The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Untitled

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is the debut solo album by American singer and rapper Lauryn Hill. It was released on August 25, 1998, by Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records.

After touring with her former group Fugees, Hill became involved in a romantic relationship with Jamaican entrepreneur Rohan Marley, and shortly after, became pregnant with his child. This pregnancy, as well as other circumstances in her life, inspired Hill to make a solo album. Recording sessions for the album took place from late 1997 to June 1998 mainly at Tuff Gong Studios in Kingston, as Hill collaborated with a group of musicians known as New Ark in writing and producing the songs. Primarily a neo soul album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill incorporates musical styles from R&B, hip hop, soul, and reggae. Its lyrics touch upon Hill's pregnancy and the turmoil within the Fugees, along with themes of love and God. The album's title was inspired by the film and autobiographical novel The Education of Sonny Carson, and Carter G. Woodson's The Mis-Education of the Negro.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 chart, selling 422,624 copies in its first week, which broke a record for first-week sales by a female artist. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill produced three hit singles: "Doo Wop (That Thing)", "Ex-Factor", and "Everything Is Everything". Its lead single "Doo Wop (That Thing)" peaked at number one in the US, with the latter two singles peaking within the top 40. The album's success propelled Hill to international superstardom, and contributed to bringing hip hop and neo soul to the forefront of popular music. At the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill earned 10 nominations, winning five awards, making Hill the first woman to receive that many nominations and awards in one night. By 2013, it had sold over 8 million copies in the US and over 19 million copies worldwide.

Critics generally praised The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill for Hill's presentation of a woman's view on life and love, along with her artistic range. New Ark, however, felt Hill and her record label did not properly credit the group on the album; a lawsuit filed by the group was settled out of court in 2001. Since the record's release, it has been ranked in numerous best-album lists, with a number of critics regarding it as one of the greatest albums of the 1990s, as well as one of the greatest albums of all time. In 2015, it was included by the Library of Congress in the National Recording Registry.

Background

In 1996, Lauryn Hill met Rohan Marley while touring as a member of the Fugees. The two gradually formed a close relationship, and while on tour, Hill became pregnant with his child. The pregnancy and other circumstances in her life inspired her to record a solo album. After contributing to fellow Fugees member Wyclef Jean's 1997 solo record The Carnival, Hill took time off from touring and recording due to her pregnancy and cases of writer's block. This pregnancy, however, renewed Hill's creativity, as she recalled in an interview several years later: "When some women are pregnant, their hair and their nails grow, but for me it was my mind and ability to create. I had the desire to write in a capacity that I hadn't done in a while. I don't know if it's a hormonal or emotional thing ... I was very in touch with my feelings at the time." Of the early writing process, Hill said, "Every time I got hurt, every time I was disappointed, every time I learned, I just wrote a song."

While inspired, Hill wrote over thirty songs in her attic studio in South Orange, New Jersey. Many of these songs drew upon the turbulence in the Fugees, as well as past love experiences. In the summer of 1997, as Hill was due to give birth to her first child, she was requested to write a song for gospel musician CeCe Winans. Several months later, she went to Detroit to work with soul singer Aretha Franklin, writing and producing her single "A Rose is Still a Rose". Franklin would later have Hill direct the song's music video. Shortly after this, Hill did writing work for Whitney Houston. Having written songs for artists in gospel, hip hop, and R&B, she drew on these influences and experiences to record The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

Recording and production

Julian Marley (pictured in 2010) was one of several members from Bob Marley's family who visited the album's recording sessions in Jamaica.

Hill began recording The Miseducation in late 1997 at Chung King Studios in New York City, and completed it in June 1998 at Tuff Gong Studios in Kingston, Jamaica. In an interview, Hill described the first day of recording, stating: "The first day in the studio I ordered every instrument I ever fell in love with: harps, strings, timpani drums, organs, clarinets. It was my idea to record it so the human element stayed in. I didn't want it to be too technically perfect." Initially, Jean did not support Hill recording a solo album, but eventually offered to help as a producer, which she did not accept. Aside from doing work at Chung King Studios, Hill also recorded at Perfect Pair Studios in New Jersey, as well as Sony Studios, with some songs having different elements recorded at different studios. The bulk of the album, however, was recorded at Tuff Gong Studios in Kingston, Jamaica, the studio built by reggae musician Bob Marley. Regarding this shift in environment, Hill stated: "When I started recording in New York and New Jersey, lots of people were talking to me about going different routes. I could feel people up in my face, and I was picking up on bad vibes. I wanted a place where there was good vibes, where I was among family, and it was Tuff Gong." Many members of the Marley family were present in the studio during the recording sessions, among them Julian Marley, who added guitar elements to "Forgive Them Father."

