Dissect - MS1E1 - Lauryn Hill: An Education

Episode Date: November 6, 2018

Today we begin our 8 episode mini-series on of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. We start with Ms. Hill's upbringing in New Jersey, her rise with The Fugees, and the events leading up to the creation of Miseducation. Follow @dissectpodcast on Twitter and Instagram. Subscribe to our newsletter at dissectpodcast.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

From Spotify Studios, this is Dissect. Long-form musical analysis broken into short digestible episodes. I'm your host, Cole Kushna. On February 26, 1997, a rumor circulated among the attendees of the 39th annual Grammy Awards. The breakout hip-hop trio The Fujis were up for three awards, including album of the year. And word on the street was that the 21-year-old star Fuji member, Lauren Hill, was pregnant. During Thursday's recording session, Fuji-Loggi Ler, Lauren Hill confirmed a rumor that had been running rampant through the Grammys on Wednesday.

Are you with child? Ah. Don't blush on me now. Actually, yes, yes, I am. Congratulations. This is something that was planned and are you excited about it? And planned in the sense of, you know, I'm 21 years old and going around the world, no. But planned in the sense that, you know, I'm very much in love and very happy.

I mean, I see birth as my mother. motherhood has a benediction. So I'm just blessed with another responsibility. Amidst external pressures to have an abortion, this pregnancy and Miss Lauren Hill's choice to keep the child would begin a sequence of events that would eventually alter the trajectory of popular music forever. Unbeknownst to the public, Miss Hill and fellow Fuji member Wycleft Jeanne, who was married at the time, had been romantically involved throughout the creation of their breakout album, The Score. However, the child was not Wyclefts, and while will detail this complicated situation in due time.

Suffice it to say for now that Wyclef and Miss Hill's personal relationship would become strained to the point that the Fugis would never record another album together again. You know, I'd intended to be in the group forever until I found myself in circumstances where I felt the inner desire to express myself freely and openly without any constraint, you know, without anybody saying, hey, that's, you can't say that. You know, the only way I could have done that was in doing a solo release. In 1997, Miss Hill would leave tour with the Fugis and return home to New Jersey, where she began documenting her personal experience in song.

I'd gone through a lot, you know, a huge emotional and spiritual battle prior to the creation of that album. And the funny thing is that while I was going in the battle, I couldn't see my hand, despite my face. I mean, I really couldn't see anything, because I was so emotionally entangled and everything that I'd gone through. But it was like once I was delivered from that situation,

and once I got the perspective, was able to look back at heartache and look back at pain and disappointment, it all was so clear. The picture started to form itself. The song started to create themselves. I was able to look back and be a narrator of my own situation. The result of Ms. Hill's creative outpouring

would be a coming-of-age story told over 14 tracks, an album that sets her spiritual and emotional journey to personal emancipation against an eclectic backdrop of hip-hop, gospel, reggae, and soul. Upon its release into the world in August of 1998, this body of work's impact was seismic, simultaneously expanding the boundaries of hip-hop, while bridging the gap between hip-hop and mainstream music. It broke the record for first-week sales by a female artist, reached platinum status in less than a month, and would go on to be nominated for a record nine Grammy Awards, ultimately winning five, including hip-hop's very first album of the year. Of course, we're talking about the landmark album widely considered

one of the most influential LPs of all time, the Miseducation of Lauren Hill. It's funny how money changes situation, miscommunication lead the complication. My emancipation don't put your equation. I was on the humble you on every station. Someone play young, In celebration of the miseducation of Lauren Hill's 20th year anniversary, we're dedicating the next eight episodes of Dysect to unpacking this historic album. From the venom-spitting album opener, Lost Ones, to the unbridled expression of a mother's love on Two Zion, to the cautionary teachings of the number one hit, Doop. We're diving deep into these classic cuts to discover just how Miss Hill synthesized a diverse

array of sounds, stories, and emotions to create a masterwork of self-expression. We'll start from the very beginning, with Miss Hill's childhood in New Jersey and her rise to prominence as both a teenage actress and singer. We'll then explore her time with the Fugis, her relationship with Wyclef Jean, and the circumstances that led to the dissolution of their relationship. Finally, through our detailed track-by-track musical and lyrical analysis, we'll come to understand just how Miss Hill translated her experience into story and song. and by doing so, created the cultural treasure that is the miseducation of Lauren Hill. And so without further ado, let's dissect.

