How ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” broke the silence and claimed power in hip-hop
This undergraduate university paper researched how black feminism and gender impacted hip-hop culture through the 1980s and 1990s. Centring black theorists, artists and perspectives is vital and doubles down on the importance of authenticity on which music subcultures themselves reside.
In 1998 The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill made history — a debut record that claimed space in hip-hop culture for black feminism and remains significant today. Lauryn Hill’s lyrical themes broke the silence of black feminist issues in hip-hop and claimed unprecedented power and space.
Hill speaks truth to power with artistic integrity
Between 1996–1998 Hill was renowned as one of rap’s best emcees with the Fugees and signed to a major record label, Columbia. Pregnant at the time of creation, Miseducation’s liner notes mostly credit Hill with producing, writing and arranging the entire album — two years after the release of Miseducation, Hill and her management and label settled a lawsuit for an undisclosed amount with members of the Fugees and production team for unpaid royalties and contributions. (Critics and scholars have argued that in hindsight Hill was insistent upon having full credit because she’d been denied credit in the past for her work with the Fugees.)
In a 1999 Rollingstone interview Hill commented:
“I write songs that lyrically move me and have the integrity of reggae and the knock of hip-hop and the instrumentation of classic soul…a sound that’s raw.”
Hill was “self-actualizing before our eyes, proving at just twenty-two years old that she was a black magic woman capable of anything at a time when few believed female artists — especially those in the hip-hop world — could do anything and sell millions of records.” (Mayo, 2018, p. xii)
Mary J. Blige hailed the record as “one of the most incredible albums ever made” and the record influenced a generation of soul and hip-hop artists.
Hip-Hop Culture, Sexism & Identity
Through the 1980s and 1990s ‘blackness’ was central to hip-hop culture and by the late 1990s hip-hop was accepted as mainstream in American culture. A culture that is lived as more than only the music — a combination of rap music, graffiti art, break dancing and fashion styles.
Race, cultural politics and ideologies are all entwined in hip-hop culture. Lyrical aspects are fundamental and reflect the world in which the artists’ exist. “It is a youth movement, a culture and a way of life. Hip-hop is the culture; rap is the music.”(Pough, 2004, p. 3) Subcultural theory, generally associated with homology, is increasingly impacted by identity politics and the flow of social identities to musical expression.
Frith (1996) suggested “identity is not a thing but a process.” Identity is key to hip-hop culture as it offers a sense of the individual and the collective. As a black, youth movement hip-hop embodies the political and provides a racialized setting for the performance of politics, gender and sexuality. More broadly, it is widely accepted that “dominant ideologies and discourses throughout popular music privilege men.” (Shuker, 2016, p. 195)
Sexism — discrimination based on gender — pervades the creation, distribution and consumption of popular music.
In 1998 Hill reflected in Essence Magazine:
“This is a very sexist industry. They will never throw the genius role to a sister. They’ll just call her diva and think it’s a compliment.”
A gender divide exists within rap and hip-hop culture, historically a “boyz game.” (Oumano, 1999, p.25) A problem surfaced with what was dubbed ‘gansta rap’ in that “the very same contempt that young black men held for racist policing, high incarceration rates, and limited employment options was also directed at black women.” (Kitwana, 2002, p. 87) This overt sexism was only part of larger social problems leading Morgan to ask “how did we go from fly-girls to bitches and hos in our brothers’ eyes?”
Any analysis of gender within rap and hip-hop in the 1990s is further complicated when considering Hill’s contemporaries — women rappers such as Foxy Brown and Lil’ Kim. Both artists’ work was a direct response to the lyrics of black men. Boasting of their sexual exploits, both artists projected tough, but sexy, imagery and language to carve space in the “male dominated world of hard-core rap with overt sexuality.”(Darby & Shelby, 2005, p. 99) Yet Lil’ Kim’s public, constructed image conflicted with the “vulnerable girl with low self-esteem that surfaces in her magazine interviews” (Pough, 2004, p. 183) negating the authenticity required at the convergence of feminism and hip-hop cultural expression. Pough contends that by the hip-hop era “black women have generations of conditioning to stay in the background while black men claim the limelight.” (Pough, 2004, p. 75)
Hill brought the ‘wreck’
Black female artists are also political activists, doing the work of feminism for meaningful change — the ‘wreck’ i.e. “the moments when black women’s discourses disrupt dominant masculine discourses.” (Pough, 2004, p. 76)
The Fugees 1996 album The Score had enjoyed critical acclaim, winning the Grammy for Best Rap Album yet as Mayo (2018, p. xii) noted “it was becoming clearer that a black woman needed her space” and that Hill’s star “didn’t just sit higher in the sky, it was brighter” when it came to her talent within the three-man/one-woman rap group.
