"Please Respond When I Call Your Name...Lauryn Hill? Lauryn Hill?" [The Miseducation]

Originally Posted 11/17/07:

So, I’m sitting here in my house in Santa Fe, with a combination The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Degrassi: The Next Generation and Space Jam playing in the background, thinking about all (or most) of you together in Jersey. I’m happy to be here, and I’m excited to see my family on Monday, but I miss you too. I am so satisfied at school, but part of that satisfaction comes from knowing I always have you to talk to. I hope and expect that you will always be a major part of my life, and that makes me happy. Also, on a side note, I hung out with a few people for a long time last night who I really really like. I think I may actually have some friends at school! Shocking isn’t it? Anyway, I have mucho tiempo this weekend, and some music reviewing to catch up on, so let’s begin.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is generally considered to be among the very best hip-hop albums of the 90s (for instance, it was nominated for ten Grammys, taking home five including Best Album). I have to, respectfully, disagree. There’s nothing bad about Miseducation, in fact, it has some extremely high moments, but it falls short of true greatness (the 9/10 range).

Have you ever heard of the problem of firsts and lasts? It refers to the tendency of artists to put all their good music at the beginning and the end of a CD, and include the weaker stuff/filler in the middle. Miseducation instead suffers from firsts and 11ths and 13ths. The first four tracks are killer, and then most of the rest is fine and sometimes good but nothing special except for “Every Ghetto, Every City,” and “Everything is Everything.”

A consistent problem for Lauryn is that while her flow is fine when she raps, she often creates awkward rhythms when she sings her verses. It’s weird. And in a related problem, her choruses are consistently far more interesting than her verses. It’s especially noticeable on songs like “Ex-Factor,” “When It Hurts So Bad,” “I Used to Love Him,” “Forgive Them Father,” and “Every Ghetto, Every City. ”

Songs

Intro NA/10: The intro sets the stage for the skits that are present throughout the album: A class meets, talking about love and relationships, but Lauryn is absent. She is instead receiving her “miseducation.” I like the skits in general when listening to the album together, but the fact that they’re not usually separate tracks makes using the songs in playlists frustrating. Ugh.

Lost Ones 9/10: Competing with “Doo Wop” for best rap on the album, and I think her flow is best on this track. However, as usual, the chorus is better than any of the verses though the gap is less noticeable than on many other songs. This is one of the songs I really love.

Ex-Factor 8/10: The early verses are actually a little blah, but the bridge (or is it a second chorus because it’s repeated? I don’t know musical terms) is really awesome, and this is the most touching song on the album in general. Lauryn has obviously been terribly hurt in her relationships, and it really shines through here.

To Zion 9/10: Maybe the most musically interesting song (featuring a Carlos Santana guitar solo) along with “Doo Wop,” “To Zion” is the best example of Lauryn’s singing talent. Another very moving song with occasionally slightly clunky lyrics. Nonetheless, excellent track.

Doo Wop (That Thing) 9/10: What is there to say about this song? You’ve all heard it before, and, therefore, you should know how awesome it is. Musically excellent, with really good rapping, and then that wonderful chorus. The last truly excellent song on the album, only four songs in.

Superstar 5.5/10: Here’s where things take a turn for the worse. The song opens with a very interesting rap that leaves me wanting more but quickly shifts into a boring R&B song. One of my least favorite on Miseducation.

Final Hour 6.5/10: A pretty good song actually (there’s nothing on Miseducation that’s actually bad) with pretty good flow and lyrics but a mediocre beat.

When It Hurts So Bad 6.5/10: The perfect example of a song with an excellent chorus/bridge thing, but really weak, boring verses.

I Used to Love Him 7/10: Same problem as above, with slightly better verses. And man, that chorus is good.

Forgive Them Father 7/10: Again the same problem, though the difference is less pronounced (the chorus isn’t quite as good; the verses aren’t as bad).

Every Ghetto, Every City 8/10: The verses are still a little weak, but it’s musically so much more interesting than the previous songs that it doesn’t really matter. A very enjoyable song.

Nothing Even Matters 5/10: The same slow, mediocre verses without the beautiful chorus to save it.

Everything Is Everything 8/10: The first truly balanced song in a long time. The beat is really good, she alternates between singing and rapping, and I actually want to listen to the verses. This song makes me happy though not because it’s especially optimistic or anything.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 7/10: Another very slow, pretty static R&B song, but this one is more interesting lyrically, emotionally and musically.

And then there are two bonus tracks, neither of which are particularly bad or good. The thing that bothers me though, and this happens on a lot of CDs, is that “Miseducation” is clearly the thematic end to the story. However, the bonus tracks (which are on virtually every version) extend the album, and leave it without the thematically correct ending. Why do artists do this? Wilco’s A Ghost Is Born is the perfect example, where “Less Than You Think” needed to be the end, but instead they tossed the incongruous (but good) bonus track “Late Greats” after it. Why don’t they just put it in the middle of the CD as a regular album track? Also, it was on every version of the CD released, so in what sense was it a “bonus”?

Overall 8/10 : The things I’ve said about Miseducation have been largely negative, but that is, to some extent, a product of how highly regarded it is, as well as its inconsistency. The truth is that, however, it’s really an excellent album, and the first four songs by themselves would be worth owing the whole CD.