lauryn hill was Born in South Orange, New Jersey, just outside Newark, Hill was raised by an English teacher mother and a computer consultant father. As a small child, she often fell asleep to the sound of her parents' rhythm and blues records playing on the stereo. Hill loved to sing, and indeed at age 13 she impressed a crowd at Harlem's Apollo Theatre with an amateur night rendition of Smokey Robinson's "Who's Loving You?" For the most part, however, her early years centered on school, which offered an environment where she could put her burgeoning leadership skills to good use. A multi-talented, active student, Hill wrote poetry, started a gospel choir, played on the basketball team, ran track, and was a cheerleader and homecoming queen. Teaming up with childhood friends Wyclef Jean and Prakazrel ("Pras") Michel, she also formed a rap group — the Fugees (short for refugees) — while still in her mid teens.


Released in 1996, the Fugees' second album, The Score, was a sensation. Whereas the debut had featured mostly rap material, The Score gave Hill a chance to really sing, with songs such as the cover of Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly" and Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry" revealing her to be a vocalist of remarkable versatility and power. Hailed as one of the first hip-hop albums to incorporate a pan-African vision and spirituality often associated with reggae, The Score went on the sell 17 million copies, and helped introduce the hip-hop genre to the mainstream. Until that time Hill had assiduously kept up her studies at Columbia, where she was majoring in History, but with the success of The Score she quit school in order to devote more energy to her career.

Near the end of the Fugees's 1997 tour, Hill discovered she was pregnant with her first child. Ignoring comments from career-minded advisers, who counseled that a newborn could derail her ascent toward stardom, Hill gave birth to the baby, who was fathered by Bob Marley's son, Rohan. For nearly a year after the birth of her son, whom she and Marley named Zion, Hill concentrated on motherhood while maintaining a low profile in the music world. She also involved herself more deeply in the activities of the Refugee Project, an organization she started in 1996 to assist underprivileged and at-risk youths by encouraging positive social development.


Released in August of 1998, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (the title is derived from a book called The Miseducation of the Negro, by Carter G. Woodson, and from the 1974 film, The Education of Sonny Carson) was instantly hailed as landmark album that dismantled every cliché in hip-hop. Brash and humble at the same time, the largely autobiographical work addressed topics ranging from materialism to racism to sexism, without resorting to pontification or pedagogy. In its spiritual yearnings and its confessional structure, the album elicited comparisons to such touchstone works as Marvin Gaye's What's Goin' On and Joni Mitchell's Blue. And perhaps most importantly, critics conjectured that the album would inspire other rappers and hip-hop artists to examine their craft in more profound ways.

Praise for the album has generally been unequivocal, and Hill herself has avoided controversy, but in December 1998 four participants in the making of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill filed suit against the singer, claiming they deserve more writing and production credit (and, hence, more royalties). Rasheem Pugh, Vada Nobles, Tejumold Newton, and Johari Newton each assert that they co-wrote and co-produced most of the songs while working with Hill in her home studio. (A spokesperson for Hill has maintained the suit is without merit). The suit is still pending.

Meanwhile Hill continues to charm audiences both near and abroad. In April she wrapped up a highly lauded U.S. tour in her home state of New Jersey, and is readying herself for an overseas tour that will keep her busy through the fall. Beyond that her future plans are boundless. There are rumors afoot that the Fugees will get together to record another disc, with a tentative due of spring or summer 2000. She's also planning to revive her acting career, with a possible role as Rita Marley, Bob Marley's wife, as well as a part in a film based on Pras' album Ghetto Supastar, produced by Madonna's Mad Guy Films. And sometime amidst the swirl of activity surrounding her, she and Rohan Marley intend to get married.