It’s been an arduous 23-year journey, but Lauryn Hill has just made history. According to a tweet from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the former Fugee has sold over 10 million copies of her lauded solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, making her the first female MC to go diamond.
On Tuesday (February 16), the RIAA made it official, tweeting, “Welcome to the RIAA Diamond Club @MsLaurynHill! #TheMiseducationofLaurynHill is now a (10X) certified album! @ColumbiaRecords #BlackHistoryMonth #RIAATopCertified.”
Released in August 1998, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill arrived two years after The Fugees had attained mainstream success with The Score. But creative and personal differences within the group tore them apart a year later and Hill ultimately embarked on a solo career. Pregnant with Rohan Marley’s child, Hill poured her heart out across the 16-track project and addressed the pregnancy, The Fugees’ inner turmoil and her experiences with misogyny.
Anchored by the singles “Doo Wop (That Thing),” “Everything Is Everything” and “Ex-Factor,” Miseducation put Hill on a lightening speed trajectory toward superstardom. The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 422,624 copies in its first week and breaking the record for first-week sales by a female artist.
She also set a record at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards where she was nominated for 10 gilded trophies and walked away with five, making Hill the first woman to receive that many nominations and awards in a singular night. In 2015, the Library of Congress added Miseducation to the National Recording Registry — but curiously it remains Hill’s only solo album to date.
Speaking to Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums podcast via email last month, Hill explained why she never gave her fans a follow-up.
“The wild thing is no one from my label has ever called me and asked how can we help you make another album, EVER…EVER,” she wrote. “Did I say ever? Ever! … With the Miseducation, there was no precedent. I was, for the most part, free to explore, experiment and express.
“After the Miseducation, there were scores of tentacled obstructionists, politics, repressing agendas, unrealistic expectations and saboteurs EVERYWHERE. People had included me in their own narratives of THEIR successes as it pertained to my album, and if this contradicted my experience, I was considered an enemy.”
Lauryn Hill Blames ‘Unrealistic Expectations’ For Never Following Up Grammy-Winning Debut 'Miseducation'
But despite Hill’s sparse solo discography, she believes she accomplished exactly what she set out to do with Miseducation, saying, “I’ve always been pretty critical of myself artistically, so of course there are things I hear that could have been done differently but the LOVE in the album, the passion, its intention is to me, undeniable. I think my intention was simply to make something that made my foremothers and forefathers in music and social and political struggle know that someone received what they’d sacrificed to give us, and to let my peers know that we could walk in that truth, proudly and confidently.
“At that time, I felt like it was a duty or responsibility to do so. … I challenged the norm and introduced a new standard. I believe the Miseducation did that and I believe I still do this — defy convention when the convention is questionable.”
Hill joins an elite club of diamond-selling artists, which includes Eminem, 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Outkast and Beastie Boys. Revisit the album above.
Lol…Was like 17, 18 when this dropped!! Knew it was classic but for that to be L-Boogie’s only solo effort and still talked about today says alot…..congratulations to Lauryn…that was an amazing album
USHER CONFESSIONS ALBUM IS DIAMOND TOO
They’re referring to hip-hop/rap artist. But they did forgot to mention Please Hammer Don’t Hurt Em ?
Hes an rnb not a rapper! Wtf
Album overrated AF! And so is she! All the sheeps following this trend is ridiculous. People can’t think for themselves anymore. FOH! Erykah Baduh “Baduizm” and D’Angelo “Voodoo” are way better than this album but they don’t get half the props Lauryn Hill does. SMH
People gonna say she’s overrated but don’t bring up the beastie Boys with the most meaningless diamond hip hop album I’ve ever seen and were white meek mills with less lyrical ability. At least Lauryn had actual talent outside of being loud. the best thing about the beastie boys were some of the beats and their videos
You may not be a fan, and that’s fine, but the Beastie Boys are one of the most original, versatile, and talented group of artists in pop culture history. They created their own sound and refused to be defined by a genre. Ironically, their best known song (by non-fans), Fight for Your Right, is probably the worst song they ever recorded, but they were teenagers, and they grew up quickly after that. Definitely not too lyrical ability, but the sum of the parts (beats, rhymes, videos, styles, uniqueness, influence, etc) makes them undeniably important to music history.
She could’ve been one of the greats, too bad things pretty much went down the dumpster after this album.
