Twenty Years after ‘Miseducation,’ Lauryn Hill to perform seminal album at Festival Pier – July 13, 2018

Twenty years after the release of an album perhaps best known for the disappearing act its creator pulled afterward, Lauryn Hill will perform “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” in its entirety this weekend at Festival Pier. Or at least she’s scheduled to. She has a history of showing up late — really late — to her own concerts.

Hill’s first and only true solo record was an immediate hit, topping the charts for a month and garnering nearly universal critical acclaim as a genre-melding expression of power and vulnerability. In the two decades since, it’s become canonized as one of the best and most important albums ever made. As the world around us has changed (and not all for the better), appreciation of Hill’s masterpiece has only solidified. It seems like a perfect time to revisit it.

“I loved and believed deeply in my community’s ability to both love and heal itself, provided it received the right amount of support and encouragement,” Hill said in a statement. “Our world today, both complex and changing, is in need of the balance between moral fortitude and cathartic expression. I hope the love and energy that permeated this work can continue to inspire change with love and optimism at the helm.”

She’ll be joined onstage by guests M.I.A., Busta Rhymes, Tierra Whack and Jo Mersa Marley. If, you know, she shows.

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