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130-422: Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She is often credited for breaking barriers for female rappers, popularizing melodic rap, and pioneering neo soul for mainstream audiences . In addition to being named one of the 50 Great Voices by NPR , Hill was listed as one of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time by Rolling Stone . In 2015, she

260-536: A pay-per-view music video of the song "Social Drugs" through her website. Those who purchase the $ 15 video would only be able to view it three times before it expired. In addition to the video, Hill began selling autographed posters and Polaroids through her website, with some items listed at upwards of $ 500. For the first time since 1997, the Fugees performed in September 2004 at Dave Chappelle's Block Party in

390-454: A "sinuous, sly yet unabashedly earnest" alternative and "kind of haven for listeners turned off by the hedonism of mainstream hip-hop and club jams." Neo soul artists are often associated with alternative lifestyles and fashions, including organic food, incense, and knit caps . According to music writer Peter Shapiro, the term itself refers to a musical style that obtains its influence from older R&B styles, and bohemian musicians seeking

520-469: A Raphael Saadiq-esque adventurousness"), and Iman Omari ("a faint Bilal tinge … music that leans heavy on a jazz/hip-hop"). All That I Can Say Blige garnered her sixth Grammy Award nomination for Best Female R&B Vocal Performance at the 42nd Grammy Awards . Blige performed the song live in addition to an impromptu appearance by Hill who performed a rap on the first incarnation of The Queen Latifah Show in September 1999. She also performed

650-577: A Rose ", which became a late-in-career hit for Aretha Franklin . She appeared on several magazine covers, including Time , Esquire , Rolling Stone , Teen People , and The New York Times Fashion Magazine . During the ceremony, Hill broke another record by becoming the first woman to win five times in one night, taking home the awards for Album of the Year , Best R&B Album , Best R&B Song , Best Female R&B Vocal Performance , and Best New Artist . During an acceptance speech, she said, "This

780-478: A Woman's Fed Up " (1998), the singer incorporated a more soul-based sound and referenced Badu's 1997 song " Tyrone " in the lyrics. Other female artists broke through with their debut albums, including Macy Gray , Angie Stone , and Jill Scott . Although Scott's album Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds Vol. 1 would not see release until 2000, she co-wrote and sang on " You Got Me " (the 1999 hit single by hip hop band The Roots ) and received further exposure as

910-522: A basketball game. Due to its popularity, subsequent games featured a recording of her rendition. In 1988, Hill appeared as an Amateur Night contestant on It's Showtime at the Apollo . She sang her version of the Smokey Robinson track " Who's Lovin' You ", garnering an initially harsh reaction from the crowd. She persevered through the performance. Hill attended Columbia High School , where she

1040-406: A blog a 1996 divorce document from Haiti . The two had been living in a high-end Miami hotel, but around 2003 she moved out into her own place in that city. Hill later said that she and Marley "have had long periods of separation over the years". Hill slowly worked on a new album and it was reported that by 2003, Columbia Records had spent more than $ 2.5 million funding it, including installing

1170-513: A broader range than most other R&B artists. AllMusic calls it "roughly analogous to contemporary R&B." Dimitri Ehrlich of Vibe said that they "emphasize a mix of elegant, jazz-tinged R&B and subdued hip hop, with a highly idiosyncratic, deeply personal approach to love and politics". Music writers have noted that neo soul artists are predominantly female, which contrasts the marginalized presence of women in mainstream hip hop and R&B. Jason Anderson of CBC News called neo soul

1300-406: A large moving red text line says, "New York Loves You Mary ..." Standing, looking at this, many red bubbles suddenly appear around her. Inside each of them we see Blige in another dress. In the last part of the video, she stands in the middle of a giant escalator up from the city to the sky. Then the singer walks on the clouds, apparently on her way to meet a young black man, who is standing naked on

1430-482: A less conventional sound than its contemporary R&B counterpart, with incorporated elements ranging from funk , jazz fusion , and hip hop , and to pop , rock , and electronic music . It has been noted by music writers for its traditional R&B influences, conscious-driven lyrics, and strong female presence. Neo soul developed during the 1980s and early 1990s, by Black-Americans in the United States, as

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1560-441: A little crazy." Hill began writing a screenplay about the life of Bob Marley , in the production of which she planned to play his wife Rita . She also began producing a romantic comedy about soul food with a working title of Sauce , and accepted a starring role in the film adaptation of Toni Morrison 's novel Beloved ; she later dropped out of both projects due to pregnancy. She also reportedly turned down acting roles in

1690-416: A long post to her Tumblr , Hill said that she had gone "underground" and had rejected pop culture's "climate of hostility, false entitlement, manipulation, racial prejudice, sexism, and ageism." She added, "When I was working consistently without being affected by the interferences mentioned above, I filed and paid my taxes. This only stopped when it was necessary to withdraw from society, in order to guarantee

1820-461: A performance in Vatican City , spoke of the "corruption, exploitation, and abuses" in reference to the molestation of boys by Catholic priests in the United States and the cover-up of offenses by Catholic Church officials. High-ranking church officials were in attendance, but Pope John Paul II was not present. The Catholic League called Hill "pathologically miserable" and claimed her career

1950-405: A period of writer's block . In terms of production, Hill collaborated with a group of musicians known as New Ark, consisting of Vada Nobles , Rasheem Pugh, Tejumold Newton, and Johari Newton. Hill later said that she wanted to "write songs that lyrically move me and have the integrity of reggae and the knock of hip-hop and the instrumentation of classic soul" and that the production on the album

2080-516: A person. It may not be a proper follow-up to her first album, but it is fascinating." Rolling Stone called the album "a public breakdown", and Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times said the album's title opened Hill up for jokes that she had become unhinged. NME wrote that " Unplugged 2.0 is a sparse and often gruelling listen, but there is enough genius shading these rough sketches to suggest that all might not yet be lost." With

2210-501: A piece highlighting 11 recording artists who are "on the precipice of pushing neo-soul forward" into its third decade of existence: Steve Lacy ("cut from the abstract neo-soul cloth of Frank Ocean where you’re just as likely to have a jam session as you are to hear philosophical quips"), Mahalia ("singer-songwriter, with honeyed vocals … songs of love and anguish typically exist in narratives, similar to Jill Scott, who paved her path"), Adrian Daniel ("experimentation and vulnerability that

