon, she could channel the greatness of Nina Simone and Rakim in the same set." In Complex, Andy Gee commented that "the modern music landscape is dominated by artists like Drake and Nicki Minaj, who fall in the Lauryn Hill archetype as traditionalist-appeasing MCs who have records where they're singing their hearts out." XXL argued that "she set the bar high, not just for woman creators, but for anyone who wanted to rap or sing."
Nicki Minaj has made mention of Hill's influence on her on multiple occasions; Including on 2020 U.S. number one single "Say So Remix", In which Minaj raps, "Spittin' like Weezy, Foxy, plus Lauryn". Minaj has also referred to Hill as her idol and quoted the artist in her high school yearbook. John Legend attributes his early career success and his launch into the music industry to Hill, who gave him his first major opportunity as a pianist on the song "Everything Is Everything". Rapsody and Bebe Rexha have both cited Hill as their biggest musical inspiration, as well as UK grime rapper Stormzy naming her his biggest female musical influence.
Education
Hill attended Columbia University, balancing her music career with her studies. Her educational background reflects her commitment to intellectual pursuits alongside her artistic endeavors.
In middle school, Hill performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" before a basketball game. Due to its popularity, subsequent games featured a recording of her rendition. In 1988, Hill appeared as an Amateur Night contestant on It's Showtime at the Apollo. She sang her version of the Smokey Robinson track "Who's Lovin' You". Stumbling out of the gate to hit her notes, she initially garnered a mixed reaction from the crowd, but persevered through the performance, which ended in applause.
Hill attended Columbia High School, where she was a member of the track team, cheerleading squad and was a classmate of actor Zach Braff. She also took violin lessons, went to dance class, and founded the school's gospel choir. Academically, she took advanced placement classes and received primarily 'A' grades. School officials recognized her as a leader among the student body. Later recalling her education, Hill commented, "I had a love for—I don't know if it was necessarily for academics, more than it just was for achieving, period. If it was academics, if it was sports, if it was music, if it was dance, whatever it was, I was always driven to do a lot in whatever field or whatever area I was focusing on at the moment."
Director Bill Duke credited Hill with improvising a rap in a scene: "None of that was scripted. That was all Lauryn. She was amazing." Critic Roger Ebert called her "the girl with the big joyful voice", although he thought her talent was wasted, while Rolling Stone said she "performed marvelously against type ... in the otherwise perfunctory [film]". Hill also appeared in Steven Soderbergh's 1993 motion picture King of the Hill, in a minor but pivotal role as a 1930s gum-popping elevator operator. Soderbergh biographer Jason Wood described her as supplying one of the warmest scenes in the film. Hill graduated from Columbia High School in 1993.
Hill recorded her solo record The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill from late 1997 through June 1998 at Tuff Gong Studios in Jamaica. The title was inspired by the book The Mis-Education of the Negro (1933) by Carter G. Woodson and The Education of Sonny Carson, a film and autobiographical novel. The album featured contributions from D'Angelo, Carlos Santana, Mary J. Blige and the then-unknown John Legend. Wyclef Jean initially did not support Hill recording a solo album, but eventually offered his production help; Hill turned him down.
In 2000, Hill dropped out of the public eye. The pressures of fame began to overwhelm her. She disliked not being able to go out of her house to do simple errands without having to worry about her physical appearance. She fired her management team and began attending Bible study classes five days a week; she also stopped doing interviews, watching television, and listening to music. She started associating with a "spiritual advisor" named Brother Anthony. Some familiar with Hill believe Anthony more resembled a cult leader than a spiritual advisor, and thought his guidance probably inspired much of Hill's more controversial public behavior.
In 1999, Hill partnered with Levi Strauss & Co. to create custom outfits for her Miseducation Tour. Journalist Thembisa Mshaka of Okayplayer wrote: "when Levi Strauss put its name next to Lauryn Hill, a new course was charted. The Fortune 500 brand partnerships with black musicians that are ubiquitous today were seeded by the success of Lauryn's solo debut". A custom ensemble made for Hill by Levi's was put on display during the Levi Strauss: A History of American Style exhibit at the Contemporary Jewish Museum. Hill also partnered with Armani during the late 1990s; the brand designed multiple custom looks for Hill and helped sponsored her Miseducation of Lauryn Hill tour. A design created by Armani for the tour was on put display for the 1999 "Rock Style" themed Met Gala.
In the late 1990s, Hill presided over the Refugee Project, a nonprofit organization that served youth in New Jersey. The organization offered New Jersey youth scholarships, mentoring, after-school programs, a reading club and a summer camp program. The Refugee Project's board of directors included Mariah Carey, Spike Lee, actor Malcolm Jamal Warner, and rappers Busta Rhymes, Q-Tip, and Nas.
According to Billboard, Hill provided 10 scholarships for the 2019–2020 academic year to students at Alpha Institute in Kingston, Jamaica, through her MLH Fund.
Conclusion
Lauryn Hill's enduring impact on music is a testament to her innovative style and profound influence on contemporary artists. Despite a relatively modest net worth compared to her influence, she remains a respected figure in the music industry, focusing on personal growth and family life.