In an interview, recording engineer Gordon "Commissioner Gordon" Williams recalled the recording of "Lost Ones", stating: "It was our first morning in Jamaica and I saw all of these kids gathered around Lauryn, screaming and dancing. Lauryn was in the living room next to the studio with about fifteen Marley grandchildren around her, the children of Ziggy, and Stephen, and Julian, and she starts singing this rap verse, and all the kids start repeating the last word of each line, chiming in very spontaneously because they were so into the song." Columbia Records considered bringing in an outside producer for the album and had early talks with RZA of the Wu-Tang Clan. However, Hill was adamant about writing, arranging, and producing the album herself: "It would have been more difficult to articulate to other people. Hey, it's my album. Who can tell my story better than me?" She recalled Ruffhouse Records executive Chris Swartz ensuring her artistic freedom while recording the album: "I had total control of the album. Chris Swartz at Ruffhouse, my label, said, 'Listen, you've never done anything stupid thus far, so let me let you do your thing.'"

Music and lyrics

A neo soul and R&B album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill incorporates musical styles such as soul, hip hop, and reggae. Some songs are based in hip hop soul. "When It Hurts So Bad" is musically old roots reggae mixed with soul. While mostly in English, "Forgive Them Father" and "Lost Ones" both feature singing in patois, which is the common dialect in Jamaica. Although heavily R&B, the song "Superstar" contains an interpolation of the rock song "Light My Fire" by The Doors. Hill said that she "didn't want to come out with a [Fugees] type of sound", but create "something that was uniquely and very clearly a Lauryn Hill album." She also said that she did not intend for the album's sound to be commercially appealing: "There's too much pressure to have hits these days. Artists are watching Billboard instead of exploring themselves. Look at someone like Aretha, she didn't hit with her first album, but she was able to grow up and find herself. I wanted to make honest music. I don't like things to be too perfect, or too polished. People may criticize me for that, but I grew up listening to Al Green and Sam Cooke. When they hit a high note, you actually felt it."

Much of Hill's lyrics dealt with motherhood, the Fugees, reminiscence, love, heartbreak, and God. Commenting on the album's gospel content, Hill stated "Gospel music is music inspired by the gospels. In a huge respect, a lot of this music turned out to be just that. During this album, I turned to the Bible and wrote songs that I drew comfort from." Several of the album's songs, such as "Lost Ones," "Superstar," "Ex-Factor" and "Forgive Them Father" were widely speculated as direct attacks at Fugee members Wyclef and Pras. "Ex-Factor" was originally intended for a different artist, however, Hill decided to keep it after it was completed, due to its personal content. Although a large portion of the album's love songs would turn out to be bitter from Hill's previous relationship, "Nothing Even Matters," a duet performed by Hill and R&B singer D'Angelo, showcased a brighter, more intimate perspective on the subject. The song was inspired by Hill's relationship with Rohan Marley. Speaking about "Nothing Even Matters"' lyrics, Hill remarked: "I wanted to make a love song, á la Roberta Flack & Donny Hathaway, and give people a humanistic approach to love again without all the physicality and overt sexuality."

"To Zion," among the more introspective tracks on the album, spoke about how Hill's family comes before her career and her decision to have her first child, even though many at the time encouraged her to abort the pregnancy, so as to not conflict with her burgeoning career. In an interview she discussed the song's origin and significance, commenting "Names wouldn't come when I was ready to have him. The only name that came to me was Zion. I was like, 'is Zion too much of a weight to carry?' But this little boy, man. I would say he personally delivered me from my emotional and spiritual drought. He just replenished my newness. When he was born, I felt like I was born again." She further stated: "I wanted it to be a revolutionary song about a spiritual movement, and also about my spiritual change, going from one place to another because of my son."

