By: Charlie St. Dennis

When discussing music, and hip-hop in general, debates frequently occur asking who the best of that genre is. Honorific titles spread like wildfire, like “The King of Pop” Michael Jackson, “Queen of Soul” Aretha Franklin, and “King of Rock” Elvis Presley just to name a few. One title that was “given” a few years back was “Queen of Hip-Hop” which was given to Lauryn Hill. While I think this is a fitting title, I think Lauryn Hill should be in the conversation of larger, more broad titles, perhaps “Queen of Songwriting”.

The problem I run into here when having these conversations is that people frequently bring up the fact that Lauryn Hill has only released one album. They say this in an attempt to contradict me, saying she isn’t even eligible for these conversations. I, however, think that’s just another testament of what makes her great.

With a running time of 77 minutes, Lauryn Hill wrote all but one of the songs on ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ single-handedly. The album explores a number of different genres, ranging from neo-soul to traditional R&B to progressive rap. The meanings and intentions behind these songs range, as well. Songs like “Nothing Even Matters” and “Ex-Factor” address love, while songs like “To Zion” and “Every Ghetto, Every City” discuss motherhood and reflection on the life you lived. We’ll dive deeper into that…

The album went on to hit No.1 on the Rap charts, and on the Billboard 200 Top Albums. Hill also won 5 Grammy awards, including Best New Artist and Album of the Year, becoming the second Black woman to receive the album accolade, and she became the first artist to win the Best New Artist award for a hip-hop record.

She is deserving of these accolades. There is a reason why the album has sold over 20 million copies around the world. That reason is because this is music that is not only catchy, but resonates with people, whether they can relate to it or not. She showed us that you can rap and make catchy songs, but also be vulnerable. Because she tackled these topics, she brought a sense of openness and emotion to the rap industry, which allowed for artists to emote on record. At the time, Hill was just trying to figure out her life, she was only 23. 25 years later, these testaments still remain true.

Songs like “To Zion (feat. Carlos Santana)” not only feature a catchy beat and an ear worm of a guitar riff, but it also tackles the topic of Lauryn Hill having to choose between continuing her career or starting a family. She says on the record that everyone told her “to use her head, but instead I chose to use my heart.” She continued her career as she recorded the album, while beginning the early phase of parenting her newborn son, Zion. This put an end to the narrative that women had to “make a choice”: Successful celebrities like Serena Williams and Cardi B have seen successes in continuing their careers while also being a mother, and credited Hill for giving them the hope that they can.

Songs like “Every Ghetto, Every City” serve as funky autobiographies telling us about the little girl that grew up to become *the* Lauryn Hill. Songs like “Everything is Everything” stand out because just about everyone can attach it to their life, because we can all understand the philosophy that life moves slow but change does come, which Lauryn references in the song when she says, “after winter must come spring.” She also references civil rights leaders like Betty Shabazz, and makes deep connections to the Civil Rights movement, just adding to the deep hidden meaning behind the song. Interestingly enough, now-EGOT winner John Legend started his career playing piano on this track!

Moral of the story, I love Lauryn Hill. I believe that there is more to a song than what you hear upon first listen, and I think this album is a good testament to that. When speaking about my love of Ms. Hill, people often bring up the fact that she’s only released one album and ask me if I want another one from her.

My answer? No. In just 16 songs, Ms. Hill perfectly sums up life. Her life, my life, and our life collectively as a society. The album is perfect, and even though Ms. Hill may not be (she has had her share of controversy and financial issues over the years), she has achieved with one album what many artists fail to do with ten: perfection. This is the perfect legacy to leave behind.

Your favorite artist wouldn’t be in the game today if it weren’t for Ms. Lauryn Hill. And that’s why she is the greatest of all time.