swept the Grammys with her hip-hop masterpiece — 1998’s “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” — it seemed as if the young singer-rapper was poised to kill us with her songs for decades for to come.But the game-changing artist, who influenced everyone from Drake to Adele, would largely disappear from music — save for the odd single and some concerts — just four years later, following the release of her second solo album, “MTV Unplugged: No.
2.0,” on May 7, 2002. Twenty years after the former Fugee dropped that live recording of new folk-soul songs, it remains the last LP in a career that seemed destined to reach the prolific longevity of an Aretha Franklin or a Stevie Wonder.Foreshadowing her retreat from the pop scene, the eight-time Grammy winner confessed her deep disillusionment with the music business in the conversational interludes that make up a good portion of the album.“I’m just retired from the fantasy part,” Hill told the “MTV Unplugged” audience, referencing the “public illusion” that “held me hostage” during the “Miseducation” phenomenon. “I’m glad that I don’t have to slave anymore.”Far surpassing all expectations, “Miseducation” sold more than 10 million albums and won five Grammys.
It was a crash course in superstardom — and all the pressures and problems that came with it — while Hill was also juggling being a young mother with an expanding family. “I think we forget Lauryn Hill was only 23 years old, and she was … pregnant with [second child] Selah, when the album was released,” said Kathy Iandoli, author of “God Save the Queens: The Essential History of Women in Hip-Hop.” “It’s not the easiest space to be in.
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