Lauren Noel Hill was born on May 26, 1975. She spent most of her childhood just outside Newark, New Jersey, and a suburban neighborhood called South Orange. Miss Hill, who would eventually fuse a culturally diverse palette of musical styles, credits her eclectic upbringing as an important early influence. South Orange was interesting because it was this very diverse. And I can't just say South Orange. You have to say the area surrounding South Orange because Norrk is the city.

And then the oranges are the suburbs, okay? And you know, I lived in this suburb where it was like, I'd say, 50%, maybe 40% black, 60% Jewish. And I grew up with this very eclectic. just interesting exposure to all these different cultures. And of course, Manhattan is right there. So, you know, just from the time I was very young, exposed to the Jewish community, the Asian community,

the West Indian community, the Cuban community, the Latin community, you know, just a myriad of cultures in this one area. The Hill family household included Lauren's mother, Valerie, an English teacher, her father, Malm, a computer consultant, and older brother Malaney. Music was a constant presence in the Hill household, and many of Miss Hill's earliest memories involved music. My parents had a love for music.

They had a love for, there was so many records, you know, so much music constantly being played. My mother played piano, my father sang, and it was just music, always surrounded in music. I remember one of my earliest memories was in a house in East Orange that we lived in, where it's, you know, either Sundays or Saturdays, maybe Saturdays, we would clean the house, and my mother would play, you know, Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life, the whole album,

I just remember hearing isn't she lovely and, you know, and pretending to iron, you know, so from a very young age, it was a lot of music. Ms. Hill would later credit the songs of her youth as her musical education. At nine years old, she discovered her parents' record collection stored away in the basement. Here I am eight, nine years old, everybody else is listening to New Edition. and whatever current group is on the radio and I'm listening to like Sheppin the Lime Lights and Gladys Night and the Pips and you know and all these older groups and really loving it and becoming you know just and just douse myself douse myself in all this music

and all this this this musical history and they really were my teachers my musical teachers I didn't have you know I wasn't uh you know I didn't go to Juilliard or I wasn't classically trained but by listening You know what I mean? I grew an appreciation for certain musical philosophies and ideas and concepts. I would fall asleep to it. I used to play my records aloud until one night my mother was like, this is too loud, I'm not having it. And so I put on headphones, but in order for me to listen to the records, you know, the headphones didn't stretch all over to my bed from the record player. So I had to sleep on the floor in order to hear the records. And that's where I slept until college. Ms. Hill's parents supported her creative pursuits from an early age.

By middle school and high school, she was pursuing singing and acting professionally, appearing on local television and auditioning for movie roles in New York City. Her parents' support wasn't overbearing or pressure-ridden. Rather, it stemmed from love. When they could have easily said, no, or we have no interest, you know, we're not going to drive you to this audition. No, you know, we're not going to allow you guys to practice and play the music in the living room. You know, when they could have easily done that, they didn't.

