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The Cult of Lauryn Hill: An Alternative View
By Tola Ositelu
My first introduction to
Lauryn Hill was way back in the mid-‘90s. In hindsight it was a rather late one. Most people were already familiar with her 1993 appearance in
Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, which for some reason had escaped my attention up until then.
I remember first hearing Ms Hill’s name early 1996. I was half-way through my GCSE’s, a new girl had joined my class; a true R&B/Hip-Hop head fresh from Nigeria. I kept hearing her talk about this group called the Fujis (as I thought it was spelt then), which she explained was short for ‘Refugee.’ I asked my best friend at the time - Maggie, who was a bit of a Hip Hop connoisseur - if she had heard of them. Of course she was very familiar with the
Fugees debut
Blunted on Reality, the singles, at least.
It was also around that time I recall listening to Kiss FM 100 (when it actually cared about things like diversity and credibility) and hearing one DJ getting excited over the release of the follow album
The Score, name-checking ‘The Girl from
Sister Act who can really sing’. Assuming he was talking about the first film, I thought he referred to the timid little ginger nun; I was shocked to think she was making forays into urban music. Maggie soon corrected my mistake.
The title track from her current tour with Queensbridge rap legend Nas, equally iconic Hip Hop Soulstress Lauryn Hill debuted "Black Rage" onstage this week, with a poetic recital of her new song for the cheering Dallas audience. Filmed from the crowd, watch Ms Hill recite the song below.
Wyclef Jean stops by BET's 106 & Park to discuss his new autobiographical book, Purpose: An Immigrant's Story.
A soulful musician and songwriter with a distinctive voice, built with obvious reggae influences in articulation and phrasing, Selah Sue offers her soulful, jazz-infused debut album. The self-titled LP went multi-platinum in her native country Belgium and peaked in the top ten of the Dutch and French albums chart, where she has been elevated as huge star, before embarking on worldwide release.