The Music Industry's 'Miseducation' About Black Women's Creative Ownership

On August 25, Lauryn Hill’s seminal solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, was remembered with both praise and criticism on the 20th anniversary of its release. While the album is undeniably iconic, its behind-the-scenes drama has been a topic of conversation for two decades.

In 1998, after a seven-year stint with the Fugees, a groundbreaking hip-hop trio that made hits like "Ready or Not" and "Killing Me Softly With His Song," Hill broke out on her own to craft Miseducation, which is widely regarded as one of the greatest hip-hop albums of all time. The 14-track opus that had palpable songs of love, life, and spirituality is regarded as one of the 500 Best Albums of All Time by Rolling Stone and won five Grammys, including Album of the Year making the then 23-year-old the first hip-hop artist to ever receive the accolade.

She was on top of the world. But in the two decades since, Hill has put out one live album, went to court over the publishing of Miseducation, and has dealt with continuous critique over her performances and ownership of a project that so clearly defined a generation of hip-hop lovers.

More recently, producer Robert Glasper—who's worked with Kendrick Lamar and produced award-winning albums, yet whose name is arguably little-known outside the music industry—told a Houston radio station that Hill hasn’t “done enough” to move in the world as audaciously or demandingly as she has in recent years, most notably, gaining a notorious reputation for being extremely late to shows.

In the same interview, Glasper also accused her of “stealing” the music on Miseducation. "You've already stolen all of my friends' music,” Glasper said. “ Miseducation was made by great musicians and producers that I know personally. You got a big hand-off of music you didn't even write," the multi-Grammy Award winner says. "Those songs were written by other people, and they did not get their credit. She likes to take credit so she can become this super person."

The “credit” Glasper was referring to stems from a 1998 lawsuit involving a collective of musicians called New Ark who worked on Miseducation but were not credited in the liner notes of the project. The case was settled in 2001 with the plaintiffs receiving an undisclosed settlement, which called into question how much Hill actually contributed to the album's songwriting and production.

It didn’t help that a lot of the criticism about her recent performances lie in the fact that she doesn’t play those songs in their original arrangement, reportedly because of said settlement with the album's producers.

In a 2013 interview with XXL, New Arc member Johari Newson admitted that Hill wrote her lyrics (sometimes in collaboration with others) and was heavily involved in the final product, thus squashing any misconceptions. "Lauryn was definitely the guide—it was her vision," Newton said. "Our job was to take whatever was in [her] head and put it down for her."

Hill also addressed the rumors of ownership in a lengthy Medium write-up to Glasper and anyone else questioning her influence of Miseducation. “That I’m not allowed to play the original versions of my songs is… a myth (anyone who’s seen my current show knows this),” she wrote. “I remix my songs live because I haven’t released an album in several years. There’s a ton of backstory as to why, but there’s no way I could continue to play the same songs over and over as long as I’ve been performing them without some variation and exploration. I’m not a robot.”

In regards to her collaborative process, as she wrote, "I hire master builders and masterful artisans and technicians who play beautifully, lend their technical expertise, and who translate the language that I provide into beautifully realized music." Adding, "These are my songs, musicians are brought in because of the masterful way that they play their instruments… No matter how incredible the musicians who play with me are, MY name is on the marquee. The expectation to make it all come together is on me. The risk and the financial losses are on me. Hence, MY VIBE, though not the only consideration, is the priority. Few people actually know what this road is like, but many want to judge and comment, having never done it. Try doing what I’ve done yourself. If nothing else, you will gain some insight into and respect for my process."

This narrative about whether Black women deserve ownership over their music is nothing new. Hill spent years defending her artistry—and the artistry of others. Hill joins a running list of Black women whose music has been produced for the masses while their ownership has been questioned, or worse, completely stripped away.

Martha Wash was on the precipice of making history as a music industry pioneer in July 1990. The most popular, yet virtually unknown vocalist of the time permeated the global club floor with songs like “It’s Raining Men" and Aretha Franklin's "Freeway of Love." As Rolling Stone reported, the year before, Wash was paid a flat fee to record demos to be presented to other singers, but instead, her voice recordings were used in Black Box’s debut album, Dreamland, that included hits “Everybody Everybody,” “I Don’t Know Anybody Else,” “Fantasy,” and “Strike It Up.” She was never credited in the liner notes, ended up suing Sony, RCA, and A&M for commercial appropriation, and settled with all three labels for an undisclosed amount.

Fans of the late R&B icon Aaliyah have no streaming access to the singer’s discography, save for her debut, Age Ain’t Nothing But A Number, which earned a slick double-platinum status after selling three million copies worldwide. Despite that Aaliyah remains a topic of conversation among the who’s who of hip-hop and R&B—a cultural force whose legacy continues to impact even today’s foremost contenders, like SZA and Drake— young people today have no bridge to a pop starlet whose early oeuvre is loved by millions. The absence of Aaliyah’s discography on popular streaming services like Spotify, Apple Music, and TIDAL “does not honor her legacy,” according to Complex’s Stephen Witt, who in 2016 reported producer Barry Hankerson is the one keeping her work locked away.

And, lest we forget, the greatest-selling girl group of all time: TLC. Under former manager Perri “Pebbles” Reid, allegations of manipulation, money-grubbing string pullers, and eventual bankruptcy have been associated with the CrazySexyCool singers for years.

Darlene Love, a powerhouse singer who was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and has been called “the most successful unknown singer in rock and roll history," knows all about being silenced in the music industry after years of not receiving credit on the hit songs she appeared on.

"When I first started off in this business, you know, the old cliché about, 'Well, we didn't know what we were doing.' It wasn't so much I didn't know what I was doing. I didn't just wanna sing no matter what, you know what I mean?," Love told Broadly over the phone.

Asked about the music industry's failure to protect and honor Black women artists as it relates to Lauryn Hill, Love, who is a fan of Hill's, believes her strong principles feed into the animosity some may have for her.

"She's done so much, and unfortunately, a lot of people don't really know," Love said. "I know about her because I've watched her, and I've watched her go through her struggles with the government, with all of that, the struggles that she's had. But you know what? She's determined. She's determined, you know, and she has the talent. She has the look. Nobody changes who she is, and that is so important that you don't allow people to change you."

Lauryn Hill produced an album that was intended to rebrand who she was as an artist. While some may debate her impact, the truest truth in the story of Ms. Hill is that she understood the potential of her artistry and what she had to offer the world. Whether or not her right to own that work is called into question by others, Miseducation has Lauryn Hill's name on it forever.