2340-454: A precursor to the soul music revival in the mid-1990s. Cheo Hodari Coker said in 1997 that the album "largely sparked the soul music revival that has opened the door for a new generation of singers who build on the tradition of Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder". Allmusic editor Leo Stanley wrote that by the release of Tony! Toni! Toné!'s follow-up album House of Music in 1996, "their influence

2470-644: A product of trying to develop something outside of the norm in R&;B". According to music writers, the genre's works are mostly album-oriented and distinguished by its musicianship and production, incorporating "organic" elements of classic soul music with the use of live instrumentation , in contrast to the more single-oriented, hip hop -based, and producer-driven sampling approach of contemporary R&B. Neo soul also incorporates elements of electronic music , jazz fusion , funk , rap , gospel , rock , reggae , and African music . In her book Musical Rhythm in

2600-440: A prominent recorder, engineer, and mixer on Miseducation , described the album as a "powerfully personal effort by Hill" and said, "It was definitely her vision." Hill responded that New Ark had been appropriately credited and now were seeking to take advantage of her success. New Ark requested partial writing credits on most of the tracks on the album as well as monetary reimbursement. After many delays, depositions took place during

2730-592: A racist? My music is universal. And I believe in God. If I believe in God, then I have to love all of God's creations. There can be no segregation." In 1996, Hill founded the Refugee Project, a non-profit outreach organization that sought to transform the attitudes and behavior of at-risk urban youth. Part of this was Camp Hill, which offered stays in the Catskill Mountains for such youngsters; another

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2860-498: A recording studio in the singer's Miami apartment and flying different musicians around the country. By 2002, Hill had shut down her non-profit Refugee Project. She said, "I had a nonprofit organization and I had to shut all that down. You know, smiling with big checks, obligatory things, not having things come from a place of passion. That's slavery. Everything we do should be a result of our gratitude for what God has done for us. It should be passionate." In December 2003, Hill, during

2990-667: A short period before settling in South Orange . Hill has said of her musically oriented family: "there were so many records, so much music constantly being played. My mother played the piano, my father sang, and we were always surrounded by music." Her father sang in local nightclubs and at weddings. While growing up, Hill frequently listened to Curtis Mayfield , Stevie Wonder , Aretha Franklin , and Gladys Knight ; years later she recalled playing Marvin Gaye 's What's Going On repeatedly until she fell asleep to it. In middle school, Hill performed " The Star-Spangled Banner " before

3120-473: A small crowd, for a taping of an MTV Unplugged special. A live album of the concert, titled MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 , was released in May 2002 and featured only her singing and playing an acoustic guitar. Unlike the near-unanimous praise of Miseducation , 2.0 sharply divided critics. AllMusic gave the album 4 out of 5 stars, saying that the recording "is the unfinished, unflinching presentation of ideas and of

3250-445: A smattering of scatting and just enough grit to define the artist's signature edge in this classy number." He also described the track as "spirited, joyful, retro, and yet right on the edge, sounding like nothing she's delivered before". The Daily Vault's Mark Millan stated that "All That I Can Say" "gets things off to a good start, and Blige's voice has never sounded as softly sweet as it is here". Stacey A. Rather from Lincolnian said

3380-448: A songwriter on the song. Around 2001, Marley and Hill's third child, Joshua Omaru , was born. He was followed a year later by their fourth, John Nesta. While Hill sometimes had spoken of Marley as her husband, they never married, and along the way she was informed that Marley had been previously married at a young age. According to a 2003 Rolling Stone report, he had never secured a divorce. Marley later disputed this and made public to

3510-413: A soul revival movement. It earned mainstream success during the 1990s, with the commercial and critical breakthroughs of several artists, including D'Angelo , Erykah Badu , and Lauryn Hill . Their music was marketed as an alternative to the producer-driven, digitally approached R&B of the time, although many of them were ambivalent about the term. Since its initial mainstream popularity and impact on

3640-536: A soul revival, while setting themselves apart from the more contemporary sounds of their mainstream R&B counterparts. In a 1998 article on neo soul, Time journalist Christopher John Farley wrote that singers such as Hill, D'Angelo, and Maxwell "share a willingness to challenge musical orthodoxy". Miles Marshall Lewis commented that 1990s neo soul "owed its raison d'être to '70s soul superstars like Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder ", adding that "in concert, Erykah Badu and D'Angelo regularly covered Chaka Khan ,

3770-616: A supporting performer on the band's tour that year. "Thanks to her stint on 'You Got Me' and subsequent live shows", Joel McIver wrote, "Scott can be credited as the first female artist to emerge in Erykah Badu's wake who could seriously claim to have challenged her superiority at the top of the neo-soul tree". During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the musical collective Soulquarians —consisting of such artists as D'Angelo, The Roots, Erykah Badu, Bilal , Mos Def , Common , James Poyser , J Dilla and Q-Tip —contributed significantly to

3900-419: A term, neo soul was coined by Kedar Massenburg of Motown Records in the late 1990s as a marketing category following the commercial breakthroughs of artists such as D'Angelo , Erykah Badu , Lauryn Hill , and Maxwell . The success of D'Angelo's 1995 debut album Brown Sugar has been regarded by several writers and music critics as inspiration behind the term's origin. While some artists have ignored

4030-473: A turning point for neo soul: "D'Angelo's pastiche of funk, carnal ache, and high-minded, Afrocentric rhetoric stands as neo-soul's crowning achievement. So unsurpassable that it'd be eight years before we'd hear from Erykah Badu and Maxwell again, while Hill and D'Angelo remain missing. But Alicia Keys, John Legend, and Cee-Lo picked up D's mantle and ran with it". Evan Rytlewski of The A.V. Club discerns "a line of revelatory, late-period neo-soul albums" with

Lauryn Hill - Misplaced Pages Continue

4160-452: A week; she also stopped doing interviews, watching television, and listening to music. She started associating with a "spiritual advisor" named Brother Anthony. Some familiar with Hill believe Anthony more resembled a cult leader than a spiritual advisor, and thought his guidance probably inspired much of Hill's more controversial public behavior. She later described this period of her life to Essence saying "People need to understand that

4290-400: A wonderful example of black self-determination in an industry that is still defiantly wedded to narrow definitions and images of black folks." Jason Anderson of CBC News compares the etymology of neo soul to that of " new wave " and comments: "As imperfect as the term may be, neo-soul is still an effective tag to describe the mix of chic modernity and time-honoured tradition that distinguished

