Reacting to 'The Miseducation of' by Lauryn Hill

I recommend Missy Elliott, Jill Scott, and Eve

Anika

The Kanye song you were thinking of that he mentions Lauren and Zion is the song Champion from Graduation.

Christopher Horton

The Score will happen someday, for sure 👍

Bob_the_Poppop

She really is. I'm really impressed as I come to realize how much range she has in vocals, from ruthless to comforting

Bob_the_Poppop

I think all of these artists are on my list, so that's a start at least

Bob_the_Poppop

Interesting

Bob_the_Poppop

Absolutely. All of these artists are essential. These are the artists that influenced early Kanye.

Dylan Woods

In the nineties, Common wrote a song called "I used to love H.E.R." where he goes through his history with a girl. At the end, you realize the girl was "hiphop". H.E.R stands for "Hearing Every Rhyme". Artists have played off this since, Kanye with Chicago, L. Hill here.

FuzzyDunlop

Hell yeah Mos Def + Talib Kweli. "Blackstar" would be an education of an album.

Alistair Davidson

If you like this kind of sound artists like The Roots, Common, Talib Kweli, Mos Def, Erykah Badu, Joey Badass would be up your alley. Common - "Be" is a must listen album. Produced by guess who...

FuzzyDunlop

If your audience in as informed as I suspect, I'm sure many people already suggested that you listen to The Fugees album, I think it's called "The Score". I just look at it like another Lauryn Hill album.

FuzzyDunlop

Some of this is about the breakdown of her relationship with Wyclef Jean, but it's also about the way the record industry more broadly treated her, tried to force her into its preferred box and exploit her. And of course it's about her relationship with God - and then, drawing on the Rastafarian tradition, Satan can be capitalism/imperialism and the righteous can be rebels against that. In Rastafarian music, Babylon is literally the biblical Babylon, where the Jews were enslaved. and also allegorically the slave-trading European powers. Zion is Jerusalem. or slaves returning to a free Africa. And the name she gave her son. So in this album, she has both a religious and personal objection to the exploitative nature of the record industry, and her exploitative romantic relationship that took place within that industry, and the way the industry didn't like her having a son, and how she loves her son and god - and interweaves all these themes (and more) with incredible poetry. Often a given line, verse or song is talking about more than one of these at once, drawing allegories etc She also wrote most of the music. Lady is a one-off genius talent.

Alistair Davidson

I think she has been mentioned the most out of everyone, so I hope to get to that album soon

Bob_the_Poppop

I've listened to some Lana Del Rey here and there (blue jeans, summertime sadness, Hope is a dangerous thing), but I haven't taken a deep dive into her music

Bob_the_Poppop

I think the phrase can be both positive or negative depending on how it's being used and its intent. I only recently learned of the negative use

Bob_the_Poppop

I'm finding more and more that Genius is not that reliable. There is a lot of useful stuff on that website, but... have to use the website with scrutiny

Bob_the_Poppop

As far as Lady MCs, there’s a couple who’ve dropped in the past couple years who have really good albums. Rapsody, who has a feature on TPAB, is a very underrated rapper, and her latest two albums are definitely worth consideration. She even manages to get a rare Kendrick verse for her album from 2017. Noname has a really smooth flow over some really stripped back, smooth jazzy instrumentals. Witty, with loads of serious lyrical content. Her latest two albums also, are really good and worth consideration. Only problem might be that they clock in around 35 minutes. And Little Simz, who I’m sure plenty of others can tell you why she needs to be listened to.

Jorge Campos Jr.

As far as female rappers go, the most obvious would be "Sometimes I Might Be Introvert" by Little Simz, amazing album and easily one of (if not the) best Hip Hop releases last year.

Bakke

A female artist it would be cool of you to listen to would be FKA Twigs! Her album Magdalene is amazing. Would also check out Teyana Taylor with her album K.T.S.E. produced by Kanye! Throwing in Lana del Rey and Lorde, both amazing female artists, but not really R&B and hiphop....

