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127-591: The Soulquarians were a rotating collective of experimental Black music artists active during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Initially formed by singer and multi-instrumentalist D'Angelo , drummer and producer Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson , and producer-rapper J Dilla . They were later joined by singer-songwriter Erykah Badu , trumpeter Roy Hargrove , keyboardist James Poyser , singer Bilal , bassist Pino Palladino , rapper-producers Q-Tip and Mos Def , and rappers Talib Kweli and Common . Prior to its formation, Q-Tip, Common, Mos Def, and Talib Kweli were members of

254-538: 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

381-861: A Butterfly , Bilal has transformed himself into an arty Nate Dogg for the post-Soulquarian generation that includes Robert Glasper , Esperanza Spalding and, now, Kendrick. Albums produced wholly or partly by the Soulquarians: Black music Music of the African diaspora was mostly refined and developed during the period of slavery. Slaves did not have easy access to instruments, so vocal work took on new significance. Through chants and work songs people of African descent preserved elements of their African heritage while inventing new genres of music. The culmination of this great sublimation of musical energy into vocal work can be seen in genres as disparate as Gospel Music and Hip-Hop . The music of

508-441: A September 2000 magazine photo and article from Vibe as part of the reason for their eventual split: The Vibe magazine photo was the beginning of the end. Because when that issue came out, motherfuckers were angry. The issue started out as a feature about me. The people at Vibe had a clue that I was working on D'Angelo, Erykah, The Roots, Jill Scott, Bilal, Mos Def, Talib Kweli, Common, Slum Village, and Nikka Costa's records. At

635-465: A Soulquarians album release for the foreseeable future. This was interpreted as a silent breakup of the outfit. However, according to an interview with Common (circa 2005), the collective continued to exist. In February 2006, founding member J Dilla died of cardiac arrest after prior health issues. That same year, Bilal's Love for Sale leaked and was indefinitely shelved by his label, although it developed an underground following and wide acclaim over

762-524: 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

889-409: 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

1016-445: 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

1143-416: 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

1270-407: A love for—I don't know if it 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

1397-629: A music group he was creating. Hill and Pras began under 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

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1524-468: A notable presence in the mass marketing of successive Black folks cultural forms to white audiences,” demonstrating the reason for desiring being denoted as authentic. However, he also acknowledges that even seemingly authentic art forms like hip-hop, an American art form, are diasporic in nature incorporating global influences into their origin questioning how definitive apparent authenticity can be. Gilroy describes Hip-Hop as having “formal borrowings from

1651-526: 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

1778-407: 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

1905-519: 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

2032-603: 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 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

2159-443: 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

2286-595: 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

2413-501: 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

2540-463: A session, but you call me: 'Who's down there?' 'Common's in there today.' So you come down, you order some food, sit down and bullshit, watch a movie, and then it's, 'Let's play something.' And I say, 'Who wants this [track]?' And it would be, 'I want it!' 'No, I want it!'" The Soulquarians' period at the studio ended due in part to the experimental nature of some of their recordings becoming commercial liabilities. Bilal held improvisatory jam sessions at

2667-629: A slow tempo, and it is sung in Antillean Creole , although it also has varieties that have developed in francophone Africa. It is popular throughout the French-speaking world, including France and Quebec . Early forms of Afro-Caribbean music in Jamaica was Junkanoo (a type of folk music now more closely associated with The Bahamas ). Mento is a style of Jamaican music that predates and has greatly influenced ska, which

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2794-476: 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

2921-677: A song would be, " Formation " by the African-American singer, Beyoncé ; released in 2016. This popular musical composition mentioned racial injustice events that triggered the Black Lives Matter Movement (e.g. police brutality/violence) but, also included Beyoncé embracing her distinct African heritage. The current protest music scene has benefited greatly from the contributions of other musicians as well. For example: With its upbeat lyric "We gon' be alright," Kendrick Lamar's 2015 single "Alright" became an anthem for

3048-452: 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

3175-462: A step further to express how sticking to conversations of what is authentic hurts our ability to better understand the “mutation” of Black music as it engages and it changed by the Black Diaspora . In understanding the motivations behind pronouncing authenticity, Gilroy identifies the financial and market-based benefits to this pronouncement by saying, “the discourse of authenticity has been

3302-522: A strong alternative to 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

3429-459: A truly global phenomenon leading to a dilution of black music into an ever-increasing number of genres and styles across the world. This dilution has created tension around what music can be considered authentically Black. In understanding how authenticity is conceived, Gilroy discusses how authenticity functions as an aspect of Black music that comes from perceived proximity to the origin of said music. On page 96 of his book The Black Atlantic he