4420-424: Is a very sexist industry. They'll never throw the 'genius' title to a sister." While recording the album, when Hill was asked about providing contracts or documentation to the musicians, she replied, "We all love each other. This ain't about documents. This is blessed." Released on August 25, 1998, the album received rave reviews from contemporary music critics, and was the most acclaimed album of 1998. Critics lauded

4550-631: Is crazy. This is hip-hop!" Hill had brought forth a new, mainstream acceptance of the genre. In February 1999, Hill received four awards at the 30th Annual NAACP Image Awards . In May 1999, she became the youngest woman ever named to Ebony magazine 's 100+ Most Influential Black Americans list; in November of that year, the same publication named her as one of "10 For Tomorrow" in the "Ebony 2000: Special Millennium Issue". In May 1999, she made People magazine 's 50 Most Beautiful People list. The publication, which has called her "model-gorgeous", praised

4680-420: Is glorious, as if straight out of the '70s soul /funk golden age. Those searching synths could've been stripped straight from Stevie Wonder's ' Fulfillingness' First Finale ' album, that melody embodies not a little of Al Green 's sexy, laid-back magic. And Mary J's vocals eschew the modern, octave-skipping histrionics of Mariah et al, in favour of a more reserved delivery, building up to an angelic crescendo on

4810-453: Is now recognized as a marketable aesthetic strategy of expression in contemporary pop." The 2000s later featured a decline in output by neo soul artists, with many of them failing to make a commercial impact after previous successes or not releasing a follow-up album. Badu's commercial viability decreased as each of her releases following her debut Baduizm departed further from that album's music. Hill followed-up her 1998 debut—considered

4940-642: Is reminiscent of fellow Brooklynite Maxwell"), VanJess ("sister duo float between the soulful chemistry of Floetry and the unapologetically assertive of City Girls … artful sexual empowerment"), Donovan ("avant-garde singer and instrumentalist … bedroom intimate vocals and [emotive] production"), Ari Lennox ("can make Tinder plights sound rich with soul … akin to Erykah Badu"), Marco McKinnis ("Anthony Hamilton meets D'Angelo … hazy ambient sounds"), Baby Rose ("exquisitely guttural voice makes [love] palpable"), Kyle Dion ("a register so high it sounded like tearful begging"), Lucky Daye ("his love odes are imbued with

5070-629: The Billboard Hot 100 , and was listed as a Song of the Century by the RIAA. Its follow-up singles, " Ex-Factor " and " Everything Is Everything " both peaked within the top 40 on the chart. At the 41st Grammy Awards , she set the record for the most nominations in one night for a female , and became the first rapper to win Album of the Year . In 1999, Hill became the first rapper to be featured on

5200-475: The Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn . The concert featured Hill's nearly a cappella rendition of "Killing Me Softly". The event was recorded by director Michel Gondry and was released on March 3, 2006, to universal acclaim. The Fugees also appeared at BET Awards 2005 during June 2005, where they opened the show with a 12-minute set. One track, "Take It Easy", was leaked online and thereafter

5330-465: The Billboard R&;B Albums chart for six weeks. It went on to sell about 10 million copies in the United States, and 20 million copies worldwide. During 1998 and 1999, Hill earned $ 25 million from record sales and touring. Hill, along with Blige, Missy Elliott , Meshell Ndegeocello , Erykah Badu , and others, found a voice with the neo soul genre. The first single released from the album

Lauryn Hill - Misplaced Pages Continue

5460-752: The National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress , the Grammy Hall of Fame , and the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame . Lauryn Noelle Hill was born on May 26, 1975, in East Orange, New Jersey . Her mother, Valerie Hill, was an English teacher and her father, Mal Hill, a computer and management consultant. She has one older brother named Malaney who was born in 1972. Her Baptist family moved to New York for

5590-555: The Ohio Players , and Al Green , to make the lineage crystal clear." In citing Tony! Toni! Toné! as progenitors of the genre, Tony Green of Vibe viewed that the group pioneered the "digital-analog hybrid sound" of neo soul and "dramatically refreshed the digitalized wasteland that was R&B in the late '80s". Neo soul artists during the 1990s were heavily inspired by the eclectic sound and mellow instrumentation of Gil Scott-Heron 's and Brian Jackson 's collaborative work in

5720-643: The "one R&B artist for whom the neo-soul categorization seemed limiting", his 2001 debut album 1st Born Second was an "exemplary" release for the genre and a top-10 R&B chart success. Hip hop acts such as The Roots and Common, also associated with the Soulquarians, released albums that incorporated neo soul: Phrenology (2002) and Electric Circus (2003). Commenting on neo soul's hype, Daphne Brooks wrote in 2004, "The increasing attention paid to heavily hyped 'neo-soul' artists such as Jill Scott and Indie.arie ... suggest[s] that cultural memory

5850-405: The 1970s. All About Jazz cited Jackson as "one of the early architects" of the sound and his early work with Scott-Heron as "an inspirational and musical Rosetta stone for the neo-soul movement". Neo soul originated in the 1980s and early 1990s, with the work of musical acts such as Prince , Tony! Toni! Toné! , Terence Trent D'Arby , Joi , and Mint Condition , whose music deviated from

5980-562: The 1993 release Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit , playing Rita Louise Watson, an inner-city Catholic school teenager with a surly, rebellious attitude. In it, she performed the songs " His Eye Is on the Sparrow " (a duet with Tanya Blount ) and " Joyful, Joyful ". Director Bill Duke credited Hill with improvising a rap in a scene: "None of that was scripted. That was all Lauryn. She was amazing." Critic Roger Ebert called her "the girl with

6110-475: The 1999 film The Best Man and later received a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals . In November 1998, New Ark filed a fifty-page lawsuit against Hill, her management, and record label, claiming that Hill "used their songs and production skills, but failed to properly credit them for the work" on Miseducation . The musicians claimed to be the primary songwriters on two tracks, and major contributors on several others, though Gordon Williams,

6240-412: The 5-foot-4-inch (1.63 m) Hill for her idiosyncratic sense of personal style. In June 1999, she received an Essence Award , but her acceptance speech, where she said there was no contradiction in religious love and servitude and "[being] who you are, as fly and as hot and as whatever", drew reaction from those in the public who thought she was not a good role model as a young, unwed mother of two. This

6370-567: The Age of Digital Reproduction , music author Anne Danielsen wrote that neo soul toward the end of the 1990s exhibited a musical development that was part of "a remarkable increase in musicians' experimentation with and manipulation of grooves at the microrhythmic level – that is, the level in played music that is usually understood in terms of phrasing and timing." Noting that most of the genre's artists are singer-songwriters, writers have viewed their lyrical content as more "conscious-driven" and having