Sjur Kvam

its funny that you described " no one will love you more than me an no one ever will " as a toxic line because you are absolutely right, however in the 90s I believe this termanology was still viewed in a positive light. We as a society get more "woke" as years go on.

Shaquan WP

On “Doo Wop” its bredren and sistren, not French men and sisters 😫❤️‍🩹 that hurt my heart a little bit 😂

Josh

One of my favorite albums! If you're looking for more female vocals I definitely recommend Beyonce's Lemonade. Not really a rap album but it has some hip hop elements and its a pretty incredible record.

Matt Eaton

Lauryn Hill is brilliant, and her voice is so soothing. If you've been thinking about doing more female artists, I'd recommend checking out CTRL by SZA, one of my favorite albums ever. Very emotionally charged and isolated/lonely sort of R&B.

Joseph Kiley

if you liked the neosoul aspects of this album, i would recommend you check out erykah badu's 'baduizm' and d'angelo's 'voodoo'. They are essential 90's neosoul albums and two of my favorite albums of all time.

Diego Bernal

This should be good..

I'd recommend listening to the song "Nice for What" by Drake this week. He samples "Ex Factor" and turns it into one of the best pop songs of the last 5 years

Alex V

I love “To Zion” so much. That is such a pure song.

MadeByMali

The skits are kind of the glue for the concept and it’s really neat the way she did it. I also think can’t take my eyes off you is about her son, although I do think Tell Him is about God. As far as I know she never explicitly explains either track so it’s up for interpretation. Also those tracks were originally meant to be bonus tracks

MadeByMali

I never looked at it from the point of her talking about her son. That’s fucking deep man. Either way great reaction, timeless album this is one of the few congratulations starting off the year with one of the greats, Zion and misseducation are songs that still make me cry.

Kelsey Giddings

I picked up on the love aspects, but I didn't missed the part where she "missed" that education via the skits talking about love and her not being in class. I'm also rethinking the final tracks of the album. I thought they were based on God, but now I wonder if they're more about focusing on her son.

Bob_the_Poppop

I do, but I have no idea when

Bob_the_Poppop

I hope to get to that one soon

Bob_the_Poppop

That block party story is great. Good for her

Bob_the_Poppop

...I think I'm losing my sense of smell :(

Bob_the_Poppop

Fantastic album. Good choice

SAM-WISE GAMGEE

Okay time to break down the genius of this album’s concept. Btw I haven’t finished the video so you may have picked up on this during the vid. This is a love album, but not in the traditional sense. If you’ll recall during the very first skit the teacher was taking roll and Lauryn Hill was absent. As we learn from the other skits the lesson for that day was love. So Lauryn literally “missed” her “education” on love, hence her miseducation. Every track on this album is about love. Love between men and women, love for yourself, the love of a mother to her child, love for art and for hip hop, love for fond memories, etc.. not only that but it outlines different types of love such as toxic love, self love, abusive love, unconditional love, unrequited love, etc. This allows her to dig into a multitude of topics while still remaining cohesive. It’s possibly the most dynamic “love” album out there. Hope this helps tie some of the themes together for you and great reaction as always! Now time for me to finish the vid lol

MadeByMali

Do you have any plans to listen/react to Anderson .Paak, A Tribe Called Quest, or OutKast?

Diego Bernal

'Sometimes I Might Be Introvert'

Diego Bernal

LITTLE SIMZ!!!