3556-457: 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

3683-428: 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

3810-574: 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 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

3937-515: Is made to portray resistance through music in order to strengthen the communal bond and identity for groups that share collective memories of oppression, suffering, etc. As is the case throughout the Caribbean, Lesser Antillean musical cultures are largely based on the music of African slaves brought by European traders and colonizers. The African musical elements are a hybrid of instruments and styles from numerous West African tribes, while

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4064-426: Is not enough for critics to point out that representing authenticity involves artifice. This may be true, but it is not helpful when trying to evaluate or compare cultural forms let alone in trying to make sense of their mutation.” By making the word artifice synonymous with the representation of authenticity in this context, Gilroy is acknowledging the lack of definitive ability to denote authenticity. Gilroy then goes

4191-656: 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 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

4318-493: Is street-smart but above all highly individual, celebrating quirks instead of sanding them down for mass consumption. Instead of crooning about "booty and blunts" (sex, drugs, etc.), the subject matter on these albums is idiosyncratic and personal, ranging from the spiritual crises of [Lauryn] Hill , D'Angelo and Maxwell to the socio-political concerns of the Roots and Mos Def . During the late 1990s and early 2000s, members of

4445-564: Is very limited in scope and is not adopted by academic institutions as a true category of music. The individual aspects and collectively of black music is surrounded by the culture in itself as well as experience. Black music is centered around a story and origin. Many artist start song with the things they experience firsthand. Musical Blackness was a way of communicating and a way to express themselves during hard times such as slavery. Their songs were used to give guidance to one another and tell stories. The varieties of sounds and expressions used in

4572-567: The Billboard 200 , and led her to become the first woman to win the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album . The album included 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

4699-476: 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

4826-470: 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

4953-630: The Fisk Jubilee Singers would spread across America. While a couple bands like the Fisk Jubilee Singers made main stage appearances a bulk of Spirituals would be in small Black churches. As the music of the African Diaspora progresses, more recent and popular songs have demonstrated an act of protest in their lyrics and significant elements that are featured in the music of the African Diaspora. An example of

5080-712: The Native Tongues collective, whilst Q-Tip's original group A Tribe Called Quest served as one of the inspirations behind the Soulquarians. Stylistically, the collective's music has been variously described as neo soul , alternative hip hop , progressive soul , avant-garde , soul , conscious rap , and jazz fusion . Their members often collaborated on each other's recordings, holding extensive and innovative sessions at Electric Lady Studios in New York, which produced several well-received albums. Questlove, of

5207-519: 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 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

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5334-546: The cabildos , a form of social club among African slaves brought to the island. Traditional Afro-Cuban styles, include son , Batá and yuka and Rumba . The Cuban contradanza , which became also known as the Habanera , the first written music to be rhythmically based on an African rhythm pattern, gained international fame in the 19th century. The habanera "El Arreglito" composed by the Spanish musician Sebastian Yradier ,

5461-504: The combined rhythm popular style. The islands also share a passion for kaseko , a genre of Surinamese music ; Suriname and its neighbors Guyana and French Guiana share folk and popular styles that are connected enough to the Antilles and other Caribbean islands that both countries are studied in the broader context of Antillean or Caribbean music. Starting from the second half of the 19th century, African American performance through

5588-462: The underground urban music scene. Also around this time, D'Angelo and Welsh bassist Pino Palladino developed a connection over their mutual love of Motown and other classic soul music, and Palladino became active in the project, playing on the majority of their discography and serving as a member of the Soultronics touring band that supported D'Angelo's Voodoo tour . Another influence on

5715-608: The 1980s,It has many influences, from Haitian, calypso , beguine and compas . Beyond its roots in the Caribbean, zouk has become more popular throughout the French-speaking world, especially in France, Quebec, and Francophone Africa, where regional varieties of the genre have emerged. African nations such as Cape Verde, Senegal, and the Ivory Coast have seen the fusion of zouk with indigenous music genres to create new hybrid styles such as Afro-funk. The conventional zouk sound has

5842-514: 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

5969-476: 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,

6096-493: 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

6223-415: 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

6350-887: The African diaspora makes frequent use of ostinato , a motif or phrase which is persistently repeated at the same pitch. The repeating idea may be a rhythmic pattern, part of a tune, or a complete melody. The banjo is a direct descendant of the Akonting created by the Jola people , found in Senegal , Gambia and Guinea-Bissau in West Africa. Hence, the melodic traditions of the African diaspora are probably most alive in Blues and Jazz . Many genres of music originate from communities that have visible roots in Africa. In North America , it