6500-507: The Fugees split to work on solo projects, which Jean later blamed on his tumultuous relationship with Hill and the fact he married his wife Claudinette while still involved with Hill. Meanwhile, in the summer of 1996 Hill had met Rohan Marley , a son of Bob Marley and a former University of Miami football player . Hill subsequently began a relationship with him, while still also involved with Jean. Hill became pregnant in late 1996, and on August 3, 1997, Marley and Hill's first child, Zion David,

6630-485: The Lauryn Hill they were exposed to in the beginning was all that was allowed in that arena at that time ... I had to step away when I realized that for the sake of the machine, I was being way too compromised. I felt uncomfortable about having to smile in someone's face when I really didn't like them or even know them well enough to like them." She also spoke about her emotional crisis, saying, "For two or three years I

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6760-466: The Soulquarians, it was an exemplary creative milestone of neo soul. Ben Ratliff of The New York Times called the album "the succes d'estime that proves the force of this new music: it is a largely unslick, stubbornly idiosyncratic and genuinely great album that has already produced two hit singles". The year also saw Badu's second album Mama's Gun , by which time the singer had been dubbed by writers as "the queen of neo-soul", although she said of

6890-482: The United States and more than 20 million copies worldwide. In the 1996 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll , The Score came second in the list of best albums and three of its tracks placed within the top 20 best singles. It won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album , and was later included on Rolling Stone ' s list of the 500 greatest albums of all time . The Score garnered praise for being a strong alternative to

7020-456: The album concerned her frustration with the Fugees; "I Used to Love Him" dealt with the breakdown of the relationship between Hill and Wyclef Jean. Other songs such as "To Zion" spoke about her decision to have her first baby (Zion David Marley, the first of five she was to have with Rohan Marley ), even though some at the time encouraged her to have an abortion so to not interfere with her blossoming career. Indeed, Hill's pregnancy revived her from

7150-498: The album's blending of the R&B, doo-wop, pop, hip-hop, and reggae genres and its honest representation of a woman's life and relationships. David Browne , writing in Entertainment Weekly , called it "an album of often-astonishing power, strength, and feeling", and praised Hill for "easily flowing from singing to rapping, evoking the past while forging a future of her own". Robert Christgau quipped, " PC record of

7280-426: The artists' regression from the mainstream, saying "I think most of us went through our psychosomatic, quasi-self-saboteur stage. Once we got that first taste of success, I think just the pressure of reacting got to all of us. Some of us released some of the craziest records of our career." Other artists such as D'Angelo and Hill went on indefinite hiatus from the music scene. Tyler Lewis from PopMatters attributed

7410-669: The bathroom stalls of hip-hop clubs." While growing up, Hill took acting lessons in Manhattan . She began her acting career in 1991 appearing with Jean in Club XII , MC Lyte's Off-Broadway hip-hop rendering of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night . While the play was not a success, an agent noticed her. Later that year, Hill began appearing on the soap opera As the World Turns in a recurring role as troubled teenager Kira Johnson. She subsequently co-starred alongside Whoopi Goldberg in

7540-502: The bathroom, on toilet paper, on the wall. She writes it in the mirror if the mirror smokes up. She writes constantly. This woman does not sleep". One of the few public appearances Hill made in 2008 was at a Martha Stewart book signing in New Jersey, perplexing some in the press. In April 2009, it was reported that Hill would engage in a 10-day tour of European summer festivals during mid-July of that year. She performed two shows for

7670-506: The best-selling neo soul album—with a combative, confessional live album (2002's MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 ) in which she expresses her misgivings about fame, and her recording career diminished soon after. Melena Ryzik of The New York Times wrote in a retrospective piece on that "era of left-of-center black singer-songwriters", stating "many of them struggled to keep their creative momentum, conflicted about their early mainstream success." Producer and Soulquarians member Questlove elaborated on

7800-517: The big joyful voice", although he thought her talent was wasted, while Rolling Stone said she "performed marvelously against type ... in the otherwise perfunctory [film]". Hill also appeared in Steven Soderbergh 's 1993 motion picture King of the Hill , in a minor but pivotal role as a 1930s gum-popping elevator operator. Soderbergh biographer Jason Wood described her as supplying one of

7930-470: The boundaries and contours of black pop." By definition, neo-soul is a paradox. Neo means new. Soul is timeless. All the neo-soul artists, in various ways, perform balancing acts, exploring classic soul idioms while injecting a living, breathing presence into time-tested formulas. They humanize R&B, which has often been reduced to a factory-perfected product. Like sushi, neo-soul is fresh enough to be served raw. —Dimitri Ehrlich ( Vibe , 2002) As

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8060-452: The clouds a little further away. Suddenly the alarm clock interrupts after it has just turned 9.00 a.m.. Blige wakes up and sits up in bed with a puzzled face, as she looks out at the clouds outside the window as the video ends. The music video was later made available on Blige's official YouTube channel in 2009, and had generated almost five million views as of November 2023. Notes In 2000, French pianist Alex Bugnon covered

8190-421: The conventions of most contemporary R&B at the time. Tony! Toni! Toné!-member Raphael Saadiq later embarked on a solo career and produced various works of other neo soul artists. Influential to neo soul, UK act Sade achieved success in the 1980s with music that featured a smooth jazzy style of pop rock called sophisti-pop . The band was part of a new wave of British R&B-oriented artists during

8320-593: The cover of Time magazine, received a President's Award from the NAACP for her humanitarian work, and released the Bob Marley duet " Turn Your Lights Down Low ". Furthermore, she produced and wrote Mary J. Blige 's single " All That I Can Say ". Her work as a producer on Santana 's album Supernatural (1999) earned her a second-consecutive Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Her live album of newly recorded material, MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 (2002), peaked within

8450-479: The decline to "the downside of [the] rejection of the term ['neo soul']", going on to say: The industry, which already has a hard time with unapologetic and complicated black artists, had no idea what to do with all these enormously talented individuals who rejected entire marketing campaigns designed to 'break' them to the record-buying public. As such, albums were shelved or delayed or retooled and artists were dropped from major labels and forced to go it alone, making

