Lauryn Hill biography, married, divorce

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<a href="/biography/lauryn-hill">Lauryn Noelle Hill</a> is an American <a href="/biography/lauryn-hill">songwriter</a>, rapper, singer and producer. She is also an <a href="/biography/lauryn-hill">actress</a>. She was born on may 26, 1975 in East Orange, New Jersey. She is well known for being part of the music group “Fugees” as well as her acclaimed solo album “The miseducation of Lauryn Hill”. She’s been active in her career from 1989 to the present. The genres she mains consist of mainly R&B and Soul, with other genres consisting of neo soul, hip hop, folk and reggae. Aside from the Fugees she has collaborated with Nas on some tracks such as “If I ruled the world” She mainly performs vocals; however she can be seen performing on a guitar. She is currently signed to Columbia and Ruffhouse records.

Early life and beginnings

Her mother was Valerie Hill who was a teacher, and her father was Mal Hill, who was a computer management consultant. She was raised Baptist and her family relocated between New York and New Jersey. Because of her middle-class upbringing, she commonly associated with Jewish families, with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zach_Braff">Zach Braff</a> being part of one of those families. Hills upbringing was surrounded by music. She has stated that music would fill her childhood as her parents would play piano and sing.

Her father was a talented singer where he would even perform at social events. Hill would curate her own set of artists she would grow to be inspired by. Some of those artists were <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_Mayfield">Curtis Mayfield</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aretha_Franklin">Aretha Franklin</a>, <a href="/biography/gladys-knight">Gladys Knight</a>, <a href="/biography/stevie-wonder">Stevie Wonder</a>, and even <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Gaye">Marvin Gaye</a>. She stated that she “recalled playing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marvin_Gaye">Marvin Gaye</a>'s What's Going On repeatedly until she fell asleep to it.” Her passion for signing had led her to performing the star-spangled banner before a basketball game in middle school. Her rendition was so successful and well liked, they used her version in future games. Her momentum has led her to singing at the show “It’s showtime at the Apollo”. Unfortunately for her, she received criticisms from the crowd for her seemingly poor performance.

In school she was a <a href="/biography/lauryn-hill">Grade A student</a> and ran track as an extracurricular activity. She also attended school with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zach_Braff">Zach Braff</a>. Her passion for music led her to taking violin classes, founding a choir group, and attending dance classes. Her performance in school was well above average as she strived to be the best at everything and anything she attempted. As a first-year student, Hill came into contact with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pras">Prakazrel "Pras" Michel</a>, as he approached her about creating a group. Hill agreed, and the two created a group called the Tranzlator Crew, with the name relating to their style of signing in different languages. Later on, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyclef_Jean">Wyclef Jean</a> would join the group, and the three would be seen performing in talent shows and in their local town.

Her origins of rapping occurred during this time, as she would mix her performances with a blend of rap and singing. She’s acquired inspiration from female rappers as well as Ice Cube, who’s flow helped create Hills own style of flow. Before even graduating high school, she began attending classes for acting. She began acting in 1991 where she would appear in unsuccessful Broadway musicals. Regardless of the lack of success, she was spotted by an agent who helped her land roles in bigger titles such as soap operas and movies like Sister Act 2. She improvised a rap scene and performed other songs which caught the attention of critics and raved about how her talent was being wasted in such a terrible movie.

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The Fugees

The trio, which consisted of Hill, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyclef_Jean">Jean</a>, and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pras">Pras</a>, were signed to Ruffhouse which distributed records through Columbia. The Trio changed their name to the well-known Fugees, which was taken from the word “refugee” which Haitian-<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americans">Americans</a> were commonly called. The trio released a hip-hop LP called “Blunted on Reality” which debuted in 1994. The album wasn’t heavily politicized like their later albums and of course didn’t take off until their second album “The Score”. Their Sophomore album is what gained the group national fame as they carried their musical qualities over from the first album and stayed consistent with their style and flow. The articulate production and innovative use of samples has led them to release many hits and renditions of old songs which many people still enjoy to this day.

Solo Projects

After Hills success with the Fugees, the group split up to do solo projects. This may be due to Hills romantic involvement with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyclef_Jean">Jean</a> as well as romantic differences with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyclef_Jean">Jean</a> marrying another woman while still dating Hill. Hills first solo record, “The miseducation of Lauryn Hill”, featured many collaborations and contributions from artists such as <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/D'Angelo">D’Angelo</a>, <a href="/biography/carlos-santana">Carlos Santana</a>, <a href="/biography/mary-j-blige">Mary J. Blige</a>, and <a href="/biography/john-legend">John Legend</a>. During the production, Hill turned down Jeans offer for production help due to their shaky past. Her album consisted of shots and jabs at her old music group mostly citing <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wyclef_Jean">Jean</a> and consisted of songs relating to her choices in life, such as having her first baby with <a href="/biography/rohan-marley">Rohan Marley</a>, who was the <a href="/biography/rohan-marley">son</a> of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Marley">Bob Marley</a>.

The album garnered huge success in the music industry, as critics raved claiming it was one of the most acclaimed albums of 1998.  Hills blending of different genres as well as her insightful writing based on her perspectives of life and relationships has caught the attention of many, as it was considered a powerful album filled with emotion, pain, painted by her past but also shines a light for what would come. In its first week of sale, Hills album sold over 400,000 copies and was an easy chart topper for several weeks. Overall it sold about 8 million copies in the US and 12 million worldwide. Her worldwide success resulted in her being nominated in ten categories in one year for the Grammys. She would be the first woman at the time to achieve such a feat.

Conclusion

Her first solo studio album was the only one she’s ever released. Since then she has toured and written singles while performing in many different projects and activities irrelevant to music. In the late 2010s she was imprisoned for 3 months due to tax fraud on taxes not paid between 2005-2007. She has since then served her prison sentence as well as her 3 months of house arrest. To this day she has 6 children, 5 with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bob_Marley">Marley</a> and a 6th with a publicly unannounced father. Hill’s contribution to music is a great one, and despite only one album release, her footprint in the music industry is a large one and has created inspiration for many likeminded individuals like her out there.

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