Potentially one of the more iconic acts to take the stage at the Cuthbert Amphitheater, Ms. Lauryn Hill’s show will be a chance to see one of the most interesting musicians of the last two decades perform live.
Next week, Hill will turn 36. Time has passed since a much younger Hill dominated the hip-hop scene. Yet her attraction has faded little, and in many cases, the mystery that surrounds her lack of musical involvement has created a stronger following.
This Friday, Hill will play at the amphitheater as part of its summer concert series.
Much of Friday night’s crowd will be made up of fans of her music, but more ticket holders will attend out of curiosity about Hill.
From any perspective, it’s difficult not to be a little more than curious about her. Hill went from being at the pinnacle of her profession to visibly absent. She’s been a musician in exile. Her musical contributions of the last decade have been sparse and rare; her live performances have been also intermittent.
During the golden era of hip-hop, Hill had the rare ability to attract listeners from all backgrounds. Her thoughtful blend of soulful hip-hop, conscious to its core, provided an audience that stretched beyond the genre.
Starting out with the Fugees in the early ’90s, Hill’s talent mixed with producer and singer Wyclef Jean and rapper Pras Michel to create multiple hits. With renditions of “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” “No Woman, No Cry,” and “Ready Or Not,” the group sold millions, and its album “The Score” won two Grammys (Best Rap Album, Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group).
After the Fugees disbanded in 1997, Hill finished working on her solo album and released “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” in 1998. Overshadowing her success with the Fugees, the album sold roughly 18 million copies over the last decade. It also earned her 10 Grammy nominations, the most ever by a woman in one year. She went on to win five, including Album of the Year and Best New Artist.@@http://www.zimbio.com/The+Fugees/articles/-qU2wQ3H-Xi/Fugees+Producer+Jerry+Wonda+Feeling+Lauryn@@ @@http://avaxhome.ws/music/rnb/hip_hop/Lauryn-Hill-The-Miseducation-Of-Lauryn-Hill-FLAC-Format.html@@
With both her commercial and critical success at its highest, Hill began rejecting her fame. Reportedly becoming more spiritual and having stopped watching TV or listening to music, Hill almost disappeared altogether during the early 2000s from the pop culture scene she had mastered.
Since that time, Hill has adopted a new name, Ms. Lauryn Hill, and recorded only a few songs. Most of the news around Hill involved albums that never happened and performances that didn’t live up to expectations.
It was surprising then that in the later part of the spring of 2010, Hill began dominating music headlines again with the announcement of her comeback. Starting with an appearance at the southern California hip-hop musical festival Rock the Bells, Hill would go on to do multiple concerts and tours.
For most artists who have been as inconsistent as Hill, the ability to keep such a strong following seems difficult. But Hill’s history and existing passion for music has made her an act still worth seeing. Although people will be curious about Hill’s past as they enter the Cuthbert on Friday, more will be there to see her talent above all else.