6477-518: The American and West Indian servicemen due to the similarities of their physical appearance, most notably their darker skin color, and consequently shared dances and songs with them. The so-called Black Pacific, i.e. the cultural contact of African and Melanesian people, was fostered mainly through the Melanesian négritude that became the focal point of cultural communication, including music and

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6604-614: The Black Lives Matter movement and reverberated throughout protests and demonstrations. Lamar further cemented his status as a protestor with his 2015 album To Pimp a Butterfly, which was an artistic investigation of racial injustice, police brutality , and African-American identity. In his book, The Black Atlantic , Sociologist Paul Gilroy starts a discussion of authenticity in the Black trans-Atlantic arena of diasporic music production by presenting how black music has become

6731-566: The British colonial authorities. Nevertheless, steel drums spread across the Caribbean, and are now an entrenched part of the culture of Trinidad and Tobago . The French islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe share the popular zouk style and have also had extensive musical contact with the music of Haiti , itself once a French colony though not part of the Lesser Antilles. The Dutch colonies of Curaçao , Bonaire and Aruba share

6858-542: The European slaveholders added their own music into the mix, as did immigrants from India. In addition to African and European influences, East Indian immigrants, who were brought to the Caribbean as indentured laborers after the abolition of slavery, also contributed to the region's musical diversity. East Indian musical traditions, particularly those rooted in Hindu devotional music and folk forms like chutney, further enriched

6985-512: 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,

7112-486: 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

7239-648: The Roots' albums Things Fall Apart (1999) and Phrenology (2002), Badu's second album Mama's Gun (2000), Common's Like Water for Chocolate (2000) and Electric Circus (2002), and singer Bilal 's debut album 1st Born Second . According to music journalist Michael Gonzales, their sessions were marked by an experimentation with "dirty soul, muddy water blues, Black Ark dub science, mix-master madness, screeching guitars, old school hip-hop, gutbucket romanticism, inspired lyricism, African chats and aesthetics, pimpin' politics, strange Moogs , Kraftwerk synths and spacey noise". The musical approach also influenced

7366-663: The Soulquarians had been the 1990s hip hop group A Tribe Called Quest , whose rapper-producer Q-Tip became part of the collective. Many of these artists have performed on one another's records, creating a community of likeminded musicians forging a style that doesn't have a name yet. Organic soul , natural R&B , boho-rap —it's music that owes a debt to the old-school sounds of Marvin Gaye , Bob Marley , Jimi Hendrix and George Clinton without expressly mimicking any of them. It refreshes these traditions with cinematic production techniques gleaned from hip-hop and with attitude that

7493-421: The U.S. black experience but also a global black experience that stretches from Africa to Americas. The term for many coming from places of "Black" origin can be perceived in a derogatory manner by cultures who see the term as a blurring of lines which ignores the true roots of certain peoples and their specific traditions. To refer to musical genres with strong African-American influence, such as hip hop music ,

7620-403: 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

7747-460: 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

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7874-553: 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

8001-564: The arts. Popular music bands with an evident anti-colonial, Black Power identity were the Black Brothers, a rock-reggae band from West Papua in 1970s, and the Black Sweet, a Melanesian band in the 1980s. When Africans came to the United States they brought their music with them. Over time, a new genre of music developed, called spirituals . Spirituals were the songs that the enslaved Africans began to sing, and they were sung by

8128-614: 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

8255-504: 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

8382-519: 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

8509-447: 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 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

8636-404: The collective held jam sessions while recording their respective albums at Electric Lady Studios in New York. The studio was chosen due to its history, having previously been used by Jimi Hendrix and Stevie Wonder , amongst others, and for the collection of vintage equipment available. It also presented new challenges for Questlove, who had to learn how to play drums in a softer style. Some of

8763-403: The collective is derived from an astrology sign Aquarius , which is the shared birth sign of the founding members of the collective: Questlove from the Roots, D'Angelo , James Poyser , and J Dilla . Questlove, D'Angelo, Poyser, and J Dilla came together after discovering they had a common interest for the unconventional—offbeat rhythms , irregular chords , and other traits often exhibited by

8890-592: The collective's associated musicians, including Mos Def's Black on Both Sides (1999), singer Res 's How I Do (2001), and rapper Talib Kweli 's Quality (2002). Questlove served as what Jim DeRogatis called "the musical powerhouse" behind the collective's sessions at the studio. "I tried to do all in my power that I could to bring people together – to bring Common to Electric Lady, have him record here whenever so that he could record with some of these other artists", Questlove explained in 2002. "You'd just come into [the studio's] A Room, you don't even know who has

