Singer, songwriter, producer, rapper and multi-hyphenate Lauryn Hill is a household name for a reason. The eight-time Grammy winner masterfully created one of the most influential hip-hop albums in the history of the genre and she wrote and produced it when she was 22 and pregnant with her firstborn son. As the genre that Hill redefined turns 50, and "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" turns 25 — there is a need to look back at why the album still hits just as hard and continues to be a touchstone in people's lives.
Hill redefined the genre in her personal style – combining reggae, hip-hop and soul to create her own sound separate from what was prominent in a male-dominated Biggie and Tupac, NWA-fueled hip-hop scene. Her distinct, pioneering sound even made the crossover to pop — literally reinventing what mainstream music looked like after decades of Black artists had been excluded from the larger conversation in popular music. "Miseducation" was the first hip-hop album to receive an album of the year Grammy award. In her winning speech, the then-23-year-old Hill said, "This is crazy because this is hip-hop music." She remains the most recent Black woman to win album of the year at the Grammys.
