This book is journalist Joan Morgan's love letter to the album The Miseducation of Lauren Hill. The author dives into how this album was and is so groundbreaking. Lauryn Hill was my favorite musician when I was in high school and this took me on a trip down memory lane. It didn't dive into the album as much as I would have wanted but is more about the affect this album had. I really enjoyed and would recommend it to fans of hip hop and of Lauryn Hill.

I wanted so much more because I grew up with loving Lauryn Hill's music. This was not what I expected.

She begat this. Oh, really?

Do we really need to celebrate the twentieth anniversary of the 1990 debut album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill? Apparently, we do. Not because of the album is acclaimed, having hit number one on the Billboard 200 immediately upon release and having week one sales topping 420,000 and breaking the record for female artists of all genres. not because within one year, Hill’s Miseducation had gone platinum eight times, securing ten Grammy nomination and five wins. Not because Hill’s style was and is elusive to some and creative genius to others.

But celebration, for many in the entertainment ecosystem—producers, entertainers, critics, emcees, journalists, etc.—is arguably due to Hill and Miseducation twenty years later because it was and remains “influential.”

For people outside of this spectrum, the fact of Hill’s domination may be far-reaching until they read “She Begat This: 20 Years of the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” by Joan Morgan.

With the trusted research and style of a great journalist, Morgan's presentation of in "She Begat This” is crisp and poignant.

In short, Morgan details the legacy of the then 22-year-old artist who “ushered in a new school of goddesses,” was intellectual and hard to replicate.

She uses terms like "fascinating Blackness,” “intersecting identities,” and “wizardry” to describe Hill—even calling her a muse of Black thought and versatility. “Aesthetically (she) was absolutely critical to us,” Morgan writes. She explains how the conscious, sexy, deeply heretical rapper-artist shifted culture using her dexterity as a wordsmith.(Hill studied English at Columbia University.)

Readers with a nebulous recollection of the debut will find it striking that Morgan not only presents Hill’s influence but also validates her as the intersectional genesis —begator, if you will—of the very best form of Hip-Hop. Nevertheless, Morgan details Hill’s contributions beyond music and all the perils.

The Mis-education of Lauryn Hill was political, intersectional revolution, autonomous. “She gave this generation permission to be a warrior one day and mystical the next,” Morgan writes. Her shape-shifting of Black hair, gave “us” the permission to be intellect, fashionista, and love rap, Morgan posits. “She was our Pinterest.”

In this 4-star book, Morgan proves Hill and/or The Miseducation album:
was unboxed and affirmed on a large scale
represents all our contradictions
was never fully centric
rocked the party and gave you something to think about
later made a defiant choice on how she would do motherhood
was an early prototype of BlackGirlMagic and we owe her

What Hill may have begotten most effectively, however, was the feminist boldness that’s very much energized today that will “grant yourself permission to be what you’re to be even when you don’t see it.” And, Hill has done so in and out of hip-hop.

“Think about it for a minute,” Morgan writes. “Lauryn Hill was a twenty-three-year-old girl who bared her soul and made a stellar, grown ass woman album.”

“I think people also forget what the climate was like when Miseducation came out. While wringing this book, I had to go back and look at how we were being represented in the late ‘90s,” Morgan writes from a dialogue with Beverly Bond, founder of Black Girls Rock who Morgan calls a keeper of Black girl legacies. “It was really a hard time to be a woman in hip-hop or one who loved hip hop. We needed Lauryn so badly. We needed the win.”

To that Bond says, “Lauryn Hill is our generation’s Nina Simone. She’s our Nina."

Commendable writing, Ms. Morgan.

Jozef Syndicate
#JozefBookandBrew
@NetGalleyReview

I graduated high school in 1999 and Lauryn Hill was hella 'mazing back in the day. Joan Morgan really gets into the WHYs of Lauryn Hill being such an important figure in the hip-hop world. Some of this went over my head (Hi, I'm caucasian) but as a casual follower of 90s R&B, I can't begin to describe how well written and intellectual this book describes that window in time. She put a microscope on black american feminist subculture during the late 90s. Like I honestly wasnt ready for some of the truth bombs. I ended up listening to Miseducation of Lauryn Hill on repeat for a few weeks - you might win some but you just lost one.

I fell in love with journalist + feminist author Joan Morgan’s writing after reading When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost years ago. So, when I found out she would be working on She Begat This, I knew I had to get my hands on it ASAP. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill plays loudly in the soundtrack of my teenage years and I still find myself learning and relearning love lessons as I listen to it today. Joan Morgan’s exploration of this album, along with the likes of Michaela Angela Davis, dream hampton, and DJ Beverly Bond (#BlackGirlsRock) is so necessary + such a dope way to commemorate the 20-year anniversary of such an iconic album. I read this baby last weekend and when I tell you I got my whole life, please believe me!