8580-417: The direction the world was headed, it also featured the singing of CeeLo Green and the signature guitar runs of Carlos Santana ). She was also nominated for Best R&B Song for " All That I Can Say ", which she had written and produced for Mary J. Blige . Also, her concocted duet with Bob Marley on " Turn Your Lights Down Low " for the 1999 remix tribute album Chant Down Babylon additionally appeared in

8710-413: The early 1990s included Zhané , Groove Theory , Joi, Tony Rich , and Me'Shell NdegéOcello . NdegéOcello's 1993 debut album Plantation Lullabies was later credited as the beginning of neo soul; according to Renee Graham of The Boston Globe , it was "arguably the first shot in the so-called 'neo-soul' movement". The success of Tony! Toni! Toné!'s 1993 album Sons of Soul was also viewed as

8840-532: The early work of hip hop band The Roots , who used live instrumentation, as a precursor to neo soul's commercial breakthrough in the mid-1990s. Kierna Mayo , former editor-in-chief of Ebony , said that alternative hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest 's early 1990s albums The Low End Theory and Midnight Marauders "gave birth to neo-everything  ... That entire class of D'Angelo, Erykah Badu, Maxwell, and Lauryn Hill". In 1995, former corporate marketer turned artist manager Kedar Massenburg established

8970-568: The father remains publicly unknown. In February 2012, Hill performed a new song titled "Fearless Vampire Killer", during a sold-out performance at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C. In late 2012, Hill toured with rapper Nas ; her portion of the tour, titled Black Rage, is named after her song, released October 30. Hill has described the song as being "about the derivative effects of racial inequity and abuse" and "a juxtaposition to

9100-458: The film Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993) was widely praised. Hill gained further prominence as the frontwoman of the hip hop trio Fugees , which she formed in 1990 with fellow musicians Wyclef Jean and Pras . Their second album, The Score (1996), peaked atop the Billboard 200 , and led her to become the first woman to win the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album . The album included

9230-408: The first decade of the 21st century the least 'soulful'—however you define it—decade for the industry itself in ... well, decades. The Boston Globe ' s Renée Graham wrote of the artists' ambivalence towards the term in a 2003 article on neo soul's standing, "Despite its critical success, if neo-soul had an initial failing, it was the media-created label itself – a term that the artists, whom it

9360-807: The first time. She increased the tempo and urgency from the original recording, but at times had difficulty in communicating with her band. Hill continued touring, including a set at the 6th Annual Jazz in the Gardens, in Miami Gardens , Florida in December. In Spring 2011, Hill performed at the Coachella Valley Music Festival , New Orleans Jazz Fest , and at the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas . In July 2011, Hill gave birth to her sixth child, Micah, her first not with Rohan Marley;

9490-438: The gangsta idiom, and Hill stated, "We're trying to do something positive with the music because it seems like only the negative is rising to the top these days. It only takes a drop of purity to clean a cesspool." Singles from The Score included " Fu-Gee-La " and " Ready or Not ", which highlighted Hill's singing and rapping abilities, and the Bob Marley cover " No Woman, No Cry ". Her rendition of " Killing Me Softly " became

9620-411: The genre has been "woefully misunderstood and its artists mis-marketed", there is "a historical and social relevance that validates its designation as the current face of alternative progressive soul music (in both underground and overground circles), complete with a distinct origin and developmental evolution". According to Mark Anthony Neal , "neo-soul and its various incarnations has helped to redefine

9750-450: The genre's best examples. Neo-soul artists tried to look both backward and forward, acting in the belief that a continuum might exist." Despite some ambivalence from artists, the term received widespread use by music critics and writers who wrote about artists and albums associated with the musical style. African American studies professor Mark Anthony Neal has described neo soul as "everything from avant-garde R&B to organic soul ...

9880-562: The group's breakout hit. Buttressed by what Rolling Stone publications later called Hill's "evocative" vocal line and her "amazing pipes", the track became pervasive on pop, R&B, hip hop, and adult contemporary radio formats. It won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals . On the album, Hill combined African-American music and Caribbean music influences with socially conscious lyrics. Newsweek mentioned Hill's "irresistibly cute looks" and proclaimed her "the most powerful new voice in rap". When she

10010-431: The group, she was frequently referred to by the nickname "L. Boogie". Hill's image and artistry, as well as her full, rich, raspy alto voice, placed her at the forefront of the band, with some fans urging her to begin a solo career. The Fugees' second album, The Score (1996), peaked at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200 and stayed in the top ten of that chart for over half a year. It sold about seven million copies in

10140-548: The hit singles " Killing Me Softly ", " Fu-Gee-La ", and " Ready or Not ". As a soloist, she made her debut guest appearance on Nas 's 1996 single " If I Ruled the World (Imagine That) ". After the Fugees' disbandment the following year, Hill wrote, produced, and directed the music video for Aretha Franklin 's single " A Rose Is Still a Rose ", and co-produced for Whitney Houston 's album My Love Is Your Love (1998). Her debut solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998),

10270-555: The honorific title, "I hated that because what if I don't do that anymore? What if I change? Then that puts me in a penitentiary." Scott's first album Who Is Jill Scott? sold millions worldwide and proved one of the genre's significant releases. Other successful performers marketed as neo soul at this time included Bilal , Musiq Soulchild , India.Arie , and Alicia Keys , who broke through to broader popularity with her debut album Songs in A Minor (2001). According to AllMusic biographer Andy Kellman, although Bilal may have been

10400-420: The label, others have received the designation with controversy because it may seem contrived to music audiences and imply that soul music had ended at some point in time. In a 2002 interview for Billboard , Massenburg said that genre classifications are often unpopular because they may be suggestive of a short-lived trend. However, although he said neo soul is still essentially soul music, Massenburg felt there

10530-492: The late-1980s and early 1990s that also included Soul II Soul , Caron Wheeler , The Brand New Heavies , Jamiroquai , and Lisa Stansfield . AllMusic 's Alex Henderson writes that, "Many of the British artists who emerged during that period had a neo-soul outlook and were able to blend influences from different eras". Other British progenitors of the neo soul movement at the time included Young Disciples and Omar Lye-Fook ,

10660-465: The latter of whom has been cited as "the father of British neo-soul" and an influence on many future artists. According to Christopher John Farley, Prince had been "carrying a torch for neo soul for decades, refusing to make R&B that played by the rules or fit into comfortable formats. In the mid-'90s, he was suddenly joined by a host of other soul artists who also wanted to break boundaries". American artists that further popularized this sound during

