Lauryn Hill, one of hip-hop’s greatest vocalists, turns 37 today (May 25).
Hill’s musical career began in the early ’90’s, when she was recruited to join the Fugees by Prakazrel “Pras” Michel and his cousin, Wyclef Jean. As an MC, Hill’s talents were formidable — she was a natural rapper with a smooth, effortless flow and sharp lyrical skills.
It was on the Fugees’ multi-platinum, Grammy-winning second (and final) release The Score, however, that Hill revealed her astounding singing voice, on her chart-topping, poignant cover of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly.”
Hill went into a self-imposed exile after releasing her wildly popular solo debut, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and her poorly received MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 follow-up in 2002, firing her management, making controversial remarks and disappearing from public view for several years, amongst allegations that she had fallen under the control of a “cult leader.”
The Fugees reunited in 2004, to perform at Dave Chappelle’s Block Party in Brooklyn, N.Y., followed by a short-lived reunion tour. Though her record label, Sony Records, claims that Hill has several albums worth of unreleased material, recorded over the better part of the last decade, she has yet to release a new album.
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