And just very, very meaningful. I mean, my parents, you know, really took a heavy, you know, very serious interest in my creativity from the time I was very young. And not for the sake of, you know, they didn't know what would come of it, just because I enjoyed it. You know, and to me, that's a reflection of love. When someone can see you enjoying yourself and want to participate or want to encourage or want to.

to help you to do something that you enjoy. You know, it wasn't about making her a star. It was just, hey, she likes to do this, let's support it. At age 13, a young Lauren Hill competed in the world-famous Amateur Night at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. This historic competition sees emerging young talents going head to head, kind of like an early version of American Idol. In its over 80 years of existence, its showtime at the Apollo Amateur Night Competition

has seen the likes of to be superstars such as Ella Fitzgerald, Billy Hart. Holiday, James Brown, Stevie Wonder, the Jackson 5, Dave Chappelle, and won Lauren Hill. The crowd of the Apollo is notorious. If they like you, you're greeted with vigorous applause. If they don't like you, they boo. They boo loud. You know, we have an exciting show, and I'll tell you, I promise this is going to be an exciting amateur night. So let's bring out our next contestant. Gives a nice Apollo welcome to Lauren Hill. How old are you, Lauren? I'm 13. Lauren's 13. What song you're singing? Who's loving you?

Who's loving you? Well, come on, Lauren. We're going to love you. Yes, superstar Lauren Hill was vigorously booed at the Apollo Theater. But the 13-year-old didn't cave. In fact, after hearing the booze, she took the microphone off the stand and began to sing more passionately, eventually winning over the crowd by the end of her performance. Despite ending on a high note, Lauren was in tears after leaving the stage.

According to her mother Valerie, quote, I said to her, if now every time they don't scream and holler, you're going to cry, then perhaps singing isn't for you. And she looked at me like it had taken leave of my senses. To her, the mere suggestion that this wasn't for her was crazy, unquote. Ms. Hill continued to pursue an array of creative endeavors throughout high school. Aside from being a member of the track team and cheerleader, she took violin lessons, dance class, founded the school's gospel choir,

all while placing in advanced classes and earning A grades. I think that my work ethic, I think the work ethic that was established in my family was also something very important. You know, if you plant the seed, if you, you know, if you, you know, sew sparingly, you'll reap sparingly. If you sow an abundance, you'll reap an abundance. So that was, you know, always sort of in us from very young. So even the things that I loved, I tried to, you know, put a couple seeds in the, you know, a bunch of seeds in the ground and see what sprung up. And sometimes it was acting and sometimes it was music. but whatever it was, I continued to play it.

During high school, Ms. Hill's acting career began to develop after an agent noticed her performance in an off-Broadway hip-hop reimagining of Shakespeare's 12th night. She landed a recurring role in the soap opera as the world turns, playing a troubled runaway named Kira Johnson. In one episode, Ms. Hill was able to showcase her vocal talents, performing You Brought Me Love at a wedding. And I'll be there for you,

Like you've been there for me a thousand times. I'll do just as you've done. For you, it's you who born. When Miss Hill was a senior in high school, she landed what would be the biggest role of her acting career, co-starring alongside Whoopi Goldberg and Sister Act 2. She played Rita Watson, a rebellious inner-city Catholic school teen with a golden voice.

The movie's climactic moment comes when Rita leads the school quix. to win a national competition. While Miss Hill was developing her acting career in high school, she was simultaneously developing her music career. As a freshman, she was approached by a Haitian American named Praz about a group he was starting. First of all, I met prize in high school. And Praz, wow, he was the type of kid who had a real strict mother

who used to dress him and, you know, like dress pants and dress shoes. And, you know, he was really, you know, he was, he was, he was, he was, He was very popular in school because he was sort of like this real classy guy. He's the only guy I know in high school with a pinky ring. And I remember when I first met him, he said, you know, Lauren, you know, I got this group and, you know, who you could sing. You know, I know your brother, so I think you could join my group. And I was like, I was down because I just wanted to make music. And then, you know, like a month later he introduced me to his cousin, Wyclef.

And, you know, he, woo. I never forget the first day he walked into the studio and he had on like an entire Batman uniform. This is when the Batman movie first came out and it was like really big. They were just Batman buttons and hats and buckles on his boots. And he was just very dramatic. And, you know, we made good music. You know, we made good music. And at that point in our career, it was very youthful, you know, and sincere.

