Lauryn Hill Album: “MTV Unplugged No. 2.0”

"I know the view is that I am emotionally unstable, which is reality, like you aren't," states Lauryn Hill. Her new live double CD "Lauryn Hill Unplugged 2.0" is an amalgamation of her inner thoughts and personal demons. Her debut album, "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" was a surprise crossover hit that wowed critics and fans alike, selling 12 million copies, and garnering five Grammys, but it appears success was a pyrrhic victory for Hill. Hill talks about being held hostage by a public persona created by her success. "Fantasy is what people want, but reality is what they need," professes Hill and reality is what she attempts to deliver to her listeners with her new album. The raspy voice singer blends lyrics of the heart with acoustic sounds from the soul. On one of the lyrical gems titled "Adam Lives in Theory" (They can't even entertain the solution in a brain filled with vain information and pollution) Hill sings metaphorically of the antediluvian Adam and Eve of society. Far from perfection, Hill botches lyrics and strains her voice to unreachable heights, sometimes erroneously strumming away at chords, but yet this album is a gem for being refreshingly intimate and painstakingly honest. Hill pulls at our heartstrings with "Just Like Water" (Moving down the streams of my lifetime/pools of fascination in my sleep/cooling off the fire of my longing) and "I Just Want You Around" (You keep my feet on the ground/ I hope that you can hear me because I know it's not profound/ I just want you around) the two love songs on the album. She shines on "I Gotta Find Peace of Mind" (Please don't be mad with me I have no identity/All that I've known is gone) pouring out her heart and soul to the audience for over nine minutes before Hill becoming emotionally unglued and crying her heart out. Hill is a musical chameleon that does a complete 180 on "Unplugged" returning as a "hip-hop folk singer". It is a diamond in the rough of an arena, filled with pre-packaged commercially acceptable drivel. An album of socially astute thought, it requires a second listen before it can be truly effective and pleasing to the listener.

This CD is the most politically/spiritually charged music I've heard in quite a while. The theme is freedom in ALL of its ramifications, from the personal to the political. Although stylistically different, the synthesis is not unlike that of Bob Dylan's best work.

I must confess that I was unfamiliar with Lauryn's music until my son shared with me a song from this CD: The Mystery of Iniquity. What can I say, it blew me away.

Her phrases are short and sharp and delivered with a force that can only be fueled by lived-conviction; the better to penetrate one's delusions and complacency, while energizing one's resolve to live free!

This woman has been fighting to become a yielded vessel for God since the beginning of her career. Every step that we take has purpose. I thank God for Lauryn Hill. She allowed herself to be stripped from the glamour and glitz to find her true heritage in Christ Jesus. The level of understanding that she has is beautiful. If you can't understand what she's saying in most of her lyrics you should seek your Creator. Warning comes before destruction.- God Bless our World.

Ok, I must admit, I was rather reluctant to purchase this CD after hearing all the negative reviews surrounding it. But I decided to find out for myself. I bought it and listened to it. My conclusion: I don't see what the problem is. Yes, it is overwhelming, it is personal, it is dark, but so what? This is who she feels she is. This was her way of releasing all these demons she had living inside of her. People seem to forget that though she's an entertainer, she is STILL human like everyone else. The songwriting on this album is amazing to me. She covers a LOT of social and personal issues and you really have to listen carefully to understand her and this could be one downside to the album. One thing that has to be understood however is that you CANNOT compare it to "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill." So many people get themselves into trouble by comparing this to that album. The albums are in two different domains, two totally opposite ends of the spectrum. Because this is the case, I don't see why this unplugged album had to be considered "inferior" to her first one. All I say is listen to this CD with an open mind and don't judge it based upon the first one. If you listen to th lyrics, you'll see that the things she talks about are things we can all relate to a certain extent.

Anyone still waiting for Lauryn Hill's follow up missed it. This was it. This is reality TV right here. Only in retrospect do I now see what she was trying to do here. This album should be revisited by critics and the general public. It's a masterpiece and represents the future of music. This is not Lauryn Hill doing the "MTV Unplugged thing" - doing all her past hits acoustically and covering some other songs by friends (ie. Nirvana Unplugged.) This is Lauryn Hill performing her entire new album live, one time only, sometimes stopping and starting over in the middle of a track and making personal, reflective comments between songs. Artists need to look to this album seriously and consider that what was being done here was much deeper than it appears on the surface.