Lauryn Hill- The Unparalleled Diva Of R&B Hip Hop

The first woman hip hop artist to win 5 Grammys in one year Lauryn Hill made her mark in the music industry by integrating rap, soul, reggae and R&B to create her own unique sound.

Born on May 25, 1975, Lauryn grew up in South Orange, New Jersey, She began singing as a child with one of her first performances being at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem at the age of 13. Shortly afterwards, she joined cousins Wyclef Jean and Prakazel Michel to form a group called the Tranzlator Crew .This later morphed into The Fugees.

In the early days of the group Lauryn was involved in several acting stints. While in high school she appeared on the television soap As The World Turns. Later she went on to act in the Whoopi Goldberg starrer Sister Act II: Back in The Habit.

Lauryn enrolled for a year in Colombia University, but soon left to pursue a career in music. In 1993, the year she joined Colombia, the Fugees released their debut album Blunted On Reality to mixed reviews.

The group’s second release in 1996 however left little room for doubt. The Score sold 17 million albums, won two Grammys and made the Fugees the highest selling rap artists of al time. Lauryn came into her own with a cover of Roberta Flack’s Killing Me Softly from this album. Other singles included Ready or Not, Fu-Gee-La and No Woman No Cry.

Lauryn debuted as a solo artist with The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in 1998. She not only wrote and performed all the songs on the album but also played a part in producing and arranging them. The album was a phenomenal success, topping both the Billboard and the R&B charts. It won Lauryn the aforementioned five Grammys and also added three American Music Awards and a host of other awards to its tally. The tracks Doo Wop (That Thing) and Every Ghetto from the album became especially popular.Lauryn herself became a darling of the media, appearing on every major magazine cover and was credited for bringing hip hop into the mainstream, though this was not strictly true.

In spite of this huge success however Lauryn did not record for the next four years. Disillusioned with showbiz life, she started exploring her spiritual side and by 2000 had dropped out of the public eye.In 2002 she came back to release MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 which emerged out of her acoustic performance on the channel. The album generated mixed responses but nonetheless went on to become platinum.

The Fugees reunited to perform at BET’s Music Awards in 2005 and later went on a European tour covering 12 countries. The next year they held a Reunion Concert in Hollywood. However with old tensions resurfacing this performance ultimately could not be recorded.

Music is not Lauryn’s only passion. A committed activist, she is the founder of the Refugee Camp Youth Project which arranges for inner city youth to spend their summers in camps in New Jersey. She has also supported projects to build wells in Kenya and Uganda and promoted voter registration in Harlem.

Lauryn has been in a long term relationship with Rohan Marley, reggae artist Bob Marley’s son. The couple have five children together.