Throughout The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, several interludes of a teacher speaking to what is implied to be a classroom of children are played. The "teacher" was played by American poet and politician Ras Baraka speaking to a group of children in the living room of Hill's New Jersey home. Hill requested that Baraka speak to the children about the concept of love, to which he improvised in the lecture. Slant Magazine's Paul Schrodt remarked on the title's reference to Carter G. Woodson's The Mis-Education of the Negro: "[Hill] adopts Woodson's thesis and makes it part of her own artistic process. Like the songs themselves, the intro/outro classroom scenes suggest a larger community working to redefine itself." Along with Woodson's book, the album's title was inspired by the film and autobiographical novel The Education of Sonny Carson.

Release and reception

Professional ratings

Contemporary reviews
Review scores
Source	Rating
Entertainment Weekly	A
The Guardian
Los Angeles Times
Melody Maker
Muzik
NME	8/10
Pitchfork	8/10
Q
Rolling Stone
Spin	9/10

After The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was released on August 25, 1998, it entered at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 422,624 copies in its first week. The album's chart debut broke the record for first-week sales by a female artist. It topped the Billboard 200 for a second consecutive week, during which it sold 265,000 copies. In the United States, the album sold one million copies in less than a month and 2.4 million copies by December. It spent 81 weeks on the Billboard 200, and topped the Billboard Year-End Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was promoted with three singles—"Doo Wop (That Thing)", "Ex-Factor", and "Everything Is Everything"—all of which became hits and produced popular music videos. The album's sales increased after Hill's appearance at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, as it sold 234,000 more copies in the week of March 3, 1999, and 200,000 copies the following week. By August, it had sold 10 million copies worldwide, including nearly 700,000 in Canada. On December 17, 2001, it was certified 8x platinum by the RIAA. In April 2002, Columbia said that the album had sold 12 million copies worldwide, and in 2009, its global sales were reported to be 19 million copies. By 2013, it had sold more than eight million copies in the US.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill received highly positive reviews from contemporary critics; according to Los Angeles Times journalist Geoff Boucher, it was the most acclaimed album of 1998. Reviewers frequently praised Hill's presentation of a female's view on life and love. Eric Weisbard from Spin called her a "genre-bender" whose confident singing and rapping was balanced by vulnerable themes and sentiment. In The New York Times, Ann Powers found it "miraculous" and "exceptional" for Hill to use "her faith, based more in experience and feeling than in doctrine," as a means of connecting "the sacred to the secular in music that touches the essence of soul." AllMusic's John Bush was impressed by how she produced most of the album, "not as a crossover record, but as a collection of overtly personal and political statements", while demonstrating "performing talents, vocal range, and songwriting smarts". David Browne, writing in Entertainment Weekly, called it "an album of often-astonishing power, strength, and feeling", crediting Hill with "easily flowing from singing to rapping, evoking the past while forging a future of her own". Dream Hampton of The Village Voice said she seamlessly "travels her realm within any given song", while Chicago Tribune critic Greg Kot deemed the record a "vocal tour de force" with arrangements that "bristle with great ideas".

In a less enthusiastic review, Q magazine's Dom Phillips felt the music's only flaw was "a lack of memorable melody" on some songs that did not utilize interesting samples, while John Mulvey from NME quibbled about what he felt were redundant skits and Hill's "propensity" for histrionics and declarations of "how brilliant God is" on an otherwise "essential" album. Pitchfork's Neil Lieberman found some of the ballads tedious and the melodies "cheesy". Citing "Lost Ones" and "Superstar" as highlights, Village Voice reviewer Robert Christgau deemed it the "PC record of the year", featuring exceptionally understated production and skillful rapping but also inconsistent lyrics, average singing, and superfluous skits. He appreciated the "knowledge [and] moral authority" of Hill's perspective and values, although he lamented her appraisal of God on record. In the Los Angeles Times, Soren Baker believed Hill was more effective as a critical rapper than a singer on the more emotional songs, where her voice was "too thin to carry such heavy subject matter".

Tour

Hill toured worldwide to promote the album, starting at Budokan (pictured) in Japan.

Initially, there was no immediate tour planned due to the album not needing the promotion, and Hill was pregnant again with a child due in September 1998. Her first live performances of the songs were at Saturday Night Live and the Billboard Music Awards. In January 1999, Hill recruited a band and began rehearsals for what would become The Miseducation Tour. As soon as the tour was announced, tickets immediately sold out.

