MMF Celebrates Black History in Music, Feb. 24

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is by far one of the staples in not only greatest albums of all time, but a great album that merges both R&B and Hip-Hop.

On February 24, 1999, Lauryn Hill took home 5/10 Grammys at the 41st Annual Award Show which included: Album of the Year, Best New Artist, Best R&B Song, Best R&B Vocal Performance, and Best R&B Album. Her having 10 nominations made her the only women to have been nominated for that many in one night.

Here is her performance of ‘Zion’ with Carlos Santana:

Lauryn Hill was known for her vocals in rhymes as 1/3 of the Fugees. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was released on August 25, 1998 with the mega hit, Doo-Wop (That Thing) leading the way. The album also held hit singles, ‘Ex-Factor,’ and ‘Everything is Everything.’ The album has garnered dozens of awards and in 2003 was placed at #313 on Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Albums of all time.

Lauryn Hill might have left fans empty handed without more music, but this album still lives on and has become a staple in music history.

 

MMF Celebrates Black History in Music, Feb. 13

On February 13, 1996 two prolific albums were released: The Score & All Eyez on Me.

The Fugees was a trio made up of Pras Michael, Wyclef Jean, and Lauryn Hill. The Score featured 17 tracks and included hits: ‘Fu-gee-la,’ ‘Ready or Not,’ and the Roberta Flack sample, ‘Killing Me Softly.’

The album awarded the trio with two Grammys at the 38th Annual Award show for Best Performance by Duo or Group (‘Killing Me Softly’) and Best Rap Album.

Across the coast, 2Pac released his 4th studio album, All Eyez on Me through Interscope/Death Row Records. It made history as the first solo dual-disc hip hop album being releaed as 2 CDs and 4 LPs. It became his second album to top both the Billboard 200 and Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums charts.

The album sold 528,000 in its first week and within two months the album was certified 5x platinum by the RIAA. By 1998 it was certified 19x platinum and in 2011 album sales had surpassed 5.8 million in the U.S. The first half of the album featured 14 tracks with hits ‘2 of Americaz Most Wanted’ (w/ Snoop Dogg) and ‘I Ain’t Mad at Cha’ (w/ Danny Boy) & ‘How Do U Want It’ (w/ K-Ci & JoJo). The second half featured 13 tracks.

Although his life and career were cut short in the fall of 1996, 2Pac has sold over 75 million records and made a name for himself not only as an artist, but as an actor and noted public figure.