You know, we all put our hearts into it. You know, so we decided to become a group. Originally named Time, the trio of Lauren, Praz, and Wyclef changed her name to the translator crew and began performing locally and recording demos. While Ms. Hill was originally recruited for her singing talent, she was encouraged by Praz and Wycliffe to try her hand at rapping. She told the Rolling Stone, quote, I used to write poems and I was real sensitive about my poems. I remember Wyclef and Praz hearing my poems and going, yo, you should write some rhymes. So I tried writing some rhymes, reluctantly, and at first they were very hard on my emceeing.

They were like, that's whack, write that over. So once again, I was challenged by the boys, and I sought to be better and really started taking rap seriously, more seriously even than singing at that time, because I felt like I could say more, and what I could say would be taken more seriously as an MC, unquote. Wycliffe tells a similar story in his book Purpose, quote,

For months, Praz and I did all the rapping. I felt like there was something missing, though, so one day I asked Lauren if she would ever rhyme. She told us, sure, if you two can do it, I know I can, unquote. Wycleft remember as being impressed by how quickly Miss Hill excelled. Quote, I wrote down a few verses for her, some I had been working on, and added a few lines I made up on the spot. She looked at the paper for a few minutes and then told me to put on a beat.

And when I did, she tore through them like a pro, not even looking at the words. If she can memorize lyrics that quickly, I knew she'd be one hell of an MC. I gave her a stack of MC Light and Queen Latifah CDs and told her to listen carefully and learned the rhymes she heard. She took to that like a pyro to matches and had the rhymes down in two or three days. Soon I was rhyming lines to her that she would memorize on the spot and spit back at me better than I had expected, unquote. In 1993, the translator signed to Ruff House an extension of Columbia Records and changed their name to the Fugees. Fugis was an abbreviation of refugee, alluding to Praz and Wycliffe's Haitian roots.

But according to Wycliffe, the name was universal to the American experience. Quote, everyone in the United States is a refugee to some degree. No one's culture originated here, unquote. The Fuji's debut album Blunted on Reality was released February 1, 1994, led by their first single, Boothbat. In comparison to their later work, Blunted on Reality was loud, exuberant, and unpolished, a commercial flop that nearly got the group dropped from their label. But the Fugees thrived as live performers, opening for acts like Nas, Wu-Tang, The Notorious BIG, Onyx, and Naughty by Nature.

Regarding the album, Wycliffe recalls, quote, Blunted on Reality captured our talent, but it sounded out of touch with who we were as performers, unquote. This disconnect was in part due to the album being recorded in 1992, a full two years prior to its release. Though they were at risk of being dropped from their label, the Fuji's lifeline was extended due to producer Salam Remy and his remix of their song Nappy Heads. Through his remixes, Remy had a reputation for making Jamaican dance hall and reggae palatable for American urban audiences.

Remy described the original version of Nappyheads as sounding like a grimy uptempo ony track. Remy's stripped-down contemporary production of Nappyheads remix, contrasted with the bombaster of the original, laying the groundwork for the future of the future. of the Fuji sound. My mother be there so, Mona Lisa, to the other day on Friday,

and if you're busy, a then Jason Jackson, a then music who is responsible for me kind of a grizzle, but I still cave for chest, I wear no Jerry girls

because I love ruin. There's no disrespect to the west, Joe and D, I rock it to the east, Jason Jackson, a then intern at Columbia Records, who is responsible for putting Remi and the Fugees together,

credits the Nappy Head Remig for the Fuji's second chance. Jackson told Joan Morgan in her book she begat this, quote, The Fugees had talent, they just hadn't figured out how to channel it. We were coming out of a moment in hip-hop for groups like Onyx, who rhyme really fast, had a lot of success. But there is a shift going on. Hip-hop was slowing down a bit more, and Salam knew it. He told the Fugees to slow their shit down, let people understand what they're saying, and add a catchy hook. Then he just bodied it, unquote. The success of Remy's Nappy Heads remix led to another collaboration with the Fugees, a remix of their song Vocab. The studio session proved to be pivotal as it inadvertently produced