Diego Bernal

Hope you’re feeling better Mr. thepoppop

TomiTom2021

"Can't Take My Eyes Off of You" (as well as "Tell Him") were hidden or bonus tracks originally - it's interesting that Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You can be interpreted as a religious love or a happier turn, it really does still fit the album. Originally though it was recorded and featured in the movie Conspiracy Theory with Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts, it's a cover of a Franki Valli song from the 60s and that version is featured heavily in the film so in the ending credits the new modern version by Lauryn is played. I think we've all said this ad nauseum in the discord but she's just too good. Her singing is almost as good as her rapping, and her singing is incredible so that just shows how good she is as a rapper. She could have done anything and would have continued to be a major force in hip-hop for decades if she wanted to be. But she didn't want to be. She wanted to raise her son. If you're ever bored and have spare time (something I don't really think you'll have much of considering how many of these reactions you do), you should watch Dave Chappelle's Block Party. It's a documentary that I thought was going to be a comedy show but instead was really a love-letter to hip-hop featuring so many amazing artists performing in the pouring rain on a random block in Brooklyn all put together by Dave himself. At one point, in a seminal moment, Dave gets the Fugees to reunite (Lauryn having been a member of the group), and while on stage a fan screams out "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" and she stops and moves over and points to a little boy at the far back of the stage and responds "Where have I been? THAT'S where I've been" and it just felt so right, like she had no need to defend her "lack" of a career at that point because she was doing what she wanted to do.

Xavvi

Highly reccomend Nas ft Lauren Hill- Nobody Came out just this year on Nas KD2 album atleast as part of your additional thoughts it might fill you in with any questions about her from the last 20+ years.

Paul Salvador Estrada

I will recommend two albums by female hip-hop artists. The first is "The Archandroid" (2010) by Janelle Monae. This albums exists in a similar space between R&B and hip-hop. She sings and raps on the album, and it includes rap features, such as Big Boi from Outkast. It has a neat science-fiction aesthetic, which come to think of it, maybe that's why Big Boi was invited. The next album I recommend is "A Good Night in the Ghetto" (2010) by Kamaiyah. This album has a sunny feeling and is down to earth. This one is underrated for sure.

Dylan Woods

A natural follow-up to "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" would be "The Score" by the Fugees (1996). The Fugees are a hip-hop group which includes Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, and Pras Michel. Lauryn Hill got her start in this group, and it won Best Rap Album and Best R&B Vocal Performance at the 1996 Grammy's. If you want to hear more of Lauryn Hill, this is the place to go next.

Dylan Woods

Watching this makes me wanna go back and listen to her on The Score by the Fugees. I highly recommend listening to that album.

Jaime Ortega

rihanna’s anti is a fantastic album.

Jose Garcia

You should definitely check out The Fugees album, their only album, The Score. I feel like it pairs perfectly with this since Lauryn was in the group. Also she did a song with Nas last year called Nobody that's my favorite song of the year.

Brendan B

I think you will love little simz!

Duck

I can relate to being more emotional when I'm tired. Every time I watch a movie in the morning, I find it hard to hold back the tears.

Alex VonBerg

Not an album that I go back to often but it is certainly a beautiful piece of work.

Justin F

I love just how along for the ride you are regardless of if it's right down your alley or not

John

One of the best parts of this album to me is how passionate Lauryn delivers her lyrics. Like it really feels like she is trying to impart wisdom on the listener. The line "How you gonna win when you aint right within" is always coming to my mind whenever I am thinking of doing something deceitful, or treating someone poorly.

Anonymous

<3

Bob_the_Poppop

hey man, To Zion makes me cry my eyes out hahaha

allie hernandez

When it comes to Female vocals in an R&B setting, you should check out Rosalia's album 'El Mal Querer'. I don't know Spanish, but it doesn't matter, its an incredible record. She mixes R&B/Hip-hop with Flamenco.

Jayde Stone

If you want to listen to more female rappers probably one of my favourites is backxwash. She’s a trans women from Montreal and she makes industrial hip hop music. I think she was how you imagined death grips was going to sound like before you listened. If your going to react listen to her 2021 album “I lie here buried with my rings and my dresses” it’s pretty short and was my personal 2021 album of the year.

Jack MacArthur

Definitely react to Little Simz and M.I.A. As far as female rappers go, they're at the top. Both artists are phenomenal.

Vervanta

Just signed up and then I see this post, cant wait! One of the greatest albums of all time imo

Erik H

LETS GO

Vervanta