rock the dub: February 2007

I've been doing a lot of thinking about what I wanted to do for V-Day this year, seeing as this is the first V-Day I'll be blogging ever. I figured, gifts are always a good gesture, and the best gift I can give is the gift of music..

. there's going to be a SPECIAL rock the dub treat tomorrow, but there are some songs I felt needed to be highlighted, and they ended up focusing on Lauryn Hill, one of the oft-forgotten heroes of R B and Hip-Hop. I mean, we all know her meteoric rise and surprising fall/disappearance from the limelight, and I don't want to dwell on that, for I'll just get upset for the lack of her voice in the mainstream music scene, but I still love her music.

Her words, her soul, she just poured everything into her music, and nothing was as telling as her songs about love. You know she had some deepness going on when it comes to love, in all facets. So, today, I wanted to share with you guys a few of my favorite Lauryn Hill tracks and videos (if I can find them!

) that accompany, with some words to go with them...

01/Lauryn Hill " " [taken from , she breaks down a relationship all of us have had: one where you hate this person so much, but you love this person so much that you end up hurting yourself just to keep them around. I think The Sopranos called it "Amour Fou", one of those undying loves, all encompassing, and all consuming. Not a healthy thing @ all, but when Lauryn sings it, it's timeless.

My wife's favorite track off Miseducation...

btw.]


02/Lauryn Hill ft. D'Angelo " " [this is one of MY favorite Lauryn Hill tracks of all time. Very seductive, soulful number featuring the boy D'Angelo, just riffing on all the craziest shit that could go down, but in the end, even if that shit is poppin' off, it doesn't even mean a thing, because you have that one person.

Possibly one of the simplest, yet most beautiful displays of that theme I have heard in my life. Just a great song, from two artists who were in my King and Queen spot 8, 9 years ago..

. and where are they now?]

03/Lauryn Hill " " [this is one of the tracks off of the set she did, the one everyone dissed her for, because she sat there pouring her heart out with her guitar and her thoughts.

I mean, I personally feel a connection when I hear these songs, because they show the creative process in action, which I love seeing, whether it's Jay-Z or Busta Rhymes being . The song seems to deal with finding love after being hurt for so long, and the river of emotions that cascade down when you really realize what's going on. That guitar is on point, I wish she did this in the studio with a nice, subtle drum underneath.

We can dream, can't we?]

04/Refugee Camp All-Stars ft. Lauryn Hill " " [this is my personal fav.

Lauryn track of all time. I remember buying Miseducation..

. and hoping this cut was on it, as a bonus or whatever, but my copy did not contain it. (it wasn't until years later that I realized I had to either cop the Love Jones OST or one of the singles to get it.

..) It was all over the radio that summer, I remember I was dealing with this female who seemed to be into me but only when no one else was around.

She was big on making things feel one way when we were alone, but forgetting me when she got a phone call or when she was out. I got over it, but that shit hurt after a while. In any case, this track helped soothe my soul, from that soft guitar, complete with the noise of the fingers stroking the strings to that laid back beat.

When the beat switches up, its MURDA! True Refugee Camp stylee on this one. That video was kind of ill too.

..]


Finally, I leave you guys with a track Talib Kweli wrote for Lauryn, simply titled " ", which is a letter that he wrote specifically for her, but many of us feel the same way. No more words to describe it, really.

..

related links:



Ah, here are a few extra video pieces of Lauryn performing:

"Motives Thoughts", performed LIVE on Def Poetry