The tour began at Budokan in Tokyo on January 21, 1999. Hill performed there again the following night, and played at two other Tokyo venues in the following week. One week later, she flew to London for her performance at the Brixton Academy on February 8, 1999. With 20 US dates total, the American part of the tour, which featured Outkast as the opening act, started on February 18 in Detroit, and ended on April 1, 1999, at Hill's hometown, Newark, New Jersey. She began the tour's 14-date European leg on May 13, when she performed at the Oslo Spektrum in Norway, closing on June 2 at the Manchester Arena in England. She then returned to Japan, where the tour was completed.

Hill did not want an extensive tour because of obligations to her family and the difficulties she experienced touring with the Fugees in 1996, which she found desensitizing and isolating. According to Hill biographer Chris Nickson in 1999, "there was the possibility of more dates being added ... but it was unlikely that Lauryn would be willing to make the tour more grueling and draining. She'd come to know that there was much more to life than a career."

Lawsuit

Though The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was largely a collaborative work between Hill and a group of musicians known as New Ark (Vada Nobles, Rasheem Pugh, Tejumold Newton, and Johari Newton), there was "label pressure to do the Prince thing," wherein all tracks would be credited as "written and produced by" the artist with little outside help. 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."

In 1998, New Ark filed a 50-page lawsuit against Hill, her management and her record label, stating that Hill "used their songs and production skills, but failed to properly credit them for the work." The musicians claimed to be the primary songwriters on two tracks, and major contributors on several others, though Gordon Williams, the album's mixer and engineer, described the project as a "powerfully personal effort by Hill ... It was definitely her vision." In response to the lawsuit, Hill claimed that New Ark took advantage of her success. New Ark requested partial writing credits, and monetary reimbursement. The suit was eventually settled out of court in February 2001 for a reported $5 million.

Accolades

At the end of 1998, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was voted the second best record of the year in the Pazz & Jop, an annual poll of American critics published in The Village Voice. Hill was nominated ten times for the 1999 Grammy Awards, making her the first woman to ever be nominated that many times in one year. She won five Grammys, including awards in the Best New Artist, Best R&B Song, Best Female R&B Vocal Performance, and Best R&B Album categories. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill also won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, making it the first hip hop record to ever receive that award. Hill set a new record in the industry, as she also became the first woman to win five Grammys in one night. It also earned her nominations at the NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Female Artist, Outstanding Album, and Outstanding Song ("Doo Wop (That Thing)"). At the Billboard Music Awards, the record won in the R&B Album of the Year category, while "Doo Wop" won Best R&B/Urban New Artist Clip, and at the 1999 American Music Awards, Hill won the award for Best New Soul/R&B artist. She also won a Soul Train award and received a nomination for Best International Female Solo Artist at the Brit Awards.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill has since appeared on a number of lists ranking the greatest albums ever; according to Acclaimed Music, it is the 154th most ranked record on critics' all-time lists.