What followed in late-1998 was the release of Hill’s first solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill — often included in lists of the most important recordings of all time and the first female artist to win an unprecedented five Grammy awards. So pervasive were Hill’s achievements she was the solo cover subject of Time Magazine’s feature on the musical revolution changing America “Hip Hop Nation”.
The level of disruption to dominant discourses by Hill’s success requires an understanding of black feminist standpoints and the complexity of contested spaces and relationships between black men and women, families and sexuality.
Since the 1980s feminist theory has focused on the importance of identity, masculinity, post-colonialism and transnational feminism. An emphasis on diversity at the intersection of ethnicity and gender enables non-white and privileged voices to become more central to feminism. Black feminism is a diverse body of theories and perspectives, it is also a political project with the clear objective to ensure black women are not silenced nor assigned as the ‘other’. The black feminist agenda is intergenerational and sees gender oppression as “intimately connected to struggles with race and class oppression.” (Pough, 2007, p. 79) Black feminist and cultural critic bell hooks argues that popular culture removes the abstract from feminist theory to create “new cultural paradigms” and provokes cultural criticism from a feminist standpoint that directly engages audiences.
Hip-Hop Feminism
Hip-hop feminism adopts a hip-hop state of mind, one that “freely samples, mixes and remixes” feminist theory and activism, articulated by those immersed in hip-hop culture. Rabaka (2011) contends that the complexities of feminism and hip-hop culture are not mutually exclusive. Hip-hop feminist scholar Joan Morgan in her landmark book When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost defines her feminism as “placing the welfare of black women and the black community on its list of priorities.” Morgan’s work examines how sexism functions within patriarchy, black communities and homes and maintains that “black-on-black love is essential to the survival of both” (Morgan, 2007, p. 71).
The personal, situationist nature of black women’s relationships with black men, sexuality, motherhood and sisterhood combines with an understanding that black feminism is always political and is further compounded by the subcultural ‘tribal’ nature of women in hip-hop culture. Black feminism commands an interrogation of relationships with black men, sexuality, motherhood and sisterhood.
hooks sat in reflective dialogue with African-American scholar Cornel West in the 1990s to discuss the “crisis” between black males and females and encouraged a “political partnership between black men and women” as a response to what they saw as a “weakening of political solidarity between black men and women.” The erosion of community and positive relationships due to social problems of poverty, violence and addiction is “often tragically expressed in gender relations” noted hooks (2014). Many black men believe that the feminist movement threatens to “erase their voices, to usurp focus on racial oppression” (hooks, 2014, p. 66) and Morgan summons “black men [to] fight sexism with the same passion they battle racism.” (Morgan, 2000, p. 44)
In the 1990s black men and women were not a unified front and black feminists who publicly criticised the misogyny of rap were “viewed as divisive and counterproductive.” (Wallace, 1990, p. 20)
Sexuality is to feminism; what work is to Marxism. (MacKinnon, 1988)
Oppressive transactional sex and expressions of hyper-sexuality
Sexual expression organises society into two groups, men and women — creating structural differences that impact social relationships and expression through the ‘value’ of sexualised desire. In the 1990s black women talked at length with Morgan about black men’s disrespect and the representations of black women in hip-hop as “injurious to [our] bodies, spirits and minds.”
As Chuck D et al documented in 2016 tension existed between the hyper-masculine gun play, violence and misogyny found in the market domination of male hip-hop artists and the notion of ‘trickin’ — a woman’s ability to use her looks, femininity and flirtation to gain advantage in an inarguable sexist world.
1990s hip-hop demonstrated how welded “money, sex and power are to notions of male and female identity.” (Morgan, 2000, p. 202) Issues of representation and objectification are variable and the impact of the sexualisation of black women’s bodies is vast and damaging.
Alongside hyper-sexuality single motherhood was becoming the norm for black women, with a recognised absence of a committed black father, whilst the sisterhood became important for women in hip-hop to be heard and move forward a feminist agenda.
