The only problem is - how can one make a solo album when one has writer's block?
Well, during the comedown from The Score, Lauryn began dating Rohan Marley. (Well, while still seeing Wyclef. It was complicated.) Then she became pregnant. Everyone around her told her to abort, but she chose differently. That led to the burst of inspiration that created ...
... The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Ticked off with the press' insistence that Wyclef was the genius behind her, Lauryn wanted to be her own auteur. And she was, co-producing and co-writing every single song.
But radio was hungry for Hill. She had covered a Frankie Valli classic, Can't Take Me Eyes of Of You, for the film The Conspiracy Theory. It was played heavily on radio, and netted her a Grammy nomination for Female Pop Vocal Performance.
It served as the prelude to the album's lead single - a single we'll ignore, because it will feature in jax's ULTIMATE Female Rapper rate.
Let's focus, instead, on the two R&B singles lifted from the record - "Ex-Factor" and "Everything is Everything."
The album came out, became the rare critically and commercially BELOVED album, and made Lauryn the first woman to win five Grammys in one night - including Album of the Year and Best New Artist.
In the 90s, it was all the trend to duet with a dead legend - and only Lauryn made it cool. A duet with her would be father-in-law, Bob Marley, netter her another Grammy nomination the following year.
By the end of 1999, the world was in Lauryn's hands. But was it a world she wanted to be a part of anymore? We would have to wait until the new millennium to get the definitive answer.
The Sweetest Thing
Can't Take My Eyes Off of You
Ex-Factor
Everything is Everything
Turn Your Lights Down Low (with Bob Marley)
Interesting choice to exclude "Doo Wop." It would have been a definite contender. Remember when it almost scored a perfect 10 in my Queens Going Solo rate?
Time for "Ex-Factor" its revenge! That may be my 11.
Rihanna as in Robyn, her birth name. That was the hint!
Sometimes some girls only get one moment in the sunlight. Take Robin S., a singer from Queens who cut a record in 1990. In 1992, it was remixed by Stonebridge, by 1993, it was top five on the Hot 100.
After the success of Show Me Love, Robin was signed by Big Beat Records. Her first single with the new label was Luv 4 Luv.
It .. did not do as well as its predecessor. But it is a bop!
The child of two Swedish actors, Robyn Miriam Carlsson grew up in the business, voicing animated characters in Swedish productions. At twelve, she sang the theme song to a TV show; she also sang her first solo written song on another broadcast, catching the eye of label heads at BMG. She was signed, and sent to write with up and coming writer/producers Denniz Pop and Max Martin.
Yep.
The result? Two big hits in her home country that also, miraculously went top ten in the U.S.:
Her sudden explosion led Robyn to a bout of exhaustion, and she was sent back to Sweden to recover.
Her next album, My Truth, would prove to be more autobiographical. Lead single Electric was a hit across Europe, but the album was not released in the States.
Natalie Imbruglia. Actress. Singer. Songwriter. Loved by Australian and British homosexuals of a certain age for over fifteen years.
Born in 1975 (the same year as Lauryn! The fact that they're both forty is .. I cannot handle it tbh) in Sydney. Left school at sixteen to pursue acting; in the footsteps of a much more successful Aussie seven years her senior, she landed a role on Neighbours. Her Beth was no one's Charlene, but let me take my stan card OFF for a bit. At the end of her second year of the show, she left to move to London. And old friend convinced her to record a demo track and try to get a record deal.
One song she covered on her demo tape became her first single. I believe you've heard of it.
Hide the biblio sis. Giving me Bie teas at the moment, and I'm not here for that.
When Natalie's take on Torn hit, it hit like a meteor. It topped the UK'a airplay charts for fourteen weeks, and was number one on US pop radio for almost two full seasons (March - July). It propelled the album, Left of The Middle, to become the biggest debut album by a female in the late 90s. (Well, until 1999.) It also netted her a VMA, two Brits and three Grammy nominations.
Second single Big Mistake and fourth single Smoke were also big UK hits, and third single Wishing I Was There went top fifteen on top 40 radio. Her chart peaks (at least here)don't reflect this, as Natalie's label was all about those album sales - and back then, singles couldn't chart on the Hot 100 unless they were physically available to purchase. Welp.
True story. I was in DC two weeks ago, and a friend was driving me around. He was playing the song that's at the center of the Drake/Meek thing. After it was over, he asked me what I wanted to here.
