In the short span of a few months, two female African-American singers -- who make reasonably similar, soulful music -- have released new CDs. One is a celebrity, one is a relative unknown. One has, according to some, already passed the peak of her short career, while the other has yet to reach the peak of what promises to be a successful stint in the industry. One is Lauryn Hill, formerly of the Fugees, whose first album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, skyrocketed to the charts amidst critical acclaim, and the other is Jaguar Wright, a member of Philly's own NuSoul movement, who first came to prominence as a backup singer on Jay-Z's "Unplugged" album.
Fans of Hill's previous work, both with the Roots, and on her debut album, will certainly be surprised to hear her new oeuvre. Hill has moved from the slick production and soulful beats of her debut to a stripped down sound. The only instrumentation on the album is provided by Hill herself: her voice and her guitar. Coupled with the raw, unedited, feel of the album, the album feels more like a glimpse into the studio edits, or a John Frusciante solo album, than anything we could have expected from Lauryn Hill. At times, her voice cracks, she sings off-key, forgets lyrics and even hits the wrong chord on her guitar. At other times, she doesn't even play music, just sitting and talking to the audience for minutes at a time. Some of her banter is witty and amusing; at other times it's just annoying.
But most of this can be overlooked since there are undoubtedly some very high points on the album. Songs like "Mr. Intentional" and "Oh Jerusalem" are beautifully crafted, with the same pop hooks that made her first album so popular. A new, more political, feel is apparent on some songs. "I Find It Hard To Say (Rebel)," a song about Amadou Diallo, is a haunting tribute, if you can ignore her probably unintentional arrogance in believing that her use of the word "rebel" in a song would lead to riots in New York City. Another political song, "Freedom Time," is undoubtedly the best song on the album. When she breaks into her first rhymes on the album, the song is suddenly filled with energy as we are reminded that Hill is one of the best rappers out today.
In the end, though, the whole album is a tease: Hill allows us to hear an album that, with a little work, could have been a classic. The songs are there, the effort is not, and without that, this album is not nearly what it could have been.
It may be shocking then, to hear another artist, Jaguar Wright, do on her album precisely what Hill should have done on hers. The production, done mostly by the Soulquarians, led by James Poyser and Questlove, is solid: funky, catchy and fresh. Most of all, the beats allow Jaguar to show off the incredible vocal range she first demonstrated to the world on Jay-Z's Heart of The City (Ain't No Love). The first track on the album, "The What If's," give us Jaguar at her best, stretching herself to the limit. Jaguar, too, is able to show a different side of herself, showing us a serious side. A song like "Ain't Nobody Playing," featuring Black Thought, sounds far more like Big L's The Heist than like anything we've heard from a soul artist before. It's this attitude that gives the album the punch that is ultimately missing from Hill's work, and that makes it ultimately the better album.
