r & b that’s even for me!

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

By Robyn Pierce

Many Girl Zone viewers chose female rap and r & b artists as your favorites in our music survey answers, so I am reviewing Lauryn Hill's solo album,

THE MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL

I really don't listen to rap very often, and I'm not a very big fan of r & b, but I really dig Lauryn's voice. We got to sample it some with the first two Fugees CDs and a bit on Wyclef's solo album as well, but this album lets more of her talent show, since she produced, wrote, arranged, and performed most of it on her own. Joining her on a few tracks are Mary J Blige, D'Angelo, Fundisha Johnson, and Carlos Santana.

Lauryn sings about everything from being a star to being in love. In track 3, To Zion she talks about getting pregnant and deciding to keep the baby even though many people think it could affect her career. When it hurts so bad is a ballad about the familiar unrequited love scenario I loved real, real hard once/But the love wasn't returned/Found out the man I'd die for/He wasn't concerned

As a whole, it's worth checking out. It has several very catchy songs (most notably Lost Ones, Superstar, and the secret track Can't Take My Eyes Off of You). Lyrically it's all good, although I got a little bored with some of the love ballads (like Ex-Factor and Nothing Even Matters for example). But if you enjoy r & b you'll probably like these too.