what would become one of the Fuji's most successful songs. Remy told largeup.com, quote, The Nappyheads remix worked, then I remix Vokab. During the same session, I had a beat I made for Fat Joe. Lauren said, play that Fat Joe beat, and Wycliffe jumps up and says, We used to be number 10. Now we permanently number 1. That session ended up being the original incarnation of Fujila. Remy continues, quote, that song was recorded and put together before they even had a second budget for another album.

The score's energy is based around Fujila, unquote. Based on the potential shown from their collaborations with Salam Remy, the Fujis were given a second chance. In early 1995, they received a $135,000 advance for their sophomore album. The group used the money to set up a studio in Wyclef's uncle's basement, eventually dubbed the Buga Basement. With more experience and a new artistic vision, the group went to work on what would become their final album, The Score. Where Blunted on Reality failed in showcasing each Fuji member's talents, the score did so triumphantly. The members credit the

coalescence with returning to who they were creatively and unburdening themselves from pressures to succeed by conforming to what already existed. In the book, checked the technique, Fuji member Praz told Brian Coleman, quote, After the first album, we just started making songs that would work without compromising what we believed in. Our strength was in being three individuals who blended together perfectly. Clef brought the musicality, Lauren brought the soulfulness, and I brought the roughness and flash, unquote. Why Clef concurs, saying, quote, the score was done calmly, almost unconsciously. There wasn't any pressure. It was like, let's make some music, and it just started

forming into something amazing. It sounded like a feel-good hip-hop record to us, and it was different than what anyone was doing at the time. It was three kids from an urban background expressing themselves. You had three different points of view from three different worlds on that album. I'm from the Caribbean, Praz listened to a lot of rock stuff, and Lauren had the soul. Three into one, a fusion. That hadn't happened on Blunted on Reality, unquote. And unlike Blunted on Reality, the news stripped down production style and laid back tempo of the score, allowed the space for Miss Hill's singing voice to radiate throughout the album, playing a crucial role on all three commercial singles,

Fujila, killing me softly, and ready or not. Miss Hill's MC skills were no longer a work in progress either. Wyclef recalled, quote, I'll never stop being impressed by how much Lauren came into her own on the score. She was the caterpillar that became the butterfly. I'm blunted, she was still learning how to rhyme, so lyrically she had the training wheels on. In the years between, she wrote, she practiced, and she became a true artist. She is one hell of a rapper, and that came shining through on the score,

unquote. As an example of Ms. Hill's unique ability to seamlessly transition from rapping to singing without pause, we're going to dissect her contribution to the Fuji's third single, Ready or Not. But first, a word from our sponsor. Welcome back to Dissect. Before the break, we discussed how 20-year-old Lauren Hill's array of talents were showcased on the Fugees The Score. As an example of those talents, we're going to dissect the score's third single, Barack Obama's favorite song of all time, Ready or Not? Ready or not? Exhibiting their

Exhibiting their eclectic musical influences Ready or Not is a convergence of two diverse sources. The hook is an interpolation of the Delphonic's 1968 hit Ready or Not Here I Come. The Fugees took this hook and laid it atop a sample of Enya's 1987 track Boadesia. Wyclef recounts the creation of Ready or Not in his memoir, quote, I had a simple hip-hop breakbeat going on my Lynn 9,000 and was looping an Enya sample over on my MPC.

Just then my door burst open, and Lauren Hill was standing there. She scanned the room, then looked me in my eye. What's that? she said. I don't know yet. I've got a beat and a loop. I'm just messing with this. We both sat in the semi-dark just listening.

