The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Before the album

Lauryn Hill came up in New Jersey and joined the Fugees with Wyclef Jean and Pras. Their 1996 album The Score sold millions, and her version of "Killing Me Softly" made her a star. She could rap better than most rappers and sing better than most singers.

The album

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill came out on August 25, 1998. It mixes hip-hop, soul, reggae and doo-wop, and it's about love, heartbreak, faith, fame and becoming a mother.

• It sold about 422,000 copies in its first week, a record for a female artist at the time.
• "Doo Wop (That Thing)" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
• Between songs, you hear a teacher talking with kids in a classroom about love. The teacher is Ras Baraka, who later became mayor of Newark.

To Zion

"To Zion" is about her son. She sings about choosing to have him when people around her said it would hurt her career. Carlos Santana plays guitar on it.

Five Grammys

At the 1999 Grammys, Lauryn won five awards, a record for a woman in one night at the time, including Album of the Year. It's widely called the first hip-hop album to win the top prize.

And then… nothing

She never released a second studio album. There was a live MTV Unplugged album in 2002, tours, and lots of rumors, but Miseducation stands alone. A group of musicians also sued over songwriting and production credits, and the case was settled in 2001.