Right now, the rap world belongs to Nicki Minaj. After shopping in Lil' Kim's closet and borrowing her identity and wigs, Minaj has bodied the rap world-eclipsing even male rappers in her mad dash for hip hop glory.
But there is one MC, one whom Minaj idolizes and cherrishes, who has not been outshined by Minaj's rising star. Lauryn Hill, styled L-Boogie.
"The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" was the bar heard around the world. Selling 423,000 copies the first week (a feat unmatched even by Minaj), "Miseducation" continues to fly off shelves like it was dropped last week. No other CD in modern times has proved to have 13 year staying power. Lauryn Hill was a Beast!
Yep. L-Boogie had us all tapping our feet, thinking being enlightened was the thing to be. We never saw a woman so powerful- a woman who could rap with the boys and still be a lady. She was like bomb grafiti on the tomb of Nefertiti. She was classic.
Then she was gone. Rumors fly of her being cracked out. Stories circulate of her losing her mind. However, interviewers report that Lauryn Hill went into hiding. True to her refugee beginnings, Lauryn Hill was an opposer of capitalism and systematic exploitations. As the story goes, after "Miseducation's" huge success, Columbia Records poured millions of dollars into marketing and engineering in preparation for Lauryn's sophomore CD. The label also pressured her into other avenues such as print, television, and film in oder to expand the Lauryn Hill "brand". While other artist would have been flattered at these guestures, Lauryn Hill was not and, she took Columbia's actions as an intention to capitalize on and exploit her image.
So she fled. For years, we lamented her departure from Hip Hop. In Lauryn Hill's absence, Lil Kim ascended the ranks, lyrically grabbing hip hop by the throat and forcing it to accept the new breed of sexually liberated women. Now in the winter of Lil Kim's career, Nicki Minaj has taken the microphone and showered the world with images of fake hair, ass shots, threesomes, and lip services (pun intended). Minaj is a long way from her idol, Lauryn Hill.
But one can't help but wonder what women in hip hop would look and sound like today if Lauryn Hill had allowed Columbia to sell her image. Would dark skinned women get to audition for rap videos? Would twists and locks have a presence in the industry? Would lyrics talk about life, love, and the struggle instead of the "fuck bitches, get money" message it sends?
These questions can never be answered, of course. And though Lil Kim berthed a popular trend of rappers who are more interested in the struggle during sex than the struggle of life, and though Minaj has created a beloved lane for gender benders and personality disorders, no one can deny that something has been missing ever since we lost the rapper/actress who was more powerful than two Cleopatras, named Lauryn Hill.
James Jones
jjoneswrites@yahoo.com
http://www.quickread.ning.com/
www.twitter.com/K2quared
Ah, Lauryn, Lauryn, Lauryn-what a beautiful and complex woman. God is not through with her yet. She has a lot more to give to the world, just wait and see.
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