The sample came back around, and then the beat kicked in. And then, Lauren started singing. Ready or not, here I come, you can't hide. Gonna find you and take it slowly. I got shivers all up my spine. It was magic. We both knew it. Miss Hill's verse on Ready or Not finds her flexing her lyrical prowess,

name-dropping a diverse array of influences as she assaults her competition. Yo, I play my enemies like a game of chess where I rest. No stress if you don't smoke cess less. I must confess my destiny's manifest. There's some cortex and sweats I make tracks like I'm homeless. Rap orgies with Orgy and Best, capture your bounty like Elion Ness. Miss you if you represent the fool, but I hex you with some witches brew if you do do. I could do what you do. Easy.

Believe me, frontin'nickers give me heibi, jeeby-jeebee. So why you imitating Al Capone? I be needing Simone and defecating on your microphone. Miss Hill's verse begins, I play my enemies like a game of chess. Chess is of course a game of strategy, where one makes a series of tactical moves to set up an eventual kill. Cleverly, Miss Hill will do exactly that with her verse. As we'll see, there are several references stated early in the verse that will come back around as punchlines in the end.

Miss Hill continues, where I rest no stress if you don't smoke cess. Cess is slang for marijuana. It's an abbreviation of the Spanish word, Sensimilia, a high-quality, very potent female cannabis. In an era of hip-hop in which glorified marijuana use was nearly a prerequisite, the Fugis were known to be accepting of all. That is, they didn't judge either. way, hence her line, no stress if you don't smoke cess. Miss Hill continues, my destiny's

Manifest Destiny refers to the 19th century belief that the United States was destined to control the entire territory from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. On one hand, Ms. Hill is saying her own personal destiny as Star MC was inevitable. But in the subsequent line, she also plays off the long expeditions early American settlers made west, as she says, and some Gortex and sweat. I make treks like I'm homeless. The word treks is used to mean both trek as in traveling long distances and track as in recorded song. But Ms. Hill also plays off the two standard definitions of trek. One definition is to travel or migrate typically by foot, tying into a reference to a homeless person. The second definition is to travel by Oxwagon, just like early American settlers did,

tying into a reference to manifest destiny. Miss Hill continues, rap or orgies with Porgy and Bess. Capture your bounty like Elliot Ness. These two references are setups to sly punchlines later in the verse. Porgy and Bess is an American opera by jazz classical composer George Gershwin, and Miss Hill makes reference to it as a way to display her eclecticism as an MC and artist. Elliot Ness was an American Prohibition agent who famously took down crime boss Al Capone in 1929. Not uncoincidentally, Elliot Ness, Prohibition, Al Capone's arrest, And Porgy and Bess, all existed in the same era of American history, the 1920s and 30s, also known as the Jazz Age. Miss Hill continues, bless you if you represent the foo, but I'll hex you with some witches brew if your doo-doo, voodoo.

This likely nods to the early 1990s hit Shoup by Salt and Peppa, which contains a similar rhyme. I should be lit. Came to my scissors and I chill for a bit. Don't know how you do, the voodoo that you do so well. It's a spell hell makes me want to shoot, shoot, shoot. Salt and Peppa's rhyme is actually a reference to jazz composer Cole Porter and his 1929 song, You Do Something to Me. Though it's unclear whether Miss Hill's rhyme is a reference to Shoup or Cole Porter, given that she's well versed in both contemporary and vintage music, it's likely a nod to both.

Miss Hill continues her verse, I can do what you do, easy, believe me, fronting N-words give me the hebi-jeebies. This is Miss Hill standing tall among a male-dominated hip-hop industry, not only saying she can rap better than most, but proving she can with the quality of her verse. With the verse's final lines, we get the payoff,

the checkmate she's been setting up throughout the verse. Have another listen. Miss Hill calls out the prevalence of inauthentic gangster personas in hip-hop, saying, so while you're imitating Al Capone. As you know, earlier in the verse, Miss Hill declared herself to be like Elliot Ness, Al Capone's capture her, so her Capone reference here comes with it a pre-established superiority and contempt. She finishes the verse saying, I'll be Nina Simone and defecating on your microphone.

