“When The Fugees would come to London it was lethal, we’d tell the whole place to come together right now like The Beatles. Wake the town and tell the people, we gon’ do it like we used to.” These were the words of Lauryn Hill last night, taken from a poem she’d written to London and recited for 20,000 people at the O2 Arena. “London’s been all love, from the dancehall to the pub,” she continued. “Big up the mandem! All my sisters and my brothers.”
Earlier this year, Apple Music released its 100 Best Albums list, crowning The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill the very best, taking the top spot over Nirvana, Amy Winehouse, Michael Jackson and The Beatles. Released in 1998 and uniting generations as one of the best records of all time, Hill took over the O2 last night to celebrate its 25th anniversary alongside Fugees bandmate Wyclef Jean, sons YG Marley and Zion Marley, and even London’s own Ghetts.
After cancelling the US leg of the tour earlier this summer and currently embroiled in a lawsuit with former Fugees bandmate Pras, some were concerned that the show may not go on at all. But go on it did, so late in fact that it broke the O2’s curfew policy which could see Hill handed a £250,000 fine. The venue enforces a strict rule that fines artists £10,000 for every minute they play over 11pm, and with Hill’s set finishing at roughly 11:25pm, it’s a good thing there were so many guest appearances to split the bill.
Hill’s only solo studio album, The Miseducation… earned her ten Grammy nominations and broke the record for the most nominations for a woman at a single ceremony. She took home two of the ten including Best Album, making her the third Black woman to win the award which none have won since. “Without L Boogie [Hill’s early alias] this new girl power shit would have never been,” her poem continued.
Well justified in its groundbreaking accolades, the album was partly responsible for the birth of neo soul and helped bring hip-hop to the mainstream – particularly from a female perspective. It should be no surprise then that the album’s anniversary party has lasted over two years, and of course, Hill delivered a once in a lifetime family affair.
Cool as ever, Hill appeared on stage sporting an oversized fur coat and diamond, chain-mail vest beneath it. The infectious opening chords of ‘Everything Is Everything’ were met with a rapturous welcome, followed by ‘When It Hurts So Bad’, ‘The Final Hour’ and ‘Lost Ones’. Having only one solo album means that fans have had 26 years to perfect every lyric, but despite the crowd chanting the words back, Hill seemed to be having sound issues that made hearing us and herself difficult.
Her microphone battle seemed to reach its peak during ‘Ex-Factor’ – the heart-wrenching, tear-jerking single – which, admittedly, was devastating timing. Thankfully, she decided to sing it again six songs later. The second time around Hill stripped back any unnecessary background noise, just that voice and the piano. Between the two versions of ‘Ex-Factor’, her sons Zion and YG Marley joined her on stage. YG’s viral track ‘Praise Jah In The Moonlight’ was a highlight, though the additional choruses definitely added to the curfew bill.
“I grew up on Sam Cooke, Marvin Gaye, The Supremes and Stevie Wonder,” Hill told the crowd. “I took Donny Hathaway and Nina Simone and this beautiful rich music and I combined them with reggae baselines and hip hop music and it ended up like this,” she teased, before launching euphorically into Doo Wop (That Thing). At 10:55pm she introduced Wyclef Jean to the stage and together they performed ‘Vocab’, ‘No Woman, No Cry’ and the belting, emotional highlight, ‘Killing Me Softly’.
Ghetts made a short and sweet surprise appearance between The Fugees’ hit singles, before scurrying away swiftly after one song and leaving Hill and Jean to close the show. As they sang the opening notes of ‘Ready Or Not’, the pair asked the room to “light it up” with phone torches, though the arena also complied, and turned on the big lights too.
It was becoming clear that we had outstayed our welcome, though that only made it feel like more of a party. It was as if Lauryn Hill was the landlady of our favourite pub and had given us the nod for a lock-in. Ending with ‘Fu-Gee-La’ whilst dancing, waving and embracing, it seemed Hill didn’t want the moment to end either. We may have only just made the last tube, but a historic after-hours set with Lauryn Hill is a pretty good excuse for a late Monday night. Hell, if she’s willing to pay the fine then I’m willing to run for the train.