10790-469: The latter part of 2000. In part, the case illustrated the difficult boundaries between songwriting and all other aspects that went into contemporary arranging, sampling, and recording. The suit was eventually settled out of court in February 2001, with Hill paying New Ark a reported $ 5 million. A friend of Hill's later said of the suit, "That was the beginning of a chain effect that would turn everything

10920-840: The live stage and performed in stops across New Zealand and Australia on the Raggamuffin Music Festival . Many of the songs that Hill had performed and recorded over the past six years were included on an April 2010 unofficial compilation album titled Khulami Phase . The album also features a range of other material found on the Ms. Hill compilation. Hill appeared at the Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa, California , in June 2010, her first live American performance in several years. An unreleased song called " Repercussions "

11050-411: The majority of neo-soul artists have yet to crossover to mainstream American music listeners, partially because the music's sound generally focuses on artist expression, rather than popular appeal". After D'Angelo and Hill's withdrawal from the mainstream, Bilal appeared to be another artist from "the soul music vanguard" of the late 1990s and early 2000s to succumb to professional setbacks and fade from

11180-597: The mixed reviews and no significant radio airplay, 2.0 debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200. The album was later certified Platinum in the U.S. by the RIAA ; and has received retrospective praise by music critics. Her song "Mystery of Iniquity" from the album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Female Rap Solo Performance , and was used as an interpolation by Kanye West for his single " All Falls Down " featuring Syleena Johnson , leading to Hill being credited as

11310-566: The name Translator Crew. They came up with this name because they wanted to rhyme in different languages. Another female vocalist was soon replaced by Michel's cousin, multi-instrumentalist Wyclef Jean . The group began performing in local showcases and high school talent shows. Hill was initially only a singer, but then learned to rap too; instead of modeling herself on female rappers like Salt-N-Pepa and MC Lyte , she preferred male rappers like Ice Cube and developed her flow from listening to them. Hill later said, "I remember doing my homework in

11440-631: The neo soul movement to commercial visibility into the late 1990s. According to Farley, D'Angelo's album "gives a nod to the past, ... mints his own sound, with golden humming keyboards and sensual vocals and unhurried melodies ... His songs were polished without being slick and smart without being pretentious", while Badu "brought an iconoclastic spirit to soul music, with her towering Afrocentric headwraps, incense candles, and quirky lyrics". Baduizm sold nearly three million copies and won Badu two Grammy Awards . Hill's Miseducation album featured her singing and rapping, with deeply personal lyrics, and

11570-425: The neo soul movement with what Greg Kot described as its members' "organic soul, natural R&B, boho- rap ". The collective developed through the production work of The Roots' drummer and producer Questlove . In 2000, D'Angelo released his second album Voodoo , serving as a further alternative to the mainstream of late 1990s R&B and hip hop, as neo soul reached its apex in the new decade. A production of

11700-1221: The public view, after his heavily bootlegged album Love for Sale was shelved in 2006, although it developed an underground following in subsequent years. Smash Gordon, of the Fabric club's blog, later called the leak "one of the biggest mysteries in neo-soul history". In the latter part of the decade, emerging artists such as Heather Headley , Anthony David , J Davey , Eric Roberson , and Ledisi signed to independent soul labels and received exposure through independent retailers, neo soul-oriented web sites, college and public radio stations, city club venues, cable networks such as Music Choice and BET J , and publishing deals as writers and producers for major label-recording artists. Erykah Badu and Maxwell returned from their respective hiatuses and released well-received albums, her New Amerykah albums and his 2009 album BLACKsummers'night , and they subsequently toured together. VH1 Soul 's series Soulstage , which began in 2007, showcased new music by artists such as Badu, Jill Scott, India.Arie, Q-Tip, and Saadiq. Since its original popularity, neo soul has been expanded and diversified musically through

11830-406: The record label Kedar Entertainment Inc., through which he released the breakthrough neo soul recordings of artists such as Badu, D'Angelo , and Chico DeBarge . Music journalists have specifically credited the successes of D'Angelo's Brown Sugar (1995), Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite (1996), Badu's Baduizm (1997), and Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998) with shaping and raising

11960-612: The releases of Maxwell's BLACKsummers'night (2009), Badu's New Amerykah Part Two (Return of the Ankh) (2010), Bilal's Airtight's Revenge (2010), and Frank Ocean 's Channel Orange (2012). In the 2010s and 2020s, other neo soul acts included Fitz and the Tantrums , Mayer Hawthorne , Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats, Sol Chyld and Amos Lee . In August 2019, Okayplayer journalist Keith Nelson Jr. published

12090-630: The remake for A Star Is Born (the movie was later released in 2018, with the part going to Lady Gaga ), Dreamgirls (the role of Deena, later played by Beyoncé ), Charlie's Angels (the part that went to Lucy Liu ), The Bourne Identity , The Mexican , The Matrix Reloaded , and The Matrix Revolutions . In 2000, Hill dropped out of the public eye. The pressures of fame began to overwhelm her. She disliked not being able to go out of her house to do simple errands without having to worry about her physical appearance. She fired her management team and began attending Bible study classes five days

12220-528: The run-out groove that may be the most perfect 30 seconds or so of music recorded this year." "'All That I Can Say' is also as sublime a listening experience as you're likely to hear all year, written, produced, performed to perfection, and guaranteed to coat you head to toe in goose pimples in under four minutes flat. Shameless, yeah. But as in shamelessly good." The accompanying music video of "All That I Can Say" begins with Blige lying asleep in her bed. It's morning over New York City . A white horse runs through

12350-401: The safety and well-being of myself and my family." Neo soul Neo soul (sometimes called progressive soul ) is a genre of popular music . As a term, it was coined by music industry entrepreneur Kedar Massenburg during the late 1990s to market and describe a style of music that emerged from soul and contemporary R&B . Heavily based in soul music, neo soul is distinguished by

12480-509: The song has a "pop sound that is very prevalent in music right now." Stevie Chick from NME called it a "perfect, loving pastiche of Wonder 's Moog -powered balladry." He added, "It is, tellingly, written, arranged and produced by Lauryn herself. Standing head and shoulders above the rest of the LP, it almost cruelly reveals the distance between Hill, and this pretender to her throne." Another editor, John Robinson, wrote, "'All That I Can Say'

12610-456: The song on Top of the Pops , and her performance was shown the week "All That I Can Say" charted. Larry Flick from Billboard wrote that the song "demonstrates yet another formidable step forward in the career path of this fly girl gone sophisticate." He noted that Blige is "in good hands with this dreamy, '70s-based jazz / funk smash", and that she is "sounding as sharp as cut glass, with