Nina Simone was a multi-talented American singer, songwriter, pianist, and activist that seamlessly blended genres like jazz, blues, folk, gospel, and pop. Being multi-talented and diverse herself, its only natural Miss Hill would choose Simone as a comparative figure. But we also realized that Simone's 1958 rendition of I Love You Porgy from George Gershwin's opera Porgy and Bess, charted in the top 20, helping to popularize the song. As you know, Porgy and Bess was name dropped earlier in the verse, another tactical, set up payoff lyrical checkmate

that proves Ms. Hill does indeed rap strategically, as if playing chess with her Al Capone-like enemies. After delivering an extremely high-caliber verse in both its writing and delivery, Miss Hill seamlessly transitions into the song's hook, displaying an unrivaled equality in her talents as both an MC and vocalist. The Fuji's The Score was released on February 13th, 1996, to widespread critical and commercial acclaim. The album peaked at number one on the Billboard chart,

won two Grammy Awards, and by fall of 1997, was certified, six times platinum. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, Wycliffe Jean and Lauren Hill had become romantically involved despite Wycliffe being married since 1994. The fair existed throughout the creation of the score and according to Wyclef fueled much of the album's greatness. Quote, I was a big brother figure to Lauren until it turned romantic and the soundtrack of our relationship is the score. That album came out the way it did because of our passion. We had become a real couple, even though I was with someone else at the time. It didn't matter. She and I had our own musical romantic language, and you can hear that in the music we made together. That's why it touched

people. That's why it's so real, unquote. And though their relationship helped fuel the greatness of the Fugees, it was also a big factor in their demise. By all accounts, Wycliffe and Lauren's relationship oscillated between two extreme polarities, love and rage. Wycliffe stated, quote, we were either deeply in love or fighting, there was no middle ground. It was like a passionate roller coaster ride every single day. We had fights on planes. We had the police called to our hotel in Germany because our arguing was keeping the neighbors awake, unquote. While on the smoking groove store of 1996, Miss Hill met Row and Marley, Bob Marley's son and brother of Ziggy Marley. The two eventually became intimate, and Miss Hill, at the age of 21, became pregnant with Marley's child.

There are various accounts in competing storylines regarding this love triangle between Wycliffe, Lauren, and Rowan. Wycliffe claims he was led to believe the child was his, while Miss Hill herself hasn't said much regarding the specifics of that situation. We neither have the time nor desire to attempt to detangle what seems to have been a messy, complicated set of circumstances. But one thing was clear. Wycliffe and Lauren's personal relationship deteriorated to a point that it affected their

creative relationship. The Fugees would never make another album together again. Everything happens in a time. You know, there's a time for everything. There's a time to be in a group, and there's a time to be solo, at least it was for me. If I'd had it my way, I would have been in the group forever. You know, I enjoyed the group atmosphere.

I thought, you know, it's so good to have two guys on stage backing you up. But the interesting thing about entertainment is that when you're struggling, everybody goes in with the same goals. You know, but somewhere along the success area, you start to look at everyone around you and go, wait a minute, where are you going? Where are you headed? Because I'm going this way. What happened? I thought we were all on the, you know.

And sometimes success can do that. Sometimes it really illuminates, you know, creative differences, spiritual differences, you know, emotional differences. And I, you know, just like a young person would think that, you know, the friends that you, my fifth grade friends are going to be my friends forever, you know, throughout high school, throughout, and it's not that they cease being your friends, but sometimes you just mature to a place and some people get there faster, some people don't, you know, and, you know, hopefully, ultimately everyone catches up. But, you know, I, it's really interesting because I didn't actually make a decision. to be solo. It really just happened. I promise you that it's hard to explain, but you know, I had intended to be in the group forever until I found myself in circumstances where I felt the inner desire to express myself freely and openly without any constraint, you know, without anybody saying, hey, that's, you can't say that. That's not, that's not flawed. You can't say that. People won't, you know what I mean?

