The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill – Lauryn Hill ★★★★½

Years	Album	Artist	Stars	Score	Genre
1998	The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill	Lauryn Hill	★★★★½	93	Hip-Hop	R&B	Soul

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill really checks off all the boxes of what makes a record work. Strong vocals. Smart and personal lyrics. High quality, captivating production. Musical continuity from beginning to end and a clear, creative vision. It’s hard to find an album that does all of that. Lauryn Hill made it feel effortless in 1998. 

The record really plays to her strengths. Sonically, the production draws from soul and R&B records, giving Hill a chance to show off her vocal range in a subtle, laid-back setting. But it also feels more like an underground conscious rap album at times, drawing from her Fugees’ roots. That combination allows her to deliver smart lines with some punch, while her performance carries melodic lines and emotion, making the product more accessible for a wide audience than a traditional 1990s hip-hop record. 

Miseducation starts with a great run of songs. Having her first track away from the Fugees as a diss track to her former group could have really backfired if not done well, but “Lost Ones” has everything you’d want in an opening track. She takes a familiar Fugees kind of beat, raps in a strong, aggressive style that shows off her lyricism through the verses, and a great harmonized vocal hook.

“Ex-factor,” “To Zion” and “Doo Wop (That Thing)” back-to-back-to-back then warm things up and introduce the other sounds that’ll be found throughout the album. Simple, clean and memorable drum, piano and guitar soul tracks color in the space while Hill’s perfect vocals either soar above the instruments or energizes the track. 

She juggles soul with hip-hop elements — like the quick sample of Raekwon’s “Ice Cream” on “I Used To Love Him” — with ease, creating an hour’s worth of songs that are smooth, warm, reflective, confident and laidback.

Because of this, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill feel almost timeless.  A few elements — like the Carlos Santana guitar part, some of the straightforward percussion and bass lines, and the overdone skits — date it as a late 1990s record, sure. But overall, the themes and sounds here have been tapped into by other artists time and time again in the years since, and nothing compares to the original.