Performer Notes

Personnel includes: Lauryn Hill, Mary J. Blige, D'Angelo (vocals); Carlos Santana, Johari Newton, Robert Browne, Earl Chinna-Smith (guitar); Grace Paradise (harp); Dean Frasier (saxophone); Everol Ray (trumpet); Nambo Robinson (trombone); Tejumold Newton, John R. Stephens, Joe Wilson (piano); James Poyser (organ, Fender Rhodes, synthesizer bass, background vocals); Chris Meredith, Tom Barney, Matthew Rubano, Paul Fakhourie (bass); Jared "Chocolate" Crawford (drums); Ruby Byrd (percussion); Vada Nobles, Che Guevara (drum programming); Sabrina Johnston, Earl Robinson, Andrea Simmons, Kenny Bobien, Eddie Stockley, Jenni Fujita, Chuck Young, Rasheem "Kilo" Pugh, Fundisha Johnson, Lenesha Randolph, Ahmed Wallace (background vocals).
Engineers include: Tony Prendatt, Commissioner Gordon, Warren Riker.
THE MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL won the 1999 Grammy Award for Album Of The Year and Best R&B Album. Lauryn Hill won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best New Artist. "Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You" was nominated for the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. "Doo Wop (That Thing)" won the 1999 Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance and Best R&B Song. "Nothing Even Matters" was nominated for a 1999 Grammy for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. "Lost Ones" was nominated for a 1999 Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance. "Everything Is Everything" was nominated for the 2000 Grammy Award for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance.
Personnel: Lauryn Hill (vocals, guitar, background vocals); D'Angelo (vocals, Fender Rhodes piano); Mary J. Blige (vocals); Earl "Chinna" Smith (guitar, background vocals); Francis Dunnery, Johari Newton, Julian Marley, Al Anderson, Andrew Smith , Robert Browne, Carlos Santana (guitar); Elisabeth Valletti, Grace Paradise (harp); Indigo Quartet (strings); Bud Beadle (flute, alto saxophone, tenor saxophone); Lori Holland (clarinet, electric piano, Fender Rhodes piano, organ, Wurlitzer organ); Dean Fraser (tenor saxophone); Kevin Robinson (trumpet, flugelhorn); Everol Ray (trumpet); Nambo Robinson, Fayyaz Virji (trombone); Don-E (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Wurlitzer organ); Tejumold Newton, John Stephens (piano); James Poyser (celesta, electric piano, Fender Rhodes piano, harpsichord, organ, Wurlitzer organ, bass synthesizer); Jared "Chocolate" Crawford, Squiddly Ranks (drums); Rudy Byrd (percussion); Che Pope (programming); Che Guevara, Vada Nobles (drum programming); Lenesha Randolph, Earl Robinson, Eddie Stockley, Fundisha Johnson, Andrea Simmons, Ahmed Wallace, Racheal Wilson, Tara Wilkons, Chuck Young, Jennifer McNeil, Rasheem "Kio" Pugh, Kenny O. Bobien, Sabrina Johnston (background vocals).
DJ: DJ Supreme.
Audio Mixers: Commissioner Gordon; Warren Riker.
Recording information: Chung King Studio, NY; Circle House Studios, Miami, FL; Marley Music Inc, Kingston, Jamica; Perfect Pair Studios, NJ.
Photographers: Marc Baptiste; Eric Johnson .
Unknown Contributor Roles: Ramon Rivera; Shelly Thunder .
Arranger: Lauryn Hill.
Lauryn Hill is far from miseducated, as her solo debut album proves. With both critical and popular acclaim from her affiliation with the Fugees, Lauryn uses THE MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL to make a definitive individual statement. The focus here is love: love of self, love of her son, the love of her life, love of hip-hop. Her powerful lyrics and vocal talent put her in a class by herself.
One of hip-hop's more strong-willed artists, Lauryn's positivity defies the '90s materialistic rap scene. Although there is much more singing than rapping, Lauryn still covers plenty of hip-hop ground on THE MISEDUCATION, and her music falls into the rap category just as much as it does into R&B. Produced by Hill herself, this album gives us only a few guest artists (D'Angelo, Mary J.) but lots of Lauryn Hill.

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (10/31/02, p.136) - Ranked # 32 in Rolling Stone's "Women in Rock: The 50 Essential Albums" - "...[The album] unites hip-hop, R&B and reggae under a single groove..."

Rolling Stone (5/13/99, p.79) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's."

Rolling Stone (9/3/98, p.98) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...The sound of a woman who takes herself seriously....It's an album...that you could play at a family reunion, or any sort of multigenerational party, and get everyone bouncing and singing along, without anyone ever having to cringe..."

Spin (9/99, p.132) - Ranked #28 in Spin Magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s."

Spin (1/99, p.91) - Ranked #1 on Spin's list of "Top 20 Albums of '98."

Spin (9/98, pp.179-180) - 9 (out of 10) - "...the confidence with which Hill sings and raps herself into black music's mammoth tradition...is balanced by the vulnerability of one of MISEDUCATION's two themes: a love gone wrong, untangling itself painfully and slow....Part of her greatness is that this genre-bender has never feared sentiment..."

Entertainment Weekly (Spring 2000, p.166) - Ranked #2 in EW's "Top 10 albums of the '90s"

Entertainment Weekly (9/4/98, pp.79-80) - "...Easily flowing from singing to rapping, evoking the past while forging a future of her own, Hill has made an album of often-astonishing power, strength, and feeling..." - Rating: A

Q (p.121) - "[I]t only seems natural that Lauryn Hill's solo debut should mesh hip hop and soul to the point where it's hard to hear where one ends and the other begins..."

Q (10/01, p.68) - Ranked #25 in Q's "Best 50 Albums of Q's Lifetime"

Q (12/99, p.100) - Included in Q Magazine's "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s."

Muzik (12/98, p.94) - 5 stars out of 5 - "...a superb collection of rhymes and beats and fresh lyrics that show how a good album should be recorded..."

CMJ (1/11/99, p.3) - "...The jeep-bumping beats helped the album push platinum, but the potent, emotive songwriting made it an across-the-board pop milestone..."

The Source (9/98, p.230) - "...Thoughtful, passionate, purposeful and unmistakably female....Small complaints, not even worth sweating when the overall emotional and musical effect is potent..."

Rap Pages (11/98, p.130) - 4 (out of 5) - "...Choosing to display all of her talent, songwriting ability, Lauryn pushes rap aside, opting to sing more....Lauryn's attempt to intellectualize pain and love in word without sacrificing emotion in song is daring and creative..."

Mojo (Publisher) (p.58) - Ranked #67 in Mojo's "100 Modern Classics" -- "Hill's debut dazzled, with old school soul, heart-breaking break-up songs and metaphysical raps providing an unbroken chain of dizzying highs."