Lauryn Hill

If you've never heard perfection, you need to listen to Lauryn Hill's "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill."

I was listening to this album last night while waiting for things to happen in the lab. And like Catcher in the Rye or Good Will Hunting the next experience is always better. Everytime I listen, her voice gets more vulnerably sweeter, her lyrics deceptively deep, and her rhyme comfortably strong. Its pure genius and not many albums get better than this. You feel like you know her, like you've talked to her, and like you've shared with her your life when you listen to her. Very few albums do that for me.

Which is all the more interesting given what has happened to Lauryn Hill now. She's disappeared, relatively, 6 years after dropping "Miseducation." Her one album from an MTV Unplugged show is disjointed, overly long, and disconcerning for the revelation that Lauryn Hill was lost.

Was it the money, the politics, or the pressure to be perfect day in and day out? I think so. And there's nothing wrong with that. The world is pretty stressful as it is and I never blame someone when they decide that the next stop off the express is the best stop. But at the very least, she touched genius for a time, redefining her art and profession and leaving a lasting impression. At the very least.

I think its worse to be mediocre for your whole life. For one moment, you shine and thats greater than a lifelong mediocrity. Lets hope Lauryn Hill finds her way and shines again.