Lauryn Hill only released one solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, and she recently explained why. In a lengthy Instagram comment under a post by Fraim World, she addressed rumors about her career ad denied claims regarding her absence from music.
“When you’re inspired and desire to be principled, what doesn’t get talked about enough is the drain… nor the challenge to find safety so that you can create with integrity,” Hill wrote. “Most see opportunity as dollars only and often exclude the ‘sense.’ [Fugees’] The Score nor the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill were made because we were ‘allowed’ to represent what we did, we fought for every inch.”
She added that “wild success can cause greed that begins to degenerate the art for the money,” while emphasizing that “artists go through phases” and that “creativity requires expression, exploration and experimentation.”
Lauryn also compared herself to Harriet Tubman, saying she also spoke “difficult truths to power before certain forces tried to close those doors.”
“If it was so easy to do, where is that expression now on the world stage? Systems fear what they can’t control. Creativity is most potent when it’s free,” she continued. “If I did nothing else, I introduced standards and possibilities to a generation that didn’t know they could operate on that level before then.”
She added that she worked outside the support of the music industry before people fully understood her impact. “Another artist who values inspiration then recognizes IT’S [sic] value and re-presents it to an audience then ready to receive it,” she wrote.
Lauryn released the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in August 1998. Featuring Carlos Santana, Mary J. Blige and D’Angelo, the album was certified Diamond and remains the only rap album by a woman to spend multiple weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200.
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