Publication	Country	Accolade	Year	Rank
About.com	United States	100 Greatest Hip-Hop Albums	2008	43
		Best Rap Albums of 1998	2008	1
Associated Press		The 10 Best Albums of the 1990s	1999	*
Blender		500 CDs You Must Own Before You Die	2003	*
		The 100 Greatest American Albums of All time	2002	75
CD Now		The 10 (+5) Essential Records of the 90s	2002	*
Ego trip		Hip Hop's 25 Greatest Albums by Year 1980–98	1999	4
		Hip Hop's 25 Greatest Albums by Year 1980–98	1999	5
Entertainment Weekly		The 100 Best Albums from 1983 to 2008	2008	2
Gear		The 100 Greatest Albums of the Century	1999	88
Ink Blot		Best Albums of the 90s	2000	9
Kitsap Sun		Top 200 Albums of the Last 40 Years	2005	65
Nude as the News		The 100 Most Compelling Albums of the 90s	1999	40
Pause & Play		10 Albums of the 90's	2003	*
		Albums Inducted into a Time Capsule	2003	*
		The 90s Top 100 Essential Albums	1999	7
Robert Dimery		1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die	2005	*
Rolling Stone		50 Essential Female Albums	2002	32
		The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time	2003	312
		The Essential Recordings of the 90s	1999	*
		100 Best Albums of the Nineties	2011	5
The Source		The Critics Top 100 Black Music Albums of All Time	2006	10
Spin		Top 100 (+5) Albums of the Last 20 Years	2005	49
		Top 90 Albums of the 90s	1999	28
Tom Moon		1000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die	2008	*
VH1		The 100 Greatest Albums of R 'N' R	2001	37
Vibe		150 Albums That Define the Vibe Era	2007	*
		51 Albums representing a Generation, a Sound and a Movement	2004	*
BBC Radio	United Kingdom	Stuart Maconie's Critical List	1999	17
Channel 4		The 100 Greatest Albums	2005	*
Elvis Costello		500 Albums You Need	2000	*
Gary Mulholland		261 Greatest Albums Since Punk and Disco	2006	*
The Guardian		1000 Albums to Hear Before You Die	2007	*
Hip-Hop Connection		The 100 Greatest Rap Albums 1995–2005	2005	39
Metro Times		Top 10 Albums of the 90s	1999	8
Mojo		The 100 Greatest Albums of Our Lifetime 1993–2006	2006	67
		The Mojo Collection	2007	*
The New Nation		Top 100 Albums by Black Artists	2003	10
Q		90 Albums of the 90s	1999	*
		The Ultimate Music Collection	2005	41
		Top 100 Albums Ever	2003	20
The Rough Guide		Soul: 100 Essential CDs	2000	*
Aftenposten	Norway	Top 50 Albums of All Time	1999	48
Eggen & Kartvedt		The Guide to the 100 Important Rock Albums	1999	*
Helsingin Sanomat	Finland	50th Anniversary of Rock	2004	2
Musik Express	Germany	The 50 Best Albums of the 90s	2005	23
Wiener	Austria	The 100 Best Albums of the 20th Century	1999	100
FNAC	France	The 1000 Best Albums of All Time	2008	420
Rock & Folk		The Best Albums from 1963 to 1999	1999	*
Dance de Lux	Spain	The 25 Best Hip-Hop Records	2001	12
Rock de Lux		The 150 Best Albums from the 90s	2000	132
Juice	Australia	The 100 (+34) Greatest Albums of the 90s	1999	55
Babylon	Greece	The 50 Best Albums of the 1990s	1999	45
Pure Pop	Mexico	The 50 Best Albums of the 90s	2000	40
The Sun	Canada	The Best Albums from 1971 to 2000	2001	*
(*) designates lists that are unordered.

Legacy

Professional ratings

Retrospective reviews
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic
Christgau's Consumer Guide
Encyclopedia of Popular Music
The Great Rock Discography	9/10
Pitchfork	9.5/10
The Rolling Stone Album Guide
Slant Magazine
Sputnikmusic	4.5/5
XXL	5/5

With The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill's success, Hill became a national media icon, as magazines ranging from Time to Esquire to Teen People vied to place her on their front covers. In a February 8, 1999, Time cover-story, Hill was credited for helping fully assimilate hip hop into mainstream music, making her the first hip hop artist to ever appear on the magazine's front cover. In 2012, Rolling Stone ranked the record at number 314 in the magazine's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list, its entry reading, "Hill took Seventies soul and made it boom and signify to the hip-hop generation on her solo debut." Jon Caramanica, writing in The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), called it "as earnest, unpretentious, and pleasantly sloppy an album as any woman of the hip-hop generation has ever made", and said that, by appealing to a wide spectrum of listeners with hip hop filtered through a "womanist lens", the album propelled Hill to superstardom "of epic proportions" and "the focal point at hip-hop's crossover into the mainstream." Music journalist Peter Shapiro cited it as "the ultimate cross-over album of the hip-hop era."

Along with Erykah Badu's 1997 debut Baduizm, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was also an important release in the neo soul music scene. According to Ebony magazine, it brought the neo soul genre to the forefront of popular music, and became the genre's most critically acclaimed and popular album. According to the Encyclopedia of African American Music (2010), "some tracks are based more in hip hop soul than neo soul, but the record is filled with live musicians and layered harmonies, and therefore it is a trendsetting record that connects modern hip hop, R&B, and classic soul music together, creating groundwork for what followed it in the neo soul genre." On its fifteenth anniversary, American rapper Nas reviewed the album for XXL, hailing it as a model for artists of all genres to follow and "a timeless record, pure music ... It represents the time period—a serious moment in Black music, when young artists were taking charge and breaking through doors." In 2015, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and selected for inclusion in the National Recording Registry.