You know what I mean? So, you know, the only way I could have done that was in doing a solo release. In 1997, throughout her pregnancy, Ms. Hill began work on a solo project. She assembled a core of New Jersey musicians that came to be known as a Newark studio band, Rishim Kailopug, Veda Nobles, and twin brothers, Johari and Tejumol Newton. Regarding the creative process, Jojari Newton recalls, quote, Lauren was definitely the guide. It was her vision.

our job was to take whatever was in her head and put it down for her unquote. Kylo recounts, quote, Everybody had jobs. Veda's job was to find that groove that made us hum. Then T. and Joe's job was the instrumentation to enhance that groove. And when the groove was so catchy that it made us hum, either Lauren or me, then it was time to create those words that she wanted to sing. It was literally constant work.

Even when you didn't think you were working, you were working. The vibe was incredible, unquote. Ms. Hill also recruited producers to Che Guevara and James Poyser who both contributed heavily to the album. So at the time, coming off the success of the Fugees as well, she was interested in producing.

She really wasn't a producer, so it was kind of like, well, if I partner, if we work together, then you can help me, you know, I have the name, I have the success. You're, you know, you're a beginning producer and you're learning and you, you know, you have this experience from Teddy,

you have this experience from Clef and, you know, let's partner up. And so it was really organic, literally just sitting in her addict at the time. That was still her parents' house in Jersey. The creating of the album was an amazing experience. It was about a year and a half out of my life. Like you feel like he gave blood like every day. We sat in a room when we started the record and it was me, her, and James. And the first thing she said, she said, I like soul music.

I like reggae music. And I like Wu-Tang. Let's go. Regarding her choice to use relatively unknown producers, engineer Commissioner Gordon said, quote, No one believed. Lauren said, I want to make my own record, have the baby, and use these unknown guys.

They're like, you're Lauren Hill. Why aren't you with trackmasters? I took a lot of courage to go down that road, and we all felt like soldiers in her army. Lauren will push you to the 10th level to get something the way she's hearing it. The divinity of the scenario was always overwhelming to me because I could feel it all the time, unquote.

Over the course of a year and a half in New Jersey, New York, Miami, and Jamaica, Ms. Hill and her team would work to shape a collection of songs that reflected her influences, emotions, and personal journey. I'd gone through a lot, you know, a huge emotional and spiritual battle prior to the creation of that album. And the funny thing is that while I was going in the battle, I couldn't see my hand, despite my face.

I mean, I really couldn't see anything because I was so emotionally entangled and everything that I'd gone through. But it was like once I was delivered from that situation, you know, and once I got the perspective, was able to look back at heartache and look back at pain and disappointment, for some reason, it all was so clear.

You know, it was just like a, you know, the picture started to form itself. The song started to create themselves. I was able to look back and be a narrator of my own situation. But the interesting thing was that it couldn't happen while I was in the middle of the confusion. Of course, Miss Hill's emotional and creative outpouring would result in the creation of the miseducation of Lauren Hill,

one of the most acclaimed and beloved albums of all time, an album that will dive into note by note line by line. Next time on Dysect. Dissect is written and produced by me. Project support by Spotify's Michelle Santucci. Original theme music by Beirocratic. Song Recreations by Andrew Atwood. Additional research by Akash Pandi.

Remember, when you listen to Dissect on Spotify, you'll get episodes a week early, plus access to exclusive bonus episodes. You can also find a growing catalog of Spotify exclusive podcasts, like Undercover, Season 2 of Gimlet's Crime Town, and one of my personal favorites, the Joe Bunnan podcast. Follow at Dissect Podcast on Twitter and Instagram and join our newsletter at dissectpodcast.com. Okay, thanks everyone. Talk to you next week.