Music has been around since the beginning of time. We have had great singers and musicians like Bob Marley, Lena Horne, Michael Jackson, Louis Armstrong and the list goes on and on, but I do not think that I have ever heard an album that was better done than “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” by Lauryn Hill. This album was released on August 25, 1998 and has been in my life ever since. This album won numerous awards including the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. This album became so well-known throughout the world that it was even nominated for the MTV Europe Music Award for Best Album.
I believe that my connection to this piece of historic beauty is so strong because it is one that has had an influence on my life since the day that it was released. This album includes 14 tracks and two bonus tracks and also includes many artist collaborations and background vocalists like Mary J. Bilge and Eddie Stockley from the guy's group Mint Condition. Lauryn Hill was a co-producer for the album along with Vada Nobles and Che’ Guevara. The album was released under the Ruffhouse Columbia label. This album went Multi-Platinum in over seven countries including Australia (platinum), France (two times platinum), Canada (seven times platinum), and here in the U.S. (eight times platinum).
My favorite tracks off of the album are tracks two, four, and 13. The album starts with a small audio scene of a teacher taking attendance and when he gets to Lauryn’s name she is nowhere to be found. I took that as symbolism for expressing the meaning of the album title, “Miseducation.” She leaves the classroom because she is not being properly educated in that setting. The intro leads straight into the next track, “Lost Ones,” talking about the ignorance in the world and the people who look down on her for her state of consciousness. This track is full of percussion and in the second chorus we are introduced to the string section with a strong bass line.
Starting with this track, I noticed a reoccurring theme throughout the album that focused more on the lyrical aspect than the instrumentation of the songs. Track four, which was dedicated to Lauryn’s son Zion, was really important to me because it brings back so many memories of me and my mother. I remember that feeling of love, compassion, want and dedication to life that the song gave me every time that I heard her story being portrayed over the soothing beat that I still use to calm myself, even today. There are some parts of the song that are in unison, but there are also some beautiful harmonies that she shares toward the middle and later parts of the song. The style of the song is somewhat upbeat and there aren't many key changes until the very end. This song is such a nostalgic piece for me because the song is talking about Lauryn as a young mother who has to decide to bring her baby into this world or have an abortion. She, like my mother who was in the same situation with me, decides to have the baby and names him Zion which is how the song got it’s name “To Zion."
Track 13, “Everything is Everything,” comes in on a strong tonic chord set that is very repetitive throughout the entire piece. It sound like the chords are being played on a small group of violins. It sounds like the bow is giving a quick strike across the strings to change the tone color from what we expect to come from a violin. The musical texture of the song is upbeat yet laid back. The cadence is steady and there seems to be contrasting lyrical patterns between ternary and binary forms. The song specifically speaks about the people in this world who are stuck between the ways and lies of the world and higher consciousness.
Her creative word painting explains that the world will come back to balance one day, but we must remain in a higher consciousness instead of sinking back into the world. This entire album is a teaching tool. Every song is a new lesson whether it is a personal struggle or just something she felt that the audience should take in. There is a wealth and variation of great knowledge on this album that the contemporary world does not teach and I think that was the connection between the actual songs and the album title.
In the beginning, she starts the classroom theme and keeps it between the tracks to keep it fun but keep you subconsciously in the state of learning. She re-explains many things through a conscious mind, giving the audience the re-education instead of the mis-education that Lauryn received. She expresses her disdain for the ignorance that people tried to spill onto her life. I also think that her title had a sense of tribute to the book, “The Mis-education of the Negro” by Dr. Carter G. Woodson, written in 1933. Lauryn did an excellent job with this album and I feel that it is the best best album ever written musically or lyrically. I appreciate all of the artistry on the album including the people, other than she, that made it possible for her to create this eighth wonder of the world that changed my life.
