When you are a founding member of a pioneering multiplatinum hip-hop trio, the Fugees, and you’ve found overwhelming success as a solo artist with your first album, which debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard the week of its release, selling more than 12 million copies worldwide, achieving both popular and critical acclaim, earning five Grammys, three American Music Awards, one Billboard Award, one Soul Train Award, and one MTV Video Music Award — you’ll definitely have a huge fan following.
So, what has Ms. Lauryn Hill done for an encore? Go crazy, and record an “MTV Unplugged” album.
Surviving controversy, lawsuits, delays and turbulent relationships, Ms. Hill gets her act together, long enough to record an album of mostly new songs, in the cliched stripped-down, intimate atmosphere — that’s known as “MTV Unplugged.”
The album was recorded last summer, lasts close to two hours and fills two CDs that won’t play on your PC without you using a magic marker to put to shame all the money wasted on the technology. But I digress.
The album is made up of 13 tracks, which sound like unpolished demos sung and strummed in their entirety by the ex-Fugee. The former star for most of the album tries to hit notes that aren’t there. She also slurs through some of her lyrics and occasionally hits the wrong note on her guitar. But hey there’s always beauty in imperfection.
What, however, is unmistakably ugly and unforgivable is Ms. Hill’s ranting and raving between songs — at one point for 12 unedited minutes, recalling that scene in Robert Altman’s Nashville when a rambling, about-to-crack country diva never makes it to the next tune. But the question here is whether this is revolutionary? No! John Lennon did this decades ago, but with humility, and grace. Ms. Hill on the other hand comes across as a self-indulgent narcissist having a bad day.
Without being cynical, the album does showcase many important themes, primarily spirituality and introspection, although “I Find It Hard to Say,” inspired by the Amadou Diallo shooting, indicates she has retained her commitment to social justice.
It is also fascinating to gain a glimpse into the inner workings of Ms. Hill’s mind, this includes references to her mental instability; there are moments when self-righteousness threatens to overpower the beauty of the music. In addition to the preachy lyrics of “Mr. Intentional” and “The Mystery of Iniquity,” Ms. Hill lectures her audience on the struggles she has been through and her new-found persona. We appreciate the honesty, but she seems to have forgotten that in spite of her problems, there are few people who would not trade positions with her. Contrary to her statements, she is not “just like everyone else.”
This album should appeal to voyeurs, but how long can you look at a train wreck before deciding to move on. And releasing this album at a time when the unplugged format is losing steam is a questionable move by the artist and her record label.
***
(Comments: [email protected])