She clearly is as a female emcee. She made one album and made her purpose and is recognized by past and present generation this album came out 20 years ago and yet still getting accolades. Not a lot of artist can do that.
Awesome, Miseducation is a classic despite what these idiot trap-loving kids on this board are saying.
So happy it was someone with actual talent like Lauren who made this history and not an embarrassing producer-created hack like a Cardi or Niki. Win for real music for once.
I really like the way you said that real music she represented so much more especially being a female she held her own after everyone tried to break her the people that helped her wanted all of the credit and she still didn’t sell her soul you gotta respect that womans natural raw talent
Bone Thugs as well
So just fuck Nelly huh? He’s the only one to go diamond on his debut album.
Isn’t this technically Lauryn Hill’s debut album as well? Just like Nelly had material with the St Lunatics before his first album she had material with the fugees before hers, no?
The label should not have been instrumental in a sophomore recording; it should have been her. She’s like a one-trick pony, regurgitating the same album for 20 years and blaming others for not presenting a follow-up.
It was a pretty good 1 trick though. Where is your diamond album?
50 CENT??⭐?
KING 0F NY??
HIS ALBUMS
G.R.0.D.T
THE MASSACRE
B0TH ALBUMS WENT DIAM0ND
IN JUST FIVE M0NTHSH0W CAN Y0U F0RGET
THAT IMP0RTANT
PIECE 0F HIST0RY
ARE Y0U STUPID
0R Y0U DUMB ?!
GUNIT’S ALBUM
BEG F0R MERCY
ALS0, , DIAM0ND SELLER
T00 TSK , TSK
RIAA SH0ULD BE ASHAMED THE WAY THEIR PLAYING GAMES
S00N Y0UR G0NNA GET BURNED
FIRE BURN ?!
You’re the stupid and dumb one. The statement is very clear that she was the first”FEMALE* Emcee to go diamond…. Omdssss never seen someone so dumb and stupid like you ??♂️
& there isn’t 1 Eminem album nor Beastie Boys album that should be diamond status in hip hop category. & it has nothing to do with race on this end, it sure as hell does on the record sales for sure. Beastie Boys outselling groups like NWA, Bone Thugs N Harmony, Geto Boys, Outcast, Eightball & MJG, hell even Run DMC. & Eminem’s first 3 albums were his best & they couldn’t touch Illmatic, It Was Written, nor I Am which were Nas’s first 3 albums. Nor could any of his albums touch DOC, first album, Ice Cube America’s Most Wanted, nor Death Certificate, Big Pun’s first album, a couple of T I’s albums, a couple of Busta’s albums & I could name more. We support artist for being artist, while some are tryly just supporting color but not ours. ?
It’s almost as if record sales don’t equate to the quality of music. Dumbass.
MMLP> rest of trash ya names
I wonder how many “white” people paid for this album, considering she once stated she would rather let her kids starve than have white people buy her album, don’t deserve diamond awards, racist as shit ??
Show me the video of her saying this…. can’t, can you?
Do you honestly believe Em is/ was better than Black thought or Talib?????
No body belives that… Everyone knows that for fact!
Sorry but Jill Scott “Who is JS”, Erykah “Baduizm”, D’Angelo “Voodoo” and Saadiq “Instant Village” were definitely superior to the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. All the fuckers in this comment section are just a bunch of brainless non having opinions following the masses motherfuckers.
Smh respect to those artist, but none of them were a rapper/singer they were just R&B driven.
That is YOUR opinion… That’s the genre of music you like, so be it… Lauren was the shit on the Score and her first solo album… Ain’t nobody here following no masses, wake up… Everyone is an individual… Give her her props and move on…
I wonder if Eminem will be dumb enough to ask Lauryn Hill on a date?
SNOOP……..
MC Hammer went Diamond
So much salt in this comments section. It’s not just about the quality of the album, it’s about the impact. You don’t have to like Eminem or 2pac or whoever to know they’ve had more of an effect on music than Talib Kweli. Do I like Lauren Hill as a person? Well she’s said some racist stuff in the past but then so had Eminem and 2pac. Does that have any bearing her talent, music quality or sales? Absolutely not.
Nelly too…
It’s a total disrespect to leave Nelly’s name out! He went diamond in 2016 with Country Grammar.