Latest news with #TheMiseducationofLaurynHill
Black America Web
10-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Black America Web
Lauryn Hill Visits Harvard To Talk Building Community Within Songwriting 'Purpose. Love. Passion. Connecting.'
Black America Web Featured Video CLOSE Fresh off her making her Met Gala debut, Lauryn Hill stuck around the East Coast to kick it with the youth. The singer made her way to Harvard, where she spoke on a panel. With two rare public-facing events back to back, she expressed that she hadn't done an interview in a while and hopes her contribution to the conversation isn't 'underwhelming.' Also rare is Hill releasing music, and she hasn't dropped an album since the highly regarded The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in 1998. Still, so many years later, she offered the audience advice on her writing method and finding joy and inspiration in her surroundings. 'I find what I love, I find what I care about, and then I write about that. I have mind and motion and need. Combined. That's what I do, which I'm sure all of you are doing,' she said. She even boils it down to a few core principles of 'Purpose. Love. Passion. Connecting.' Beyond that, Hill says that before putting pen to paper, it is also essential to build a community around you that can help fuel your creative process and theirs. 'Curate a community, find a community. People who understand you. Who get you. Who can appreciate, who can reflect you. Who can resonate, so you're not in a vacuum. You can bounce ideas off of someone. They can also articulate appreciation. You can articulate appreciation back. I think these are very healthy and important things in the world.' This isn't the first time Hill has visited the revered campus; she reportedly went there in 2023 to celebrate the 25th anniversary of her The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill . At Monday night's Met Gala, Hill blurred gender formalwear norms with a Jude Dontoh-designed yellow suit with a train attached. She also worked with Ghanaian jewelry designer Emefa Cole to ensure she wore accessories that paid homage to Ghanaian royalty, staying true to the 'Superfine: Tailoring Black Style' theme. Still, with all the flashing lights, she avoided interviews, only responding 'Everything' to one journalist who asked what Black style meant to her. SEE ALSO Lauryn Hill Visits Harvard To Talk Building Community Within Songwriting 'Purpose. Love. Passion. Connecting.' was originally published on
Yahoo
19-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
John Legend Reveals He Was Only Paid $500 for His First Ever Musical Credit: 'I Didn't Really Know What to Ask for'
John Legend did not make a fortune off his first musical credit. The 46-year-old musician was still going by his birth name John R. Stephens when he played the piano on Lauryn Hill's song "Everything is Everything" off her critically acclaimed 1998 album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. The opportunity came years before he rolled out his debut album — 2004's Get Lifted. During a March 18 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon where he discussed a 20th anniversary edition of Get Lifted and a forthcoming tour, Legend revealed how he landed a feature on Hill's album and why he was only paid $500 for the deal. Related: John Legend Reveals the 1 Song That Brings Him 'Comfort to Sing' — and How It Ties to His Late Grandmother Legend told Jimmy Fallon that he met Hill, 49, while he was still in college at the University of Pennsylvania. A friend from a church choir offered to introduce the singers in the studio where Hill was working on her first and only solo studio album. "I get on the piano just to show her what I could do. It was like a mini-audition," Legend recalled, confirming that he was nervous but pulled it off. After she heard him perform, Hill said that he should play the piano on "Everything is Everything." The PEOPLE Puzzler crossword is here! How quickly can you solve it? Play now! He wasn't sure if he would make the album and was excited but surprised when he got a call asking how he'd like to be credited and what he'd like to be paid. "I didn't really know what to ask for, and I asked my friend who had been interning in the music business that summer," he said, revealing that the friend said he should ask for $500. Related: John Legend's Longtime Manager Talks 'Toxic' Music Industry, Recalls Being in a 'Terrifying Situation' at Diddy Party Fallon, 50, joked that the label must have been thrilled by the deal, which didn't include a publishing deal or anything else. He might not have been paid well, but Legend said that it was his "claim to fame at school." It was also not the last time that the musicians collaborated. Legend and Hill worked together again on a remix of his song "So High" that was left off his debut album. All these years later, it's been included on the anniversary edition of Get Lifted. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill left a lasting impact on the music industry and was even listed as the 10th best album of all time by Rolling Stone. Hill reflected on its enduring success in a 2020 interview with the outlet. She also revealed the simple reason that she's only ever released one album: No one ever asked her to do a sophomore project. "The wild thing is no one from my label has ever called me and asked how can we help you make another album, EVER … EVER," she said. "Did I say ever? Ever!" Read the original article on People
Yahoo
07-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Ye Compares Forthcoming ‘Bully' Album To ‘The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill'
Ye's forthcoming Bully album is one of the most anticipated releases of the year, and the rapper just raised the stakes by comparing it to one of the greatest musical projects of all-time. The rapper recently appeared on Justin Laboy's The Download podcast and divulged information regarding his eleventh solo studio album, which he feels is akin to Lauryn Hill's seminal solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. 'Yeah, because you lean on a bar that brings somebody down — that was always rap,' Yeezy told Laboy at one point during the conversation. 'This is more the way I remember Lauryn Hill['s] album, the way I remember Miseducation. I feel it is my Miseducation. It is my Gnarls Barkley album. Because Bully has a title and connotation that a lot of people are anti-bully. But I'm just hyper-next-level frequency right now.' Ye has been a longtime fan of Hill, famously sampling the songstress' MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 cut 'Mystery of Iniquity' on his GRAMMY-nominated 2004 single, 'All Falls Down.' However, he couldn't use the original sample on the official release of the track, as Syleena Johnson appears on The College Dropout album version. Announced in 2024, Bully is scheduled for release on June 15, which coincides with the rapper's eldest daughter, North's, 12th birthday. The 47-year-old recently opened up about his daughter inspiring him to focus on making music again, due to her own love for the craft. 'This little girl made me love music again,' he wrote in the caption of an Instagram post in January. 'She asked me to make beats for her. I got back on the ASR Chopped up beats for album and chopped every beat with my bare hand for BULLY.' Ye has teased various songs from the album in recent months, including 'Beauty and the Beast' and 'Preacher Man,' as well as new music that surfaced following his headline-grabbing GRAMMY appearance with wife, Bianca Censori. See Ye's interview with Justin Laboy below. More from Ye Praises Wife While Addressing Those Who Ask How His Mother Would Feel About Her Nudity Ye, Ja Rule, And Hip-Hop Community React To Irv Gotti's Death Ye Files Application To Trademark Alleged Title For Book About Bianca Censori