9017-730: The colonial type of blackface entertainment gained popularity in Australia. The use of funk, hip hop, and reggae in Papua New Guinea is a phenomenon that occurred post-1970s, however the racial identifications expressed within said phenomenon originate from the mid 20th century during World War II . American presence in the Second World War brought African-American and West Indian soldiers into contact with Melanesian and Aboriginal indigenous groups. Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders were able to identify with

9144-417: 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

9271-419: The enslaved Africans often, including while working, in prayer meetings, and in Black churches. They helped the enslaved Africans cope with slavery. They were composed by the community and the genre came out of the enslaved African experience. Spirituals developed because the enslaved African's masters forced Christianity onto them. Through Christianity, the enslaved Africans learned many hymns . Eventually,

9398-411: The equipment used included a Ludwig drum kit from 1968 and bass guitars from the 1950s. Recording sessions began in 1997 when D'Angelo and Questlove prepared to record the former's Voodoo (2000) album at the studio. According to Russell Elevado , the engineer on Voodoo, they used over 200 reels of tape to record in 1997 alone. The collective's sessions there over the next five years resulted in

9525-507: The evolving musical culture of the Lesser Antilles. In Trinidad and Tobago , whose calypso style is an especially potent part of the music of the other former British colonies, which also share traditions like the Big Drum dance. Trinidadian folk calypso is found throughout the area, as are African-Caribbean religious music styles like the Shango music of Trinidad. Calypso's early rise

9652-575: The fast-paced music throughout the energetic dance. Similar to bachata, merengue was originally connected to the lower classes but rose to national popularity in the 20th century and has subsequently expanded globally. Haitian music is familiar to people in the English-speaking world as Méringue . It developed during the early decades of the 19th century. When jazz became popular worldwide, mini-jazz ( mini-djaz in Haitian Creole )

9779-571: 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

9906-813: 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;

10033-467: The genre was amargue ("bitterness", "bitter music", or "blues music"), until the more neutral term bachata became popular. The Dominican Republic gave birth to merengue in the 19th century, and it quickly became a vital component of that nation's musical culture. Melegue is a fast-paced 2/4 beat that combines bass guitar, accordion, guira (a metal scraper), and tambora (a two-sided drum). Couples grasp each other tightly and move their hips and feet in time with

10160-570: 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

10287-436: 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

10414-411: The height of everything, I was working with 17 different artists. I was really gun shy on any unwelcomed praise. I came from a commune. It wasn't a one man act. I was very uncomfortable accepting a title or praise. I insisted to Vibe that they could get the story, but they had to make it about the family and not one person. The thing was we never had a title, but because the journalist was hanging with us

10541-457: The hip hop band The Roots , acted as the "musical powerhouse" behind several of the collective's projects, including The Roots' Things Fall Apart (1999), D'Angelo's Voodoo (2000), Badu's Mama's Gun (2000), and Common's Like Water for Chocolate (2000). Reflecting on their recordings, Common told Spin in 2008: "It was one of those time periods that you don't even realize when you're going through it that it's powerful". The name of

10668-644: The hymns and the text of the Bible combined with many elements of music that the enslaved Africans had brought with them from Africa, such as antiphony (the call-and-response pattern) and syncopation. This eventually formed into the genre called spirituals. They began as oral performances passed down by word of mouth but with the access to literacy that eventually followed the Emancipation Proclamation enslaved Africans eventually had their voices printed beyond orality. Published spirituals allowed

10795-473: 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

10922-431: The linguistic innovations of Jamaica's distinct modes of 'kinetic orality,' "This flips his earlier description of authenticity on its head by presenting a seemingly culturally regional and authentic Black art form as a truly global manifestation, depicting how ambiguous authenticity can be. As such, Gilroy effectively deconstructs the concept of authenticity. Lauryn Hill Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975)

11049-450: 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 , 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,

11176-844: 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 "

11303-546: 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

11430-731: The music helped stress their emotions. Black music began to reflect urban environments through amplified sounds, social concerns, and cultural pride expressed through music. It combined blues, jazz, boogie-woogie and gospel taking the form of fast paced dance music with highly energized guitar work appealing to young audiences across racial divides. Genres include spiritual , gospel , rumba , blues , bomba , country, rock and roll , rock , jazz , pop , salsa , R&B , samba , calypso , soca , soul , disco , kwaito , funk , ska , reggae , dub reggae , house , Detroit techno , amapiano , hip hop , gqom , afrobeat , bluegrass , and others. The roots of most Cuban music forms lie in

11557-459: 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), 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

