It’s been tough being Lauryn Hill in the last decade or so since The Miseducation… She came out and completely rewrote the script and became the template for neo-soul. Universally applauded and sold by the boatloads, Lauryn Hill cemented her place as an artist on the rise, destined for greatness but then something happened... She fell off the face of the earth. If you believe the rumours that piled up, becoming a virtual maelstrom of misinformation and half-truths, the girl went crazy. Hey, maybe she simply felt the pressure was too much to bear and simply decided to take a powder, take a step back, focus on becoming a mother and wife while living happily ever after. It’ s certainly not out of the realm of possibility but that doesn’t necessarily make great copy, I know. Time marched on and slowly but surely new artists took the abandoned baton laying limp on the ground and ran as far as they could with it but the zeitgeist had passed. None could capture the imagination and ears of people across what seemed like every demographic and target market, music elitist or casual listener quite like Lauryn did. I know someone very well is going to comment and refute my statement by mentioning Alicia Keys. Please don’t. She’s simply not Lauryn.
The welcome but ultimately unsatisfying MTV Unplugged 2.0 released in 2002 aside, it’s been a long wait for those of us who still had faith in her talent and hoped that the creative fire would bring her back to the world again. Sure there was the ill-fated Fugees reunion that never happened (and probably just as well), the sporadic live appearances, the random public outbursts but what we wanted was some new Lauryn Hill tunes. It looks like we may just be getting our wish.
Presenting Repercussions, a new Hill track that’s making its way to the nets like wildfire. A simple boom-bap and immediately we’re brought back to Lauryn’s dulcet tones and it’s like she never left us. Smooth and hypnotic, you’ll be swaying your head, snapping your fingers with your hands held high in the air within seconds. Some may call this track “safe” and doesn’t show any real evolution in Lauryn’s sound. Allow me to be one of those who will gladly state for the record that there is plenty of time for her to branch off later but for right now, I’m vibin’. Lauryn Hill’s back and the music world is truly all the better for it.
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