Motherhood & Sisterhood
The relationship between career and motherhood is fraught and is an “ongoing staple of both feminism and contemporary womanhood.” (Morgan, 2018, p. 74)
Since the 1960s female artists have dealt with speculation about their ability to be mothers and successfully work, with the presumption being that work would cease for motherhood and when it didn’t women “were demonised for not being maternal enough.” (Morgan, 2018, p. 74)
The complex theme of motherhood is important to black feminism. “Black women rarely get the credit for the strength it takes to choose motherhood in the face of both stigma and what the rest of society considers imperfect circumstances.” (Morgan, 2018, p. 87)
The notion of ‘sisterhood’ grew out of cultural traditions and the feminist movement with an emphasis on the idea of “friendship and sisterly bonding based on principles of ‘seamless harmony’.” (hooks, 2014, p. 89) To maintain solidarity commitment is required by black women to engage in respect for each other including across class and privilege. In 2000 hooks suggested that women are forgetting the power and value of sisterhood and that young females require guidance. (hooks, 2010)
Uniting Black Feminist Ideology & Autobiographical Hip-Hop Lyricism
Miseducation is recognised as extremely important for black feminism. Hill challenged existing constructs of what being a black woman meant by “giving an honest and realistic presentation of a black woman’s view on life, love and sexuality,” (McBride, 2015)
Utilising the autobiographical power of hip-hop Hill documented her experiences of love, loss, coming of age and motherhood built on previous black feminists work and spoke to a new generation of black women in the public sphere. Her solo debut centred the lives of black women in the mainstream, engaging audiences with ideologies of black feminism presenting the sisterhood of “black and brown girls around the world [to] realise that being a black woman is beautiful.” (McBride, 2015)
Female emcees now use the microphone as a platform to address their ‘sisters’ and seek “unity in the rap sorority.” (Oumano, 1999, p. 32) Furthermore Hill proved Morgan’s assertion that hip-hop can help black feminism to win.
Miseducation illuminated, informed and articulated pain — breaking the silence of black feminism in hip-hop.
Throughout history the status quo is defined by whose voices and history is heard, and not heard. When previously denied voices and perspectives are heard, how society behaves and the values it amplifies are redefined. As Tarana Burke reflected — when Miseducation came out it was the height of the reign of “cocky female emcees in hip-hop. The era of Foxy Brown and Lil’ Kim. They were about over the top extravagance and sex…bragging about fucking and whatnot. Lauryn was something in hip hop we hadn’t seen. She was bringing a truth and perspective to hip-hop that we’d never heard before.” (Burke, 2018, p. 89)
As Solnit posits “to be heard and believed is essential to being an insider or a person of power…it’s important to recognize that silence is the universal condition of oppression.” (Solnit, 2017, p. 24)
The success of Miseducation allowed Hill’s voice to be heard and believed, smashing the silence of black feminism in mainstream popular music culture.
To Zion, a pronunciamento for motherhood & a woman’s right to choose
“Look at your career, they said / Lauryn baby, use your head / But instead I chose to use my heart.”
To Zion has become an anthem for black women, especially for those finding themselves feeling ‘imperfect’ for making decisions to become mothers. Hill was defiant in her choices of how she was going to ‘do’ black motherhood, it brought into the public consciousness possibilities for women facing pregnancy under unconventional circumstances. Miseducation also claimed power through resistance to the oppression of black women.
Mary Beard’s 2017 Women and Power : a Manifesto underscores the premise that the “cultural template for a powerful person remains resolutely male.” (Beard, 2017, p. 53) Women, and in particular black women, are perceived as belonging ‘outside’ power.
Bob Marley’s son, and father to Hill’s five children, described the power in play at the time of creating Miseducation. “Nobody wanted to work with her because there was a feud going on and Wyclef was telling people, “you work with Lauryn, you don’t work with me”.” (Checkoway, 2008)
From the first single Lost Ones it was clear that the quality of Hill’s rage against power play “was wholly unlike the gendered expressions traditionally assigned to female artists…it was completely sans tears or pleading.” (Morgan, 2018, p. 72) . Feminist scholar, Brittany Cooper would say it was a “black girl’s most eloquent rage” (Morgan, 2018, p. 73) and Morgan declared it landed at the feet of wherever Hill’s ex Wyclef Jean was “scorching the earth around him like a bomb.” (Morgan, 2018, p. 65)
One of the strongest assertions of power is money and the freedom to spend it. On the track Final Hour Hill raps the lyrics “You can get the money/You can get the power” trumping the idea of women only claiming power through their sexuality.
The indisputable success of Miseducation delivers the ultimate reclamation of power as Morgan observed “without financial independence, education, ambition, intelligence, spirituality and love, punanny alone isn’t all that powerful.” (Morgan, 2000, p. 224).
As Chesman wrote for Tidal in 2018 Hill’s impact ‘was and continues to be nothing short of seismic.”
Generations of female emcees and hip-hop artists continue to not be silenced and demonstrate strength and commitment to the ongoing struggle of black feminism.
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