12740-405: The sound of contemporary R&B, neo soul has been expanded and diversified musically through the works of both American and international artists. Its mainstream presence declined during the 2000s, although newer artists emerged through more independent means of marketing their music. In his book The Essential Neo Soul (2010), music journalist and culture critic Chris Campbell writes that, while

12870-547: The statement 'life is good,' which she believes can only be so when these long standing issues are addressed and resolved." In June 2012, Hill was charged with three counts of tax fraud or failing to file taxes (Title 26 USC § 7202 Willful failure to collect or pay over tax) not tax evasion on $ 1.8 million of income earned between 2005 and 2007. During this time she had toured as a musical artist, earned royalties from both her records and from films she had appeared in, and had owned and been in charge of multiple corporations. In

13000-471: The streets. Her alarm clock wakes Blige up at 9.00 a.m.. Sitting up in bed, she begins to sing, before walking to the window where she looks at the white clouds over the city. In the next scene, the singer is seen walking in the middle of a street in front of the Grand Central Station , while it is raining confetti from the sky. Large billboards in the city are showing press photos of Blige and

13130-451: The studio with the goal of making a new album. Later that same year, an album titled Ms. Hill , which featured cuts from Miseducation , various soundtrack contributions and other "unreleased" songs, was released. It features guest appearances from D'Angelo, Rah Digga and John Forté . Also in June 2007, Hill released a new song, " Lose Myself ", on the soundtrack to the film Surf's Up . In early 2008, Marley and Hill's fifth child, Sara,

13260-475: The top five on the Billboard 200 and was certified platinum by the RIAA. Ultimately, Hill dropped out of the public eye, only periodically releasing songs such as " Black Rage (Sketch) " and " Nobody ". In 2023, Hill co-wrote the single " Praise Jah in the Moonlight " for her son YG Marley . Since the 2000s, her music has been frequently sampled by numerous artists, while Hill herself has been inducted into

13390-514: The tour and passed out on stage during the start of her second performance and left the stage. She refused to provide refunds for angry consumers. On June 10, Hill's management informed the promoters of the Stockholm Jazz Festival , which she was scheduled to headline, that she would not be performing due to unspecified "health reasons". Shortly afterward, the rest of the tour was canceled as well. In January 2010, Hill returned to

13520-431: The warmest scenes in the film. Hill graduated from Columbia High School in 1993. Pras, Hill and Jean renamed their group Fugees , a derivative of the word "refugee", which was a derogatory term for Haitian Americans . Hill began a romantic relationship with Jean. The Fugees, who signed a contract with Columbia / Ruffhouse Records in 1993, became known for their genre blending, particularly of reggae, rock and soul, which

13650-480: The works of both American and international artists. The more popular neo soul artists of the 2010s included Scott, Maxwell, John Legend , Anthony Hamilton , Amy Winehouse , Chrisette Michele , Leela James , and Raheem DeVaughn . DeVaughn has described himself as an "R&B Hippy Neo-Soul Rock Star", viewing it as a reference to his eclectic musical style. In its 2010 issue on critical moments in popular music, Spin cited D'Angelo's Voodoo and its success as

13780-429: The year—songs soft, singing ordinary, rapping skilled, rhymes up and down, skits de trop , production subtle and terrific". In 2017, NPR rated the album as the second-best album of all time created by a woman. It sold nearly 423,000 copies in its first week (boosted by advance radio play of two non-label-sanctioned singles, " Lost Ones " and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You") and topped the Billboard 200 for four weeks and

13910-602: Was " Doo Wop (That Thing) ", which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It exemplified Hill's appeal, combining feelings of self-empowerment with self-defense. Other charted singles from the album were " Ex-Factor ", which has been sampled by Drake and Cardi B , " Everything Is Everything " and "To Zion". In the 1998 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll , Miseducation came second in the list of best albums and "Doo Wop (That Thing)" second in best singles. In November 1998, Marley and Hill's second child, Selah Louise ,

14040-580: Was "in decline". The following day, several reporters suggested that Hill's comments at the Vatican may have been influenced by her spiritual advisor, Brother Anthony. In 2004, Hill contributed a new song, "The Passion", to The Passion of the Christ: Songs . A remix version with John Legend of his " So High " ended up receiving a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals . Around this time, Hill began selling

14170-435: Was 21 years old, Hill was still living at home with her parents. She had been enrolled at Columbia University during this period, and considered majoring in history as she became a sophomore, but left after about a year of total studies once sales of The Score went into the millions. In 1996, she responded to a false rumor on The Howard Stern Show that she had made a racist comment on MTV , saying "How can I possibly be

14300-422: Was a member of the track team, cheerleading squad and was a classmate of actor Zach Braff . She also took violin lessons, went to dance class, and founded the school's gospel choir. Academically, she took advanced placement classes and received primarily 'A' grades . School officials recognized her as a leader among the student body. Later recalling her education, Hill commented, "I had a love for—I don't know if it

14430-412: Was a need to market artists of the genre for listeners to have an understanding of what they were buying. In a 2010 article for PopMatters , music writer Tyler Lewis said that neo soul has been received with much controversy: "Given the way black music has been named by (usually) outsiders ever since the blues, the reaction to the name by artists who ostensibly fit into the 'neo-soul' category represents

14560-512: Was a repetition of criticism she had received after the birth of her first child, and she had said that she and Marley would soon be married. In early 2000, Hill was one of the producers to share the Grammy Award for Album of the Year awarded for Santana 's 1999 multi-million-selling Supernatural , whereon she had written, produced, and rapped on the track "Do You Like the Way" (a rumination on

14690-455: Was also cited as a contributing factor. Hill began touring on her own, although to mixed reviews; often arriving late to concerts (sometimes by over two hours), performing unpopular reconfigurations of her songs and sporting an exaggerated appearance. On some occasions, fans booed her and left early. In June 2007, Sony Records said Hill had been recording through the past decade, had accumulated considerable unreleased material and had re-entered

14820-463: Was away from all social interaction. It was a very introspective time because I had to confront my fears and master every demonic thought about inferiority, about insecurity or the fear of being black, young and gifted in this western culture." She went on to say that she had to fight to retain her identity, and was forced "to deal with folks who weren't happy about that." In July 2001, while pregnant with her third child, Hill unveiled her new material to

