Ms. Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actress. She is considered one of the most influential musicians of her time, a pioneer of rap-singing, and a definitive figure in the neo soul movement. The Telegraph credited her with helping popularize hip-hop music. Hill was the only woman named on the lists of "Greatest MCs of All Time" (2006) by MTV and 10 Greatest Rappers by Billboard, and ranked the highest amongst women on the 2013 NME readers' poll of "Greatest Rappers Ever". She also appeared on Rolling Stone's 200 Greatest Singers, VH1's 100 Women in Music, and NPR's 50 Great Voices.
Hill began her career as a teen actress, portraying Kira Johnson in the soap opera As the World Turns (1991) before appearing in Steven Soderbergh's film King of the Hill (1993). She received acclaim for her role as Rita Watson in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993), which featured her rendition of "His Eye Is on the Sparrow". Hill achieved prominence as the frontwoman of the Fugees. Their second album, The Score (1996), sold over 22 million copies worldwide, and included the hits "Killing Me Softly" and "Ready or Not". It won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, making Hill the first woman to receive the honor.
Her debut solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998), debuted atop the Billboard 200 with the highest first-week sales for a female artist at the time and became the first recording by a female rapper to be certified diamond. Its lead single "Doo Wop (That Thing)" debuted at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, making Hill the first artist whose first entries on both charts debuted at number one. The album produced several hits, including "Ex-Factor", "Everything Is Everything", and "Lost Ones". It remains one of the best-selling albums worldwide and ranked atop Apple Music's 100 Best Albums. At the 41st Annual Grammy Awards, Hill became the first rapper to win Album of the Year and the first woman to win five awards in a single night. Afterwards, she embarked on The Miseducation Tour and became the first rapper to appear on the cover of Time.
Around this period, Hill became a noted collaborator, featuring on "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)" by Nas and "The Sweetest Thing" by Refugee Camp All-Stars. She produced recordings for Whitney Houston, Mary J. Blige, and Santana, wrote Aretha Franklin's "A Rose Is Still a Rose", and released the Bob Marley duet "Turn Your Lights Down Low". Her 2002 live album MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 developed a cult status, with "I Gotta Find Peace of Mind" and "Mystery of Iniquity" being sampled by other artists. In the years that followed, Hill made fewer public appearances while occasionally releasing songs such as "Black Rage" and "Nobody".
Hill is the recipient of numerous accolades including ASCAP's Golden Note Award, eight Grammy Awards (the most for any female rapper), four NAACP Image Awards (including the President's Award), and six MTV Video Music Awards (including Video of the Year ), with inductions into the Grammy Hall of Fame, the National Recording Registry, and the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame. She is the highest-grossing American female rapper in live music. In 2026, she was nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
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