Track listing

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Intro"		Lauryn Hill	0:47
2.	"Lost Ones"	Lauryn Noelle Hill	Hill Che Guevara Vada Nobles	5:33
3.	"Ex-Factor"	Hill	Hill	5:26
4.	"To Zion" (featuring Carlos Santana)	Hill	Hill Guevara	6:08
5.	"Doo Wop (That Thing)"	Hill	Hill	5:19
6.	"Superstar"	Hill, Johari Newton, James Poyser	Hill	4:56
7.	"Final Hour"	Hill	Hill	4:15
8.	"When It Hurts So Bad"	Hill	Hill	5:42
9.	"I Used to Love Him" (featuring Mary J. Blige)	Hill	Hill	5:39
10.	"Forgive Them Father"	Hill	Hill	5:15
11.	"Every Ghetto, Every City"	Hill	Hill	5:14
12.	"Nothing Even Matters" (featuring D'Angelo)	Hill	Hill	5:49
13.	"Everything Is Everything"	Hill, J. Newton	Hill	4:58
14.	"The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill"	Hill, Tejumold Newton	Hill	4:17
Total length:				69:20

Hidden tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
15.	"Can't Take My Eyes Off You"	Bob Crewe, Bob Gaudio	Hill	3:41
16.	"Tell Him"	Hill	Hill	4:38

Personnel

Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.

Musicians

• Al Anderson – guitar (track: 12)
• Tom Barney – bass (tracks: 11 – 13)
• Bud Beadle – alto/tenor saxophone / flute (track: 7)
• Robert Browne – guitar (track: 2)
• Rudy Byrd – percussion (tracks: 3, 6, 8)
• Che Guevara – drum programming (tracks: 5, 6, 9, 10, 12, 13)
• Che Pope – drum programming (track: 8)
• Jared Crawford – live drums (track: 4)
• D'Angelo – rhodes (track: 12)
• DJ Supreme – DJ (track: 5)
• Francis Dunnery – guitar (tracks: 11, 12)
• Paul Fakhourie – bass (track: 3)
• Dean Frasier – saxophone (tracks: 5, 10)
• Loris Holland – keys (tracks: 12, 14) / clavinet (track: 11)
• Indigo Quartet – strings (tracks: 5, 13, 14)
• Julian Marley – guitar (track: 10)
• Chris Meredith – bass (tracks: 8, 10, 12)
• Johari Newton – guitar (tracks: 2, 3, 8)

• Tejumold Newton – piano (track: 3)
• Vada Nobles – drum programming (tracks: 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 13)
• Arun Pandian;- guitar (track 16 - Tell Him)
• Grace Paradise – harp (tracks: 4, 6, 8)
• James Poyser – bass (tracks: 2, 4, 9) / keys (tracks: 3, 5, 6, 12)
• Everol Ray – trumpet (tracks: 5,10)
• Kevin Robinson – trumpet / Flugelhorn (track: 7)
• Ronald "Nambo" Robinson – trombone (tracks: 5, 10)
• Matthew Rubano – bass (tracks: 9, 13)
• Carlos Santana – guitar (track: 4)
• Earl Chinna Smith – guitar (tracks: 2,10)
• Andrew Smith – guitar (track: 7)
• Squiddly Ranks – live drums (track: 8)
• John R. Stephens – piano (track: 13)
• Elizabeth Valletti – harp (track: 7)
• Fayyaz Virti – trombone (track: 7)
• Joe Wilson – piano (track: 14)
• Stuart Zender – bass (track: 7)

Production

• Errol Brown – assistant recording engineer (tracks: 2, 10)
• Che Guevara – co-producer (tracks: 2, 4)
• Lauryn Hill – producer / executive producer (tracks: 1-16)
• Matt Howe – recorder (track: 7)
• Storm Jefferson – recorder (tracks: 8, 9, 11, 12) / mix engineer (track: 8) / assistant mix engineer (tracks: 2, 9)
• Ken Johnson – recorder (track: 9) / assistant recording engineer (track: 4)
• Vada Nobles – co-producer (track: 2)
• Tony Prendatt – recorder (tracks: 6, 7, 9, 12 – 14) / engineer (track: 14)

