Searching for Lauryn Hill

[Madmick]

More than two decades have passed since it was released, and no female R&B artist has matched it. Her only peer was Amy Winehouse with Back to Black, but Amy is gone. Lauryn was less retro-jazz, and more neo-soul similar to the longtime queen of the subgenre Erykah Badu. This thread is devoted to and delights in the search.


Poppy Ajudha is my favorite recent discovery. I adore the instrumentation in the top songs:



(Don't sleep on this drummer; song doesn't come to life until around the 1st minute)



Ledisi was the Grammy nominee last year, and her hit "Let Love In" is spectacular, no doubt. Here is her TinyDesk:




Lianne La Havalas brings more soul than any of the other artists in this OP. You can tell she grew up listening to Aretha Franklin. Yet despite that she sounds more like Alicia Keys than Jill Scott. She's infectiously adorable in a way that reminds me of Corinne Bailey Rae. Think this vid/material is the oldest here (from 2016). If you're not familiar with her listen to her speak after her first song. It may catch you off guard:




Imagine if Britney Spears or Nelly Furtado sang more like Rihanna; that will give you a sense of what it's like to listen to Jorja Smith. She has a bit of the same flavor as SZA, but she trades the heavy club beats for reggae fusion. I find most R&B today overproduced, so sticking to the minimalist TinyDesk theme, these background instrumentalists sound more Roots than Dr Dre:




My brother is a fan of Ella Mai who is obviously also very popular, but has much too commercial a sound to carry Lauryn's legacy. Although I enjoy this song I think it is more in the vein of Mary J. Blige. I like Ella and Jhene Aiko most among those who sound like girl versions of The-Dream. No TinyDesk, so here's the Vevo:

 

[Madmick]

Oh yeah, these girls from New Orleans definitely aren't like Lauryn, but this is probably the best TinyDesk concert ever given:

 

[Madmick]

If you haven't checked out the YouTube Channel "Colors" yet I highly recommend it. Best new music channel I've seen in a while. A lot of the songs are better than the studio originals:

 

[Madmick]

A very recent TinyDesk from H.E.R. She sounds more like Lauryn, vocally, than any other singer I have listed so far in this thread:




Jazmine Sullivan is a Missy Elliott discovery from about a decade ago who is very much in the soul big-woman-big-voice tradition. Her recent "Insecure" from late 2017 is her most viewed on YouTube, though she is probably best known for "I'll Break the Window Out Your Car", but I still don't think she has topped her breakout that featured Missy Elliott hilariously appropriating Bob Marley's culture (keep in mind artistic experimentation like this wasn't a social crime according to half the population a mere five years ago):

 

[Big L]

I’ve been listening to the miseducation album a lot recently. Wow is it amazing. Maybe better today than it was when it came out?

Fighter and the kid was listening to the girl that faked the Harry styles face tattoo and she seemed promising, I don’t know her name though.

 

[HaulParris]

My contribution to this great thread:

Corinne Bailey Rae. Many fine songs of her own, but this Led Zeppelin cover is magic:

 

[KingBeef]

I like Lauryn, but I think she comes off as a bit overrated in my opinion. Not saying she's bad, but she's not as great as some make her out to be.

H.E.R is dope!!!!!! She's probably my favorite female R&B solo artist at the moment.
Also, check out the group KING. They are amazing!!!!!

 

[Spookv]

Lauryn Hill to me is royalty and she's not talked much in modern day music. I caught her in concert out in Hawaii, she got on stage at 12am maybe closer to 1am. And she fucking killed it. People where climbing the fence and finding ways to sneak in it even when the concert was close to bing done.

 

[Mixedfights]

She was awesome.




But a 1 album wonder.


Counting Crows was better.

 

[Jackonfire]

A lot to dig through here and I'm looking forward to catching up on this thread this weekend. But there's one artist it seems to be missing. Glad to see Eryka get a mention. But what about Sade? Certainly she has a place in the discussion.

 

[Anung Un Rama]

Another honorable mention:

 

[Anung Un Rama]

Also, love La Havas -- wish she would come out with something new soon.



Also a big fan of Corrine Bailey Rae & Eryka Badu (> Lauryn Hill imo)

Sade is GOAT level imo.

 

[sh1tehawke]

Laura Mvula

 

[Clear Winner]

A very recent TinyDesk from H.E.R. She sounds more like Lauryn, vocally, than any other singer I have listed so far in this thread:




Jazmine Sullivan is a Missy Elliott discovery from about a decade ago who is very much in the soul big-woman-big-voice tradition. Her recent "Insecure" from late 2017 is her most viewed on YouTube, though she is probably best known for "I'll Break the Window Out Your Car", but I still don't think she has topped her breakout that featured Missy Elliott hilariously appropriating Bob Marley's culture (keep in mind artistic experimentation like this wasn't a social crime according to half the population a mere five years ago):

H.E.R can actually rap too, unlike a lot of other singers who fail really badly at rapping. A real talent.

