#29 < #28 - Lauryn Hill > #27

Lauryn Hill was born May 25, 1975 in South Orange, New Jersey.  As a student growing up Lauryn was very active and vocal and began acting at a young age.  She had early film roles in Sister Act 2 and the TV show As the World Turns.  She was soon recruited by the Rap group, The Fugees, featuring Pras and Wyclef Jean and she soon began turning her poetic verses into rap lyrics.  The Fugees second album The Score brought the band international fame and critical success, the most memorable song being their interpretation of “Killing me Softly”.  Lauren made her prescense felt in the music industry and was well respected as one of the few musicians who could rap and sing at a high level.

After the Score the Fugees disbanded and in 1998 Hill released her first solo album The Miseducation of Lauren Hill to massive success and acclaim. The album went on to win 7 Grammy awards and sell worldwide record sales of 16 million units.

In the months after the release of TMOLH Hill became more and more discouraged by the Music industry and eventually went into a “self-imposed exile” for over 2 years. She withdrew from social interaction and stopped watching television and listening to music. She called it an introspective time where she confronted her fears and insecurity.
She returned in 2001 with an MTV unplugged special and brought a brand new musical style with her, mostly focusing on her voice with an accompanying acoustic guitar. 

She is also very active as a humanitarian and has received awards for her work with Refugee projects and for supporting well-builiding projects in Africa.