a classic revisited

talk about impossible expectations. After being swamped with accolades at an erstwhile Grammy awards, Lauryn Hill wasn't expected to just come through with another classic album on her next outing, for some critics, fans and observers, it was requisite that she obliterate and reshape the hip-hop and rhythm and blues landscape.
The sound, feel and voice on "The Miseducation ... " album was different. And it was good. Personally, I could finally allow myself to exhale; I had been suffocating from the insufferable dross that pervaded the urban music scene. So in a sense, there might have been a collective feel that a savior for the genre had been borne. Armed with an irrefutable charisma while spitting rhymes, and an unnerving honesty in her voice when she sang, channeling a Nina Simone of days gone by, bringing newness to a stale arena, Lauryn had come to bless.
So when in her heralded return to the stage Lauryn chose for her stomping ground the very residence where musical artistry was stifled by the minute (a so called music television, I had high hopes. And so did many. The battle royale will be fought on the enemy's turf, and victory was all but assured for our heroine.
The aftermath of Lauryn's unplugged performance is still a mystery to me. There was no hype, critics (even those who gave favorable ratings) could not help but mention in their reviews their feeling that Lauryn might be mentally troubled. Why?

well, just take a listen for yourself. You'll find in the hoarse, crackling voice how much pain and effort it takes to break free from hype...