14950-408: Was beginning to be apparent, as younger soul singer-songwriters like Tony Rich and Maxwell began reaching the R&B charts. Like Tony! Toni! Toné!, Rich and Maxwell relied on traditional soul and R&B values of songwriting and live performances, discarding the synth-heavy productions of the late '80s and early '90s". A few hip hop groups are cited as well. Malcolm Venable of Vibe highlights

15080-514: Was born. Of being a young mother of two, Hill said, "It's not an easy situation at all. You have to really pray and be honest with yourself." In the run-up to the 1999 Grammy Awards , Hill became the first woman to be nominated in ten categories in a single year. In addition to Miseducation works, the nominations included her rendition of " Can't Take My Eyes Off You " for the 1997 film Conspiracy Theory , which had appeared on Billboard charts, and Hill's writing and producing of " A Rose Is Still

15210-662: Was born. The couple lived in Hill's childhood house in South Orange after she bought her parents a new house down the street. Hill had a cameo appearance in the 1997 film Hav Plenty . In 1998, Hill took up another small, but important role in the film Restaurant ; Entertainment Weekly praised her portrayal of the protagonist's pregnant former girlfriend as bringing vigor to the film. Hill recorded her solo record The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill from late 1997 through June 1998 at Tuff Gong Studios in Jamaica . The title

15340-659: Was born. The couple were not living together, although Marley considered them "spiritually together" even while listing himself as single on social media. Hill later said that she and Marley "have [had] a long and complex history about which many inaccuracies have been reported since the beginning" and that they both valued their privacy. By August 2008, Hill was living with her mother and children in her hometown of South Orange, New Jersey. Reports in mid-2008 claimed that Columbia Records then believed Hill to be on hiatus. Marley disputed these claims, telling an interviewer that Hill has enough material for several albums: "She writes music in

15470-500: Was feeling at the time, even though I was documenting my distress as well as my bursts of joy." The Fugees embarked on a European tour in late 2005. Old tensions between Hill and the other members of the group soon resurfaced, and the reunion ended before an album could be recorded; Jean and Michel both blamed Hill for the split. Hill reportedly demanded to be addressed by everyone, including her bandmates, as "Ms. Hill"; she also considered changing her moniker to "Empress". Hill's tardiness

15600-472: Was first experimented on their debut album, Blunted on Reality , released in 1994. It reached No. 62 on the Billboard Top R&;B/Hip-Hop Albums chart but overall sold poorly and was met by poor critical reviews due to their management's insistence they adopt gangsta rap attitudes. Although the album made little impact, Hill's rapping on "Some Seek Stardom" was seen as a highlight. Within

15730-487: Was inspired by the book The Mis-Education of the Negro (1933) by Carter G. Woodson and The Education of Sonny Carson , a film and autobiographical novel. The album featured contributions from D'Angelo , Carlos Santana , Mary J. Blige and the then-unknown John Legend . Wyclef Jean initially did not support Hill recording a solo album, but eventually offered his production help; Hill turned him down. Several songs on

15860-409: Was intended to make the music sound raw and not computer-aided. Hill spoke of pressure from her label to emulate Prince , wherein all tracks would be credited as written and produced by the artist with little outside help. She also wanted to be appreciated as an auteur as much as Jean had within the Fugees. She also saw a feminist cause: "But step out and try and control things and there are doubts. This

15990-612: Was leaked via the Internet in late July 2010, debuting at No. 94 on Billboard 's Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (and peaked at No. 83 the following week), making it her first Billboard chart appearance as a lead artist since 1999. Hill joined the Rock the Bells hip-hop festival series in the U.S. during August 2010, and as part of that year's theme of rendering classic albums, she performed The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in its entirety for

16120-411: Was meant to represent, generally rejected". In a 2003 interview, music publicist John Constanza said that "The neo-soul movement is still there, but it's been underground, and it's trying to get the attention of the mainstream again". Mark Edward Nero of About.com stated, "In general, neo-soul has remained almost exclusive to R&B outlets such as urban radio and Black Entertainment Television ...

16250-407: Was met with widespread critical acclaim. Its release made Hill the first female rapper to both debut atop the Billboard 200 and receive a diamond certification by Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA); it remains one of the best-selling albums of all time worldwide and was ranked number one on Apple Music's 100 Best Albums list. Its lead single, " Doo Wop (That Thing) " debuted atop

16380-456: Was named the greatest female rapper by Billboard . Her other accolades include eight Grammy Awards —the most for any female rapper . With over 50 million records sold worldwide, she is one of the best-selling female rappers of all time . Hill began her career as a teen actress . She landed a role in the soap opera As the World Turns (1991), and starred in the off-Broadway play Club XII alongside MC Lyte . Her performance as Rita in

16510-432: Was necessarily for academics, more than it just was for achieving, period. If it was academics, if it was sports, if it was music, if it was dance, whatever it was, I was always driven to do a lot in whatever field or whatever area I was focusing on at the moment." While a freshman in high school, through mutual friends, Prakazrel "Pras" Michel approached Hill about a music group he was creating. Hill and Pras began under

16640-748: Was one of neo soul's primary successes, achieving massive sales, critical acclaim, and five Grammy Awards. The 1997 film Love Jones capitalized on neo soul's success at the time with its soundtrack album , which impacted the Billboard charts and featured artists such as Hill, Maxwell, The Brand New Heavies, Me'Shell NdegéOcello , Groove Theory , and Dionne Farris . After a brief marketing downturn, neo soul gained more mainstream popularity in 1999 with commercial successes by Hill, Maxwell, Eric Benét , Saadiq, and Les Nubians . It impacted mainstream radio while influencing contemporary R&B acts, such as R. Kelly and Aaliyah , to incorporate some of its textural and lyrical elements. In Kelly's song " When

16770-618: Was production of an annual Halloween haunted house in East Orange. Hill also raised money for Haitian refugees, supported clean water well-building projects in Kenya and Uganda, and staged a rap concert in Harlem to promote voter registration . A 1997 benefit event for the Refugee Project introduced a board of trustees for the organization that included Sean Combs , Mariah Carey , Busta Rhymes , Spike Lee , and others as members. In 1997,

16900-468: Was released as an Internet single in late September. It peaked at No. 40 on the Billboard R&;B Chart . In 2005, she told USA Today , "If I make music now, it will only be to provide information to my own children. If other people benefit from it, then so be it." When asked how she now felt about the songs on 2.0 , she stated "a lot of the songs were transitional. The music was about how I

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