• Warren Riker – recorder (tracks: 4, 5, 8, 12) / mix engineer (tracks: 2, 9)
• Jamie Seigel – assistant mix engineer (track: 4)
• Greg Thompson – assistant mix engineer (track: 3)
• Neil Tucker – assistant recording engineer (track: 7)
• Chip Verspyck – assistant recording engineer (tracks: 3, 7)
• Brian Vibberts – assistant engineer (tracks: 6, 10, 12)
• Gordon "Commissioner" Williams – recorder (tracks: 2 – 6, 8 -12) / engineer (tracks: 9, 14) / mixer (tracks: 2, 4 – 6, 8, 10, 11, 13, 14)
• Johny Wyndrx – recorder (track: 4)

Vocalists

• Lauryn Hill – vocals (tracks: 2-16)
• Mary J. Blige – vocals (track: 9)
• D'Angelo – vocals (track: 12)
• Shelley Thunder – vocals (track: 10)
• Kenny Bobien – backing vocals (track: 4)
• Chinah – backing vocals (track: 9)
• Jenni Fujita – backing vocals (track: 5)
• Fundisha Johnson – backing vocals (track: 5)
• Sabrina Johnston – backing vocals (track: 4)
• Jenifer McNeil – backing vocals (track: 9)

• Rasheem Pugh – backing vocals (track: 5)
• Lenesha Randolph – backing vocals (tracks: 4, 5, 9, 13)
• Ramon Rivera – backing vocals (track: 9)
• Earl Robinson – backing vocals (track: 4)
• Andrea Simmons – backing vocals (tracks: 4,9)
• Eddie Stockley – backing vocals (track: 4)
• Ahmed Wallace – backing vocals (tracks: 9,13)
• Tara Watkins – backing vocals (track: 9)
• Rachel Wilson – backing vocals (track: 9)
• Chuck Young – backing vocals (track: 3)

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1998–99)	Peak position
Australian Albums (ARIA)	2
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)	4
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)	10
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)	3
Canadian Albums (Billboard)	1
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)	11
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)	20
French Albums (SNEP)	3
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)	9
Italian Albums (FIMI)	3
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)	5
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)	2
Scottish Albums (OCC)	3
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)	3
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)	11
UK Albums (OCC)	2
UK R&B Albums (OCC)	1
US Billboard 200	1
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)	1

Year-end charts

Chart (1998)	Position
UK Albums (OCC)	82
US Billboard 200	24
Chart (1999)	Position
Illegal chart entered Germany2	34
UK Albums (OCC)	17
US Billboard 200	11

Decade-end charts

Chart (1990–99)	Position
US Billboard 200	40

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Australia (ARIA)	Platinum	70,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)	Gold	25,000*
Belgium (BEA)	Platinum	50,000*
Canada (Music Canada)	7× Platinum	700,000^
France (SNEP)	Platinum	701,300
Germany (BVMI)	Platinum	500,000^
Japan (RIAJ)	Million	1,000,000
Netherlands (NVPI)	Platinum	100,000^
New Zealand (RMNZ)	3× Platinum	45,000^
Sweden (GLF)	Platinum	80,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)	Gold	25,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)	3× Platinum	1,000,000
United States (RIAA)	8× Platinum	8,000,000^
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)	2× Platinum	2,000,000*
* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

See also

• Billboard Year-End
• List of Billboard 200 number-one albums of 1998
• List of number-one R&B albums of 1998 (U.S.)
• List of number-one R&B albums of 1999 (U.S.)

References

Sources

• Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. (November 1, 2004). The New Rolling Stone Album Guide. Completely Revised and Updated 4th Edition. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8.
• Furman, Leah; Furman, Elina (1999). Heart of Soul. Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-43588-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Havranek, Carrie (2009). Women Icons of Popular Music: The Rebels, Rockers, and Renegades, Volume 1. Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-34084-6.
• Nickson, Chris (1999). Lauryn Hill: She's Got That Thing. St. Martin's Paperbacks. ISBN 0-312-97210-5. {{cite book}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)
• Price, Emmett G., III; Kernodle, Tammy L.; Maxile, Jr., Horace, eds. (2010). Encyclopedia of African American Music, Volume 3. ABC-CLIO. ISBN 0-313-34199-0.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: editors list (link)

Footnotes

External links

• The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill at Discogs (list of releases)
• Laura Checkoway, "Inside The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill", Rolling Stone, August 26, 2008.