I love how She Begat This opens with the late 90s when Lauryn Hill emerged on the scene as a solo artist and what makes this moment so iconic. Lauryn Hill created her own lane, sharing bold style choices, and a dark-lipstick, dread-locked aesthetic that was ahead of its time. I love that Michaela Angela Davis notes that she did this move to mainstream without “altering her blackness.” She began setting trends in her own way, making take notice. This alone is a political AND feminist statement, long before the days of social media. Not only was it seen by women of color, but picked up on by Harper’s Bazaar, as they gave her the September 1999 cover. Not only was Hill's presence saying something serious, and her lyrics could rival many in the male-dominated space of hip-hop. Lauryn Hill was becoming an icon before our eyes and Morgan noted every detail, lest anyone forgot or didn't know how major this was in the 90s.

Through interviews and candid conversations, Morgan dissects lyrics, interludes, and moments in pop culture that became The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. The book explores things I saw happening during the time of Miseducation without even realizing how big they were as a teen. I ate these words up like it was a school lesson and someone would test and question me the next day (much like the teacher questions the students in the album’s interludes). Not only did she share views from those that love the album, there are very critical accounts. In fact, dream hampton reminds us that Miseducation did not come without its flaws. There was an issue with crediting writers + producers. Add the idea that hampton really believed Hill could have came stronger with the vocals and production. Nonetheless, I devoured every word she said. Though it didn't sway my opinion, I still appreciate the opinions of great writers that make me see the other side of things.

It wasn’t just an album. It was the soundtrack of a pivotal moment in my life. Never mind the critics who argue L. Boogie only had one strong body of work. Forget the writers who penned Lauryn’s real-life decisions were problematic and hypocritical, nothing to be celebrated. She was human before the fame or glamour we as consumers helped to project onto her came to be. I’m just a regular ass girl and many won’t see the poor decisions I made when trying to figure out my self-worth in the guise of bad relationships. But I made every one of them and will own up to all in the name of love and acceptance.

I write all this to say that there’s a lot to celebrate in the 20-year anniversary of Lauryn Hill’s Miseducation. And I truly believe that She Begat This did the best job of unpacking this album in all its good, bad, and ugly for what it was—a movement. And not the album we romanticize as we reminisce on the summers we spent falling in love and vibing to those tracks. Reading She Begat This was cathartic. It was the perfect study guide to pulling apart my own feelings when experiencing The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. And what better time to arrive than when I’m older and working on my healing. I couldn’t have chosen a better journalist for this project than my favorite hip-hop feminist Joan Morgan. She lives, breathes, and feels feminism in a way that she's able to share so freely with her readers. I’ve always admired her transparency and talent to do so with such beautiful words.

Thanks to L. Boogie, I have an album to commemorate my own miseducation in love and heartbreak. And thanks to Joan Morgan, I have a testament to how this album affected the lives of many women physically, politically, mentally, and emotionally, one heart-felt lyric at a time. I implore all fans and avid readers of hip-hop, feminist lit, and anyone who has love + respect for my Gemini sista Lauryn Hill to pick up this book ASAP. You won’t be disappointed.

Major thanks to Atria Books, Joan Morgan, and Netgalley for the ARC.

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Joan Morgan is an award winning journalist and cultural critic. One of the original staff writers for Vibe, her work has also appeared in More, Ms, and Giant magazines. Over the course of her career she also served as editor for Spin and Essence. Morgan is probably best known for her 1999 work [book:When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost: A Hip-Hop Feminist Breaks It Down|418688] which examines the strange dichotomy of feminists within the male-dominated world of hip-hop.

How is a woman supposed to handle such dilemmas with finesse?

<b>She Begat This: 20 Years of the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill</b>
not only speaks to the musical genius of Lauryn Hill but also places her art into context with the political and social landscape of that time. Historical influences are examined and Hill's lasting impact on hip-hop, feminism and black culture are considered. Written in a style that is itself lyrical, <b>She Begat This</b> includes interviews with notable Black authors and feminists Beverly Bond, Michaela Angela Davis, dream hampton, Tarana Burke, and Karen Good Marable.

