Lauryn Hill

Released: May 7, 2002

Songwriter: Lauryn Hill

Producer: Lauryn Hill

I'll tell you, um... Every single one of these songs, um, is about me first. Me first, um, it was like, you know, there was a period of time where I was just out, you know, just, just gone from the public, and, uh, I came to terms with the fact that... I had created this, uh, public persona, this public illusion.

And it became, it, uh, it held me hostage; like I couldn't be a real person because you're too afraid of, you know, what your, your public will say.

And at that point I had to do some dying and really accept the fact that, look, "this is who I am, and I have to be who I am, and all of us have a right to be who we are, and whenever we submit our will, because our will is a gift, it is given to us, so whenever we submit our will to someone else's opinion, you know, I mean, a part of us dies."

You know, and so it's been, um... it's been... it actually hasn't been a long time. It feels like a long time, but it hasn't been a long time. Some miraculous things have happened in a short amount of time, and uh, I'm just very blessed to be able to be here today and get to share with you some of the things I've learned.

I know some of it sounds almost cryptic and I been really just, just really... waiting for the patience and really just articulate where I'm coming from as simply as possible, so I'm working on that.

But um... you know, I know, that you know that there's, uh... you know that I know that God doesn't lie and I know that he knows how to talk to the hearts of people better than anybody else, so I don't worry about that, cause whatever he relates to whomever is listening, that's what supposed to be understood at that time, so it's all good.

But, um, this is a song called "Oh Jerusalem".

As one of the founding members of Fugees, Lauryn Hill has spit her truthful lyrics unlike any female rap artist in history. Being as informative as she is inspiring, Lauryn has received monumental success with her solo albums going multi-platinum.

Her classic, critically acclaimed debut album Miseducation of Lauryn Hill went outside of the box for female rappers of her kind, making listeners think about greater causes in their community and how to be a powerful female without selling yourself short. The album also proved to be a huge landmark in rap, as it combined rap, r&b and neo-soul into a unique and beautiful mixture, full of different religious stories and concepts.

Although she retired after the success of her debut, mostly due to her child, Lauryn continued to make appearances at different shows (including at a concert with Drake in 2014). Shortly after announcing her official retirement, Lauryn returned to the scene to release MTV Unplugged 2.0, a live album where she explored with folk, departing from her rap/neo-soul style. Hill is also set to perform tracks from Miseducation in 2018 on its 20th Anniversary.

more tracks from the album

MTV Unplugged No. 2.0

From the album

MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 (2002)

Lauryn Hill popular songs

Interlude 1Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill

MTV Unplugged No. 2.0