“ I wanna take y’all back to the old days when I used to be around my grandmother’s house” the first line of the mega-hit Doo Whop that compels any Lauryn Hill fan to hop on the beat and sing along ails from the award-winning album Miseducation. The rap legend and former member of the renowned rap group Fugees will be taking us back to the old days celebrating the album’s 25th anniversary by inaugurating a tour in its honor.
The Ms. Lauryn Hill & Fugees: Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 25th Anniversary Tour was launched by Hill, who thanked the crowd for their support over the last 25 years. “Twenty-five years of support. 25 years of love… it’s our first show, it’s a little challenging because we’re home, and I’ve been emotional.”
- Advertisement -
In Newark, New Jersey’s Prudential Center, roughly 20 minutes from her birthplace of East Orange, the musician who now goes by the name Ms. Lauryn Hill performed songs from her classic record all night long.
Hill enthusiastically said, “New Jersey, I’m home!” while strutting regally in flowing black trousers, jewel-encrusted sunglasses, and a white blouse with huge balloon sleeves.
The diverse singer launched into a stunning rendition of Everything is Everything as the entire audience stood up and applauded her performance. She was accompanied by a sizable band that featured a string section. Students from Columbia High School’s marching band, Hill’s alma school, were with her. (At the end of her concert, local high school students would perform Doo Wop (That Thing))
But throughout the night, serious audio problems muddled Hill’s strong yet heavenly voice. The Sweetest Thing singer occasionally overcame sound issues to give stunning interpretations of some of her most well-known songs!
Huge applause greeted Hill’s dedication to her first child through the song “Yelling Out to Zion”, a beloved fan favorite. The incredibly intimate song tells the story of how she persisted in being pregnant in spite of industry worries that a kid would ruin her budding career. Giant screens behind Hill broadcast images and home movies of Zion as a newborn as the audience watched spellbound as Hill sobbed her heart out. She would then deliver stunning renditions of Nothing Even Matters, Too Good to Be True, and the title tune in a moving performance.
It might be hard to fully express the grandeur and utter beauty of Miseducation. The album, which is regarded as one of the best in American music history, won five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year, making it the first hip-hop record to do so.
More significantly, its themes of romance, black love, and self-worth captured audiences’ hearts all around the world, which is in part why fans are so sensitive to Ms. Hill. Hill captivated both conventional R&B aficionados and ardent hip-hop fans with his sharp rapping and magnificent singing, which was unlike the contemporary melodic rap approach.
Unfortunately, Miseducation would be her only studio album as a solo artist.
Hill was an hour and 50 minutes late in making an appearance, even though the doors had opened at 8 p.m. (On Nas’s 2022 Grammy-winning best rap album, King’s Disease II, Hill contributed a rare but outstanding line on the track Nobody, saying, “My awareness like Keanu in The Matrix/I’m saving souls and y’all complaining ’bout my lateness.”)
However, there were other disappointments as well, though they weren’t altogether unexpected for those who had followed her. A puzzled crowd that didn’t know how to follow along was confounded by up-tempo renditions of When It Hurts So Bad, Superstar, and Final Hour that had glimpses of The Lox’s Money Power Respect.
Hill, who rarely gives interviews, wrote in a Medium op-ed in 2018 about the confusion surrounding her song arrangements (as well as other widespread rumors), saying, “There’s no way I could continue to play the same songs over and over as long as I’ve been performing them without some variation and exploration. I’m not a robot. If I’d had additional music out, perhaps I would have kept them as they were.”
Her justification, however, hasn’t done much to placate the admirers of Miseducation. The lovely, nearly faultless album Ex-Factor, which is about painfully and painstakingly ending a relationship, may have been when the disappointment was most noticeable. Although the audience was robbed of the song’s passion and connection due to the accelerated speed, supporters tried their best to embrace what she offered.
Around 11:10 p.m., Hill finished her solo performance and requested Wyclef Jean and Pras, the other members of the Fugees, to join her on stage. As Hill stated the group was unable to tour in 2017 to commemorate The Score’s 25th anniversary as they had anticipated, so they gave a performance of songs from their Grammy-winning discography.
“A lot of people didn’t think this would happen, including some of the people on stage,” remarked Hill of the band’s reunion. She reacted to Pras with a thundering “Facts!” in which he indicated that he was probably one of those people.
Pras Michel was convicted of political conspiracy earlier this year; he is presently at liberty awaiting punishment.
The audience stood after the trio finished with their biggest singles, Killing Me Softly, Ready or Not, and Fu-Gee-La. Hill had asked them to complete the night by singing Happy Birthday to Wyclef, who turned 54.
Home-field advantage can make a difference in sports, which is why teams work so hard to get it as they approach the playoffs. When a team needs it, a home crowd may change the game’s momentum and give them an extra lift. Although Hill’s performance was far from flawless, she was surrounded by fans who adored her, were moved by her songs, and had grown up alongside her both physically and spiritually.
The Miseducation performance had some weak spots, but with a few easy adjustments, it might have been fantastic. Even if they were biased, her supporters nonetheless graded her on a curve and gave her a passing mark. And there is nothing wrong with it since that is the purpose of home-field advantage.
