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Lauryn Hill
Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, record producer and actress. She is often regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as one of the most influential musicians of her generation. Hill is credited for breaking barriers for female rappers, popularizing melodic rapping and for bringing hip hop and neo soul to popular music. She is known for being the frontwoman of The Fugees, and for her 1998 solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which became one of the best-selling albums of all time. Hill has won many accolades, including eight Grammy Awards, the most for a female rapper to this day.
Hill starred in the film Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit (1993). She later formed the group Fugees. The group released two albums, including The Score (1996), which spawned the hit single "Killing Me Softly", with Hill on lead vocals. It won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, making her the first woman to win the award. Afterwards, Hill collaborated with Nas on "If I Ruled the World (Imagine That)", bandmate Wyclef Jean on his version of "Guantanamera" alongside Celia Cruz, and composed "A Rose Is Still a Rose" for Aretha Franklin. The band split in 1997, and soon after she began work on her solo album.
Her sole studio album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200, with the highest first-week sales for a debut album by a woman in the 20th century. It included the songs "Ex-Factor" and "Lost Ones". The lead single "Doo Wop (That Thing)" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and made her the first artist to have debuted at No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 with their first entries, and the first female rapper to earn a No. 1 on each chart. At the 41st Grammy Awards, Hill set a record for the most nominations in one night for a woman, with ten. She won five awards including Album of the Year, and became the first hip hop act to win the award. The album was later selected for the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry. Hill produced music for Santana and Mary J. Blige, prior to releasing the new-material live album MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 (2002), which was certified platinum by the RIAA.
She proceeded to drop out of the public eye, only periodically releasing singles, such as "Nobody" with Nas. Billboard ranked her seventh on their "10 Best Rappers of All Time" list (2015), with her being the only woman on the list. Named one of the Greatest Singers of All Time by Consequence of Sound and Rolling Stone; her music (both solo and with The Fugees) has appeared on the latter's list of 500 Greatest Songs and Albums. Hill has earned several Guinness World Records, which include being the first woman rapper to earn a Diamond-certification by RIAA. She has received the NAACP's President's Award, and has been inducted into the Black Music & Entertainment Walk of Fame.
Source: Wikipedia