Friday, August 03, 2007

Tumbling Down Ms. Hill


Seeing this really pains me. Don't get me wrong, the interview is very informative and I've wondered off and on what kind of progress she's been making, musically. At one point I was convinced that she was going to be the Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald or Billy Holiday of my generation. She's got that much talent and potential, not that I even know what "talent" and "potential" is. What I do know is that she's got something very unique. But during these past few years of self-imposed reclusivity and sporadic re-emergences, Lauryn Hill has been slowly disintegrating and becoming marginalized and irrelevant, all through her own doing (or undoing).

I don't care about a Fugees reunion. She doesn't need a reunion. No one even gives a fuck whether or not Wyclef or Pras are even on an album with her. Everyone wants to hear Lauryn. The Fugees didn't sell millions because of Wyclef & Pras. They were really just oversized, ornamental hype-men for the group. The success of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was not a fluke. Wyclef's Carnival was good but wasn't nearly as successful, and that was not fluke either. Ask anyone why they bought The Score and I doubt you'll get any response other than Lauryn Hill.

My advice: Just ease your clamp on the Bible and simply start to "make meaningful music".

The video interview should have never been allowed. Homey The Clown, not a good look.

Listen to these and tell me she's not the whole package (Erase the visual from the above interview from your consciousness).

"All My Time feat. Paid & Live"

"Ex-Factor/Manifest"

"The Sweetest Thing" (It's my favorite of anything she's ever done. The sweetest thing, indeed.)