11684-439: 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 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

11811-551: 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 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

11938-638: 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

12065-807: 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 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,

12192-498: The songs to spread throughout the U.S. and attracting attention in Europe. Men like Frederick Douglass took notice and commentated on the genre, the religious aspects of it made it much more appealing to other African Americans. Many other African-American music genres, such as gospel and jazz, developed from this genre. Spirituals would continue to be created and played by African Americans post emancipation as well, bands like

12319-550: 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

12446-399: The studio for his second album, Love for Sale , but its experimental direction alienated his label from releasing it. Common's similarly experimental Electric Circus sold disappointingly, which discouraged MCA Records , Common and the Roots' label, from letting the artistically-free environment at the studio continue. Speaking about the end of The Soulquarians, in 2015, Questlove blamed

12573-454: 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,

12700-517: 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

12827-436: 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

12954-779: The whole time, they were like you guys keep saying Soulquarians all of the time. I explained the difference. I said that the Soulquarians were me, James, D'Angelo, and J Dilla. The Soultronics was the group we were putting together with D'Angelo. So when we took the photo and then I saw the Vibe cover it said The Soulquarians. I was in Chicago when I saw it, and I said, "Oh shit. This is bad." The next thing you know, every phone call that came in people were saying, "Yo, man. It looks like I'm working for you. I'm not an Aquarian. I'm my own person." Literally, that's when it all fell apart. In 2003, Questlove unequivocally stated that there were no plans for

13081-458: The years. Reflecting on the collective's impact since then, Gonzales writes in 2015: Without a doubt, the innovations the Soulquarians put down in that five-year period between 1997 and 2002 became eternal, their spirit still alive inside of us, their sound and vision later manifested into the work of photographers, writers, visual artists, indie directors and of course, musicians and rappers. Listening to ... Kendrick Lamar 's newest album To Pimp

13208-432: 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

13335-463: 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

13462-582: 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

13589-439: 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

13716-399: 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

13843-513: 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

13970-450: Was a way that the early slaves could express themselves and communicate when they were being forcibly relocated and when there were restrictions on what cultural activities they could pursue. The sorrows of song were the only freedom slaves had working on cotton fields, and overall through labor tactics. This burden of slavery became a gateway for other genres of music such as the blues. For example, Black music does not just encompass sounds of

14097-619: Was adapted to become one of the most famous arias in Georges Bizet 's 1875 opera Carmen , " L'amour est un oiseau rebelled ". Bachata is a popular guitar music that originated in the Dominican Republic . Having strong African and Spanish influences it is therefore also considered to be music of Latin America . The subjects of bachata are often romantic with tales of heartbreak and sadness. The original term used to name

14224-459: 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

14351-538: Was also fused with African traditions, American jazz and blues. Subsequent styles besides ska include, rocksteady and raggamuffin . (Mical 1995) Along with the rise of ska came the popularity of deejays who began talking stylistically over the rhythms of popular songs at sound systems, known as toasting. This would later give birth to dancehall and pioneer rapping that later emerged in New York. Reggae stems from early ska and rocksteady, but also has its own style of Jamaican authenticity. In Jamaica, African diasporic music

14478-869: 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 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

14605-465: 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

14732-614: 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

14859-664: 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

14986-541: Was closely connected with the adoption of Carnival by Trinidadian slaves, including camboulay drumming and the music masquerade processions. In the 1970s, a calypso variant called soca arose, characterized by a focus on dance rhythms rather than lyricism. Soca has since spread across the Caribbean and abroad. Steel drums are a distinctively Trinidadian ensemble that evolved from improvised percussion instruments used in Carnival processions. Steel bands were banned by

15113-553: Was created as Haiti's local variety. Kadans , Haitian Creole for cadence, followed the mini-jazz era. Kadans had an influence on the development of Zouk in the French-speaking Antilles of the Caribbean. Haiti's most well-known modern music genre is compas music. It was first popularized in the 1950s by Nemours Jean-Baptiste . Zouk is a style of music originating in Guadeloupe and Martinique during

15240-504: 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

15367-477: 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

15494-490: 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

15621-412: 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

15748-613: 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

15875-620: 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,

16002-502: Was quoted saying: “folk, or local expressions of Black culture have been identified as authentic and positively evaluated for that reason, while subsequent hemispheric or global manifestations of the same cultural forms have been dismissed as inauthentic and therefore lacking in cultural or aesthetic value precisely because of their distance (supposed or actual) from a readily identifiable point of origin.” However, Gilroy proceeds to counter this perception by saying, “In all these cases it

16129-470: 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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