Tag: Neo Soul

Everything Is Everything: The Legacy of Lauryn Hill

She was only 18 years old when the world got the chance to see and know this young girl. She appeared on the 1993 movie Sister Act 2: Back In The Habit. Then, when she was in high school, she was approached by Pras Michel, the cousin of Wyclef Jean to join a hip hop group who named themselves The Fugees and released only 2 albums. Then in 1998, she released her debut album, which is considered to be one of hip hop’s most highly respected and classic albums of all time. With her smooth and beautiful singing voice and a hard to ignore, hard hitting, in your face, rap style that caught the people’s attention, Lauryn Hill is definitely someone in the industry who is well respected and loved. With hits like “Killing Me Softly”, “Doo Wop (That Thing)”, “Everything Is Everything”, “The Sweetest Thing”, “To Zion”, or even “Ex-Factor”, Lauryn was not only a hip hop superstar but she also gave us that 1970’s soul and lyrics about love, compassion, life and gave us knowledge, she was also considered to be Neo Soul as well. She had a sound and style that was sort of similar to Erykah Badu’s or D’Angelo. I think I speak for a lot of hip hop fans when I say that it would be dope for Lauryn to drop another album. People Have been speaking about it for years after she left the spotlight after her 2002 MTV Unplugged performance. It was one of MTV’s most memorable moments. Lauryn opened up her heart and said a lot of things that she was feeling while dealing with the industry and what it did to her spiritually and mentally, freeing herself from burden and pain while she spoke her stories and sang her songs. Of course, there’s also another side of Lauryn that was often spoken about. Stories of her showing hours late to her own shows and disappointing fans but still being able to put on a great show, Lauryn still remains one of the greatest to ever do it.

Baduizm: The 20th Anniversary

Good music makes me happy but classic shit gets me excited, especially when the anniversary of that specific classic arrives. Sometimes I’m prepared and other times I’m reminded the day of and it catches me off guard like “Oh shit! That’s a CLASSIC!” 20 years ago on February 11th, 1997, hip hop and neo soul artist Erykah Badu burst onto the scene with her debut album “Baduizm.” I honestly don’t feel worthy enough to even write about this masterpiece of an album because Erykah is another level with her intellect and word play. It took me years to understand Erykah and other women who are just like her because I’m used to hood girls and there’s nothing wrong with a hood chick but Erykah is the intellectual black woman who represents a totally different type of creativity that’s rare in the hood. She’s the one who burns an incense and sips on tea with an ankh symbol around her neck, which represents life and completeness. Erykah explains fully what it means on her Live album that also came out 20 years ago. Erykah’s sound had a jazz vibe to it but she definitely is hip hop. It’s not that in your face, kinda rough stuff, it’s that soothing but knowledgeable stuff. It’s honest, it’s real, it’s unapologetic, it’s consciousness, it’s celebrating the beauty of being a black woman whose comfortable in her skin and not afraid of what the masses thinks. It’s inspirational and one of the first of it’s kind, along with D’Angelo’s “Brown Sugar” in 1995 and Maxwell’s “Urban Hang Suite” in 1996 with that neo soul sound. I consider Erykah the Queen of Neo Soul but I read that she doesn’t want to be called that. It keeps her in a box. To me, she’ll always be the Queen of neo soul. “Baduizm” means to be “high” off of her. “Izm” is slang for weed. Just add the “Badu” in front of it and we got this masterpiece which is called “Baduizm.” The album starts off with a joint that’s one of my favorites on the album. “Rimshot” has a catchy hook and a dope beat. “I wanna rimshot, heyyyy diggy diggy.” When I’m spinning and I put this album, this joint definitely stays on a loop. “On & On”, which is the first single from the album, is the next joint on the album. This is the first song that comes to my mind when I think of Erykah. It was this song when Erykah said “I was born underwater with 3 dollars and 6 dimes” and it went over a lot of people’s heads. She was basically saying she was born complete. Goes back to the ankh symbol that I mentioned earlier. Then it’s “Appletree.” Erykah says in the beginning of the song that she has some food but not the edible kind, she has some “food for thought.” As the song goes on she talks about picking her friends like she picks her fruit. Being smart and careful about who the people she keeps in her circle. It’s also something that can make a person “complete.” The company you keep can sometimes make you feel complete if they’re the right ones. The ones whose willing to be honest and real about who they are and something they’re not. “Otherside of the Game” is another favorite of mine on this album. Every time I hear the song, I can see the entire music video in my head with her and Andre 3000 in the studio apartment by themselves. Erykah at the time was pregnant with their son Seven. It’s a song and video that’s about being in a complicated relationship but she stays by his side anyways. The next joint is “Sometimes…” but it’s the #9 Mix. A shorter version. I’ll get back to this joint when the full version comes up. LOL! The next joint “Next Lifetime” is hands down, my all time favorite Erykah Badu joint. Everything about the song keeps going back to it every single time. The beat, that bass, the groove of it, it’s a smooth ass song for real. A song about Erykah being in a relationship already, currently, at the moment but low key wanting to be with another man by saying she guesses that she’ll see him in the “next lifetime.” “Afro (Freestyle Skit)”, a very organic and original freestyle about picking an afro and going to enjoy a Wu Tang concert. Definitely one of my favorite skits from any album in the 90’s. “Certainly” is a smooth but jazz influenced joint. When I listen to this joint, I picture myself in a poetry lounge with incense burning and a man on stage playing bass and of course Erykah standing on stage with her cup of tea on the side and she’s sharing knowledge and giving us a little bit of her sassy but funny and cool personality. “4 Leaf Clover”, for those who didn’t know that song is a remake. My mom played this joint to death. I mean all the time. It made me forget that it was from this album for a while. “No Love” to me is the most underrated song on the album. It’s a nice R&B joint with a vibe. Something to play on a beautiful Saturday morning. Ironically, it’s Saturday but it just hit noon as I’m writing this. “Drama” is the only song on the album to me that doesn’t leave an impression like the rest of the album does but it’s not a bad song. It’s actually really dope and I like the hook but it’s not the song I’ll remember first from the album. Now finally, we get to “Sometimes….” This joint was on constant replay and on a loop for hours the first time I heard it. That beat makes you nod and sway and sing along to the song. “Where did the love gooooooo?” Another favorite of mine on the album. Big time. Then Erykah has a “flipped” version of “Certainly.” I definitely prefer this version more. The hip hop in me automatically fell for this version more than the other one that’s earlier in the album and the album ends with a continuation of “Rimshot.” A nice applause for such an amazing album. Definitely one of the albums anniversary I was waiting for and I was reminded two days ago by a friend on Facebook. He was posting about Erykah and how long it took for him to understand her lyrics. He also posted her “Live” album, which will be 20 in November but Erykah is definitely one of music’s greatest of all time for her positive energy and spirit and her being so knowledgeable. I do wish to meet Erykah someday. Such a beautiful woman as well. She’s so different and definitely marches to the sound of her own drum without knocking others for what they do. Something that I recently learned and someone reminded me of that and going through masterpiece reminded me of how inspiring Erykah is in that way too.