February 23, 2022

How We Met Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill with only one studio album had a significant impact on many hip hop artists that came after her. Her impact on women rappers is not to be understated and even the wave of Drakes and melodic rappers can be directly traced back to her. But her influence is more than just her music but how she presented and carried herself as strong, feminine, and confident in God. And also the ways in which she spoke up against misogyny, racism, classism, capitalism, and so many other -isms. Besides her dope music these are just a few of  the reasons why her legacy is felt even today, a legacy that has reached far beyond music and into the very lives of her fans. Those personal encounters with Lauryn and her music are the stories we’ll hear today.

Key Moments:

• Montage of Lauryn Hill’s life and career. - 00:00
• Krystal Roberts and Matt Linder introduce themselves and why they're doing this podcast. - 03:07
• Lauryn's influence on other artists - 06:09
• Krystal shares what Lauryn has meant to her. - 08:39
• Raven Jones Stanbrough relives her experience of buying and listening to “Miseducation” for the first time. - 12:23
• Cona Marshall and Raven recount how revolutionary Lauryn’s look was in the late 90s and the personal impact of Lauryn’s look on them. - 15:50
• Eric House talks about singing “Joyful, Joyful” at church and “Killing Me Softly” at summer camp. - 23:48
• Alex Nava discusses Lauryn’s collaboration with Santana and the influence of Latinos in hip hop. - 27:54
• Julius Tunstall speaks on Lauryn’s influence on his music and how it made him grow as a Black creative. - 32:32
• Otis Lambert on how Lauryn allowed him to rap about real topics and not care what others think. - 40:16
• Cheryl Kirk-Duggan relates Lauryn’s life to her own and how Lauryn’s music has been a part of her academic work. - 47:45
• After the credits: Hear Matt’s introduction to Lauryn story and how she made him fall in love with hip hop. - 55:55

Hosts: Lauryn Hill researcher, Krystal Roberts, and Hip Hop scholar, Matt Linder.

Contributors: Raven Jones Stanbrough, Cona Marshall, Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, Alex Nava, Eric House, Julius Tunstall, and Otis Lambert aka OT The GoldN' Child.

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Website: flickerspodcast.com

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Logo design by @papercutprayers.

Theme music by Julius Tunstall. 

Additional music from Yons, fndguitar, Nabil Sioty, and Ashuka Made-It.

Episode Transcript: https://share.descript.com/view/SVDKcRYnVrk

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Krystal Robert's Master's Thesis - "Lauryn Hill “Again” Unplugged: Response & Remedy to Hip-Hop’s Call"
• Celebrating Twenty Years of Black Girlhood: The Lauryn Hill Reader
• She Begat This: 20 Years of the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill
• Honey Magazine Cover
• Creating Ourselves: African Americans and Hispanic Americans on popular culture and religious expression
• In Search of Soul: Hip-Hop, Literature and Religion
• Julius Tunstall’s Music
• OT The GoldN' Child Music
• Beerz and Barz Podcast

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