Not as good as Lauryn, but she raps over a redo of the Lost Ones beat here:

 

[Clear Winner]

More than two decades have passed since it was released, and no female R&B artist has matched it. Here only peer was Amy Winehouse with Back to Black, but Amy is gone. Lauryn was less retro-jazz, and more neo-soul similar to the longtime queen of the subgenre Erykah Badu. This thread is devoted to and delights in the search.


Poppy Ajudha is my favorite recent discovery. I adore the instrumentation in the top songs:



(Don't sleep on this drummer; song doesn't come to life until around the 1st minute)



Ledisi was the Grammy nominee last year, and her hit "Let Love In" is spectacular, no doubt. Here is her TinyDesk:




Lianne La Havalas brings more soul than any of the other artists in this OP. You can tell she grew up listening to Aretha Franklin. Yet despite that she sounds more like Alicia Keys than Jill Scott. She's infectiously adorable in a way that reminds me of Corinne Bailey Rae. Think this vid/material is the oldest here (from 2016). If you're not familiar with her listen to her speak after her first song. It may catch you off guard:




Imagine if Britney Spears or Nelly Furtado sang more like Rihanna; that will give you a sense of what it's like to listen to Jorja Smith. She has a bit of the same flavor as SZA, but she trades the heavy club beats for reggae fusion. I find most R&B today overproduced, so sticking to the minimalist TinyDesk theme, these background instrumentalists sound more Roots than Dr Dre:




My brother is a fan of Ella Mai who is obviously also very popular, but has much too commercial a sound to carry Lauryn's legacy. Although I enjoy this song I think it is more in the vein of Mary J. Blige. I like Ella and Jhene Aiko most among those who sound like girl versions of The-Dream. No TinyDesk, so here's the Vevo:

Also, not sure if people are aware, but Glasper came out and said that Lauryn stole most of Miseducation without crediting him and a lot of others. Might explain why she hasn't made anything anywhere near that level since.

Robert Glasper Goes in on Lauryn Hill, Says She Stole 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill' From Other Musicians

https://www.okayplayer.com/music/robert-glasper-lauryn-hill-interview-miseducation.html

 

[tobiaswins]

Another honorable mention:

Great choice! One of my faves for sure along with erykah badu.

 

[Madmick]

A lot to dig through here and I'm looking forward to catching up on this thread this weekend. But there's one artist it seems to be missing. Glad to see Eryka get a mention. But what about Sade? Certainly she has a place in the discussion.

Sade is amazing, but she's also one of the most unique artists there has ever been, and she doesn't really spring to me mind when I think of Soulful R&B or Lauryn Hill's legacy.

Plus she was a contemporary of Lauryn who actually preceded her. I was trying to keep the artists as recent as possible (debuting around the last 5-6 years).

Another honorable mention:

I almost added an Esperanza Spalding video myself just to culture up the thread, but she's about as pure jazz as "pop" artists get. She even scats in her songs. She's not trying to be Lauryn. She's about as close as you'll ever get to The Blue Note on the radio.

Laura Mvula

This girl is cool, but she's another that doesn't sound like Lauryn Hill much at all, and doesn't have any discernible elements of soul.

She reminds me a bit of this strange Norwegian. This just hit COLORS last week. She doesn't even have a Wiki page yet. She's synthesizing the sounds of neo-soul and euro house pop in this performance-- it's very cool. I don't like her studio stuff. They are calling her "Progressive R&B", but her songs vacillate between cookie-cutter R&B and pure synth pop. At times, like in "Train", she sounds like Bebe Rexha collided with Imogen Heap. She's also a perfect example of the girl-rapper catastrophe that @Clear Winner talks about above. Do not want. But I think the below is fantastic:

 

[Madmick]

Oh, as for Jorja Smith, even for those who aren't into her sound, I'm sure you'll be into her ass. I'm not a teenager, anymore, but even a curmudgeon like me can't look past this derriere:



I happen to love the song, too.

 

[Clear Winner]

Another talented female. Not feeling the latest album, but The Electric Lady was great. Also, always nice to hear Prince.

 

[Madmick]

Another talented female. Not feeling the latest album, but The Electric Lady was great. Also, always nice to hear Prince.

I adore her music. I wish she would focus on it. She is definitely doing her best Prince impression on this last album: