Background
While on The Score Tour with her former group the Fugees, Hill met Rohan Marley, son of reggae musician Bob Marley. The two gradually formed a close relationship, and while on this tour, Hill became pregnant with his child. This pregnancy, along with several other circumstances, would inspire her to make a solo record which would eventually become The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. In late 1996, fellow Fugee member Wyclef Jean began writing and recording his debut solo album The Carnival, which Lauryn would lend a hand with production, as well as guest verses and vocals. After the album was completed, Lauryn took time off from touring and recording due to her pregnancy and cases of writer's block.
This pregnancy, however, would later revive Hill's artistic flow, as she'd recall in an interview several years later "When some women are pregnant, their hair and their nails grow, but for me it was my mind and ability to create. I had the desire to write in a capacity that I hadn't done in a while. I don't know if it's a hormonal or emotional thing I was very in touch with my feelings at the time." Hill also went on to say "Every time I got hurt, every time I was disappointed, every time I learned, I just wrote a song."
While in this creative zone, Hill wrote over 30 songs in her attic studio in South Orange, New Jersey. Many of these songs heavily drew upon the turbulence in the Fugees, as well as a past love experience that ended sour. In regards to this, Hill stated "I spent so many years working at a relationship that didn't work, that I was like; I'm gonna write these songs and pour my heart into them." In the summer of 1997, as Lauryn was due to give birth to her first child, she was requested to write a song for gospel musician CeCe Winans.
Several months later, she went to Detroit to work with soul legend Aretha Franklin, writing and producing the song "A Rose is Still a Rose." This song would turn out to be Franklin's up-coming single for her album of the same name, and Aretha would later have Hill direct the song's music video. Shortly after this, Hill did writing work for Whitney Houston. Having now written songs for musical acts ranging from hip hop to gospel, to R&B, Lauryn brought all of these influences and experiences to bear upon an album of her own.
Read more about this topic: The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill
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