The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

Released at the tail end of the 90s, in 1998, Lauryn Hill's first studio album: The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was a landmark for hip hop, breaking barriers for female rappers across the US and the world. Featuring tracks such as Ex-Factor, famously sampled by Drake on his song Nice For What, and Doo Wop (That Thing) the latter of the two being arguably the best song on the album. The album also has some features on it like the "Queen of Hip Hop Soul" Mary J. Blige and Carlos Santana from the band Santana, who plays the guitar beautifully on my personal favorite song from the album To Zion, a song that is dedicated to Lauryn's first born son Zion David Marley. The production on this album is also fantastic, with it being produced by the likes of Che Pope and Vada Nobles. The album was a great success for Hill as she took away 5 Grammys and it sold 19 million copies worldwide in the first 2 years of it's release. Overall this album was a turning point for hip hop as this album would go on to influence the next generation of rappers in the coming century.