As a woman who has grown up on the music of Lauryn Hill, I can testify to the power of her work and the lasting impression that it has had on own my life. <i>To Zion</i> was a rallying cry, therapy at one of the most vulnerable times of my life. This was why I was delighted to come across this title. Now that I have read <b>She Begat This</b> I feel honored to be one of the first to read this critical work. Special thanks to NetGalley, Atria 37 INK and Joan Morgan for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Exploration of hip hop through the career of Lauryn Hill. It was an entertaining and great book to read.

Absolute fire! Whose idea was it to conceive of this project with Joan as scribe? A perfect pairing. Joan Morgan and Lauryn Hill. This is Davis and Coltrane. Lennon and McCartney. Shaquille and Kobe. Right from the start this book screams greatness. Kierna Mayo sets the table with a lavishly elegant forward and Joan Morgan takes the assist and keeps the ball moving forward with the benefit of 20-20 hindsight. Joan is both point guard and closer dishing out assists and receiving them from the talent she pulls into the project. In looking back, Joan Morgan is razor sharp in her vision and brings an equally keen prose to the page in this exceptional reminder and explainer of why/how Lauryn impacted the culture and became iconic in the process. Joan Morgan pays both homage to L-Boogie and offers apology to Ms. Lauryn Hill for being complicit in the demand brigade. Give us more! Do more! Be more! Save the hip-hop genre, save music, save us! That’s a lot to ask of a 22-year-old, even one as fierce as Lauryn Hill. “Then with gratitude and with ignorance, we did what we do with celebrities: We turn mortals into gods—queens, if they’re only women—and then summarily pick them apart at the first hint of disappointment. So we told Hill she was royalty and crowned her the next Nina Simone...... As black women, we really should have known better, but instead we did to Lauryn what the world does to us. Asks us to save it and when we do? It asks us to save it again.”

In attempting to dissect Lauryn Hill’s sound and identity, Joan Morgan writes
“Lauryn Hill is strictly African American. There was no ackee and saltfish and boiled dumpling cooking in the Sunday morning kitchen of her childhood. No parents rousing her out of sleep with sharply punctuated patois. Instead, she deliberately wrote herself into the discourse of diaspora, drew on the global nature of black music, and fashioned herself a citizen of the world. She took from that legacy what she wanted and asked no one’s permission, in part because she treated hip hop itself for what it is—a Caribbean-American art form.”

The exploration of what made Lauryn special goes beyond her work on the now classic album, The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill. Her influence on fashion, her comfort in her own skin, the original Black girl rocking her Black magic. And her not bending or blending, she said take me as I am, and America did. “Remember when you looked up and it seemed like black culture just became culture? For better or worse, that was our export.” —Kierna Mayo, from the foreword. She graced the covers of many magazines, a failure to include some of those visuals, is an unfortunate missed opportunity.

Joan is spacious on Lauryn’s impact and she shares the pages, her pages with some contemporary luminaries. So we get great commentary from the likes of Michaela Angela Davis, an image activist who opines, in reference to Lauryn’s approach to fashioning her look; “Let me clarify that. Overall, I think Lauryn’s muse was blackness: Black people, the black community black history, black politics, black thought. When you are pulling on blackness in such a full way you don’t need anybody to tell you what to wear. You just need them to help you get the visual proof of it.”

Beverly Bond, of Black Girls Rock fame weighs in, “We live in a time that’s so dismissive of legacy. It’s an age where people are so quick [to dismiss] the greatness [of] those that came before them. There are new rappers who now say that Biggie and Tupac didn’t matter and that’s some dumb shit that’s really dangerous—especially for black people. When we erase our origins, we risk losing our culture and we leave it vulnerable to other people who want to just pick it up and run away with it.”

Through the force of Joan’s writing and memory you feel the impact of Lauryn Hill even if you weren’t around when Lauryn arrived initially, either because you were too young or you were in another world. I was fortunate enough to be present at Lauryn’s landing and being born and raised in Jersey, I, we took a special pride in all that she was. She represented, and we were proud! Joan Morgan captures that feeling in her writing and the effect of drawing on others who witnessed the landing in real time adds depth to what I suppose will be one of the best books of the year. If you are looking for “what happened to Lauryn, did she lose her mind” type salaciousness this is not that book. This is a celebration of greatness and dopeness! I suggest you buy this book and cue up the album while reading. You do have the album, Cd, tape, digital download? Right. This book serves as reminder to those who bore witness and an induction and introduction to L-Boogie for the newbies who didn’t have the privilege to be present in 1998 for the touchstone cultural moment she represented so well. Thanks to Atria Books and Netgalley for an advanced DRC. Book is available Aug. 7, 2018. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️‼️

An in depth look at one of the best albums of all time and the woman who made it. It was a joy to relive this album piece by piece.