The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

ファギーズの独特の歌声を持つヴォーカルによるソロアルバム第一弾は、あまりに多い昨今の見せかけだけのヒップ・ホッパー達のディスクを吹き飛ばすものがある。アグレッシヴなドラムスとゴスペルなコーラスのTo Zionは、ワイドスクリーンな気風をもち、1998年のポップ・ミュージックに見られたような叙事詩を感じさせる。本当に。アレサの70年代初頭のSpirit in the DarkやYoung, Gifted and Blackを思い出させるものもある。ローリン・ヒルのThe Miseducation は、エリカ・バドゥの90年代末のバドゥイズムの軌跡を継ぐものと言える。ウィクリフ・ジーンのCarnivalより、もっとパーソナルでより政治色が薄い。The Miseducationで彼女は個人的なこと(特に子供の誕生)や、現在過去にわたる社会的な関係をまんべんなく綴る。音楽は表面上は、たいてい極めて穏やかだが、濃い。「Everything you drop is so tired(あんた達がもたらすものは、みんな本当に退屈)」と彼女はSuperstarの中でアーティスティックにデッド・エンドなラッパー達を非難するが、もしも彼女このヴィジョンと、時折見せるエクセントリシティと地に足のついた才能とをもっと多くのアーティスト達が共有できれば、彼女も文句を言わずに済むのにと思う。

The first solo album by the Fugees' most distinctive voice quickly wipes away the pretensions of so many current hip-hoppers' discs. It does so by both engaging their widescreen ethos--"To Zion," with its martial drums and gospel choir, is as epic a production as has been heard in 1998's pop music--and speaking the plain truth. Miseducation focuses equally on Lauryn Hill's life (especially the birth of her child) and social concerns about the present and future. Its often quiet surface, if anything, lends intensity. --Rickey Wright

The first solo album by the Fugees' most distinctive voice quickly wipes away the pretensions of so many current hip-hoppers' discs. It does so by both engaging their widescreen ethos--"To Zion," with its martial drums and gospel choir, is as epic a production as has been heard in 1998's pop music--and speaking the plain truth. Reminiscent in its scope of nothing so much as Aretha's early-'70s Spirit in the Dark and Young, Gifted and Black, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill also easily earns its late-'90s place next to Erykah Badu's Baduizm. Even more personal, if hardly any more political, than cohort Wyclef Jean's Carnival, Miseducation focuses equally on her life (especially the birth of her child) and social concerns about the present and future. Its often quiet surface, if anything, lends intensity. "Everything you drop is so tired," she scolds artistically dead-ended rappers on "Superstar"; if more artists shared her vision, occasional eccentricities and bottom-line talent, she wouldn't have to complain. --Rickey Wright