Dear Lauryn,
I’m sorry for not calling you Ms. Hill like everyone else. The thing is, though, I kinda grew up with you so I’m one of those people who feels like I know you. You were there with me through some of the strangest parts of my life, some of the most violent, some of the most frightening, and your voice got me through them. I felt comforted and my emotions (whatever they may have been) were assuaged just by hearing your voice. I can distinctly remember putting The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill on repeat and listening to it for hours. Something about that song is so honest and raw that I felt as if whatever pain I was feeling, whatever stress my soul was under, somehow things would get better. I know that each and every one of your fans has a place in their heart for you that will always remain sacred, regardless if you ever put out another album. True love doesn’t go away in times of absence. Rather, it has been said that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
I heard today that Pink Friday surpassed your Miseducation album for consecutive weeks in the Top 10. I was immediately angry. I do not know why hearing this caused me to feel this way, but I was immediately pissed at Nicki, and I don’t even know her. In fact, I own her album so I can’t call myself a hater. I just know that Pink Friday, for as good of a debut showing as it has become, is quite obviously not anywhere close to Miseducation. I know this (I’m sure Nicki would agree) and true hip hop heads do too. I think it hurts for several reasons, but primarily because I am saddened and I realize you could say it better than I am able to.
I look at my environment/ And wonder where the fire went/What happened to everything we used to be.
You see, hip hop, when you were an active player and game changer it was something to behold. Now though, occasionally an album comes out and fans can say, yeah, it’s pretty good. Yet it is rarely great, and never so in comparison to the music that you managed to create. There was something special about the sound back then. That unfortunately is not the case anymore. Not when I think about it and not when I think about you.
Those of us that have loved hip hop now for so long that it seems like we are somehow related to the music know that while the music now is alright, it isn’t anything great. When I told The Brain that Pink Friday somehow surpassed Miseducation in any way I said that it proves that people today do not know good hip hop. The Brain believes that it proves that those who do know the music have given up. This is why I am sad. I’m not mad at Nicki Minaj because she isn’t to blame. I’m mad at hip hop heads who have given up and I’m mad at the industry for encouraging the highly creative individuals to somehow dumb down their craft so that it can make them more money.
For my birthday this year, I took a trip to Rock the Bells in Los Angeles so that I could experience a tribute to classic hip hop, and, because I wanted to see you in person performing. You were beautiful and your performance was incredible. You told your musicians what you wanted when you wanted it. You cared about your performance and the direction of it was something you actively participated in. I turned into a bitch when you came on stage. I’m not typically someone who gets starstruck or someone who is highly impressed with the famous, because they are just like me, breathing, thinking, eating, sleeping, loving, and alive. You though, you are different. You evoke emotions in the faithful that somehow cause us to relive moments and be relieved in others.
I thought that I should take this opportunity today to share with you, not that I think you’ll actually read it, but through the energy that will be created from merely writing these words in this universe, that regardless of what the current state of the music is, regardless of where it is going, there are those of us who haven’t given up. The Brain is right that there are many who have, and some more will join them, however, even those who have given up have only done so because they know, without you and artists of your caliber, the music is lacking like the body mass of a severe anorexic.
I am crossing my fingers in hopes that your recent concert circuit signifies good things to come from you in the future. Regardless of if the poppy loving music lovers out there, this hip hop head will joyfully celebrate that day. Maybe then you can take your place back on top of the music charts where you belong.
You, Ms. Hill, are still loved.
GFUNK
Be sure to follow @gfunkinyotrunk
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