“The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” has had an influence on little black and brown girls in all stages of life. Really any woman or man who has felt empowered or seen by a lyric, maybe even just a tune, can understand how a specific key takes you back to a place. To me, “Tell Him” was that song. 

My first introduction to Lauryn Hill was “Doo Wop (That Thing)”, and initially Hill sounded familiar. I still don’t know if I’ve heard a remix of the song or just heard the song before and was too young to remember. 

In my first play of the song I enjoyed the piece, specifically, the ending. The end of the song includes a piece where a teacher and students are having a discussion on “What is love?” and “Are they too young to be in love?” 

Some of the young ladies have very beautiful poetic responses, and the conversation was one to take something from: Love has no starting age and nobody is too old to find love either. All that matters is we find someone who sees us and values our true identities no matter what.

The teacher on the album is eighth grade teacher Ras Baraka. “I was wondering what she was going to do with this,” Baraka admitted. “But when you see the whole thing in its entirety – wow – that was ingenious.” 

In a later interview, Baraka said Hill and him were good friends, so when she asked for him to come ask students a few questions in her living room, he accepted. Hill knew he was a teacher and wanted him to exercise the Socratic method with the students – asking them questions but never giving them an answer.

That conversation, which made it onto the album, sat with me and made me wonder: “What do I believe is love?” (Now I could go on about my generation’s lack of practice and appreciation for love but that would be off topic.)

In an interview with the “Academia class of 2000”, Hill explains not feeling the pressure of needing to release another project after her album because she wanted to pursue being an active mother. The hotels and big stages as well as the constant studios were catching up, and to her that was not defining her success. 

“The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” still remains her only solo album, and 25 years later, it’s as timeless as she’d said it be. The fact is the solo album constructed by Hill is so beautiful, it’s generational. That’s true music, music that sticks, lyrics that you hold in your heart, and beats your body has memorized.