01
1996: The Fugees The Blaze Stage In Their Prime
The lineup for the 1996 ESSENCE Festival included multi-talented rap trio, The Fugees. The group was riding high on the success of their sophomore album, The Score, and had recently released their hit record, ‘Killing Me Softly,’ which arguably set the stage for the rise of future Hip Hop icon, Lauryn Hill.
02
She’s a Star
By 1998, Hill was ready to venture out on her her own away from the Fugees. She released “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” in 1998 to much critical success. She sold over 400,000 copies in the first week, making her the first female artist to sell that many albums at the time.
Hill is pictured performing at the 1998 Billboard Music Awards in Las Vegas where she won the award for R&B Album of the Year.
03
Great Expectations
At the height of her success Hill became pregnant with her first child, Zion David-Nesta Marley with Bob Marley’s son, Rohan Marley. She wrote about how everyone encouraged her to terminate the pregnancy in the song, “To Zion.”
In the end, Hill chose motherhood over fame. She now has five children,