Lauryn Hill

Released: May 7, 2002

Songwriter: Lauryn Hill

Producer: Lauryn Hill

I'll tell you every single-- We all have gifts, you know, and um, like special gifts. And there's this voice inside of us that says "don't do that," you know. "Why you gonna get up there with that guitar? You're gonna like like a, a hip hop folk singer. What are you, you know, what are you?..."

(Laughter)

And I really went through, I mean, I'm serious, I mean I can laugh about it now, but it took a long time for me to understand that, you know, what I am is what I am.

I can't be afraid to, you know, to expose that to the public. You know, always-get in trouble trying to make it, tryin' to dress it up, you know what I'm sayin'? Just tired of that, you know. Just tired of that. Tired of frontin'. Tired of that.

And until I find a group of people that are as passionate about it as I am, I just roll alone until such time, you know? It's all good. God is faithful.

Y'all still get to hear it, so... you know? 'Cause see that enemy he would tell me, you know "You don't have the 20 piece band, you can't do nothin'." I said, "Yeah, sure... Keep talkin'."

'Cause somebody's gon', they gonna see me and they gonna know "Oh I, there's somethin' that God's been tellin me to do. I can do it, too. I can do what I'm supposed to be doin'. I don't need an entourage. What do I need a crew for?" That doesn't validate you. Okay, let's see. Mmmm...

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 4Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill

MTV Unplugged No. 2.0