It makes me a bit sad writing this but I’ve promised to always be honest in my reviews. Growing up I’ve always loved Hip Hop, especially in its 90’s glory days. Music nowadays, in my opinion, has lost its substance. Taking it back to before the Nikki Minaj and Iggy era we had quality rappers. The two only female rappers that I love and respect are Left Eye and Lauryn Hill.
Hearing that Lauryn Hill was performing in London was definitely good news and I was excited for one of my favorite artists to bring real music back. She played her first UK date at Brixton Academy last night (20 September) and now I wish I hadn’t gone.
Ms. Lauryn Hill was supposed to come on stage at 9 according to the Brixton Academy website and despite her reputation of being late I was hopeful that she would show up on time. Instead a DJ comes on and starts playing some amazing Caribbean tunes to warm us up.
Lauryn’s music is all about good spirits and the DJ had told the crowd that “tonight it’s all about positivity, let’s burn all negativity”. Fast forward to an hour later, not much positivity remained amongst the crowd and not much time for the rest of the show for that matter. The set ended up being a little more than an hour. I personally was ready to forgive that because I was happy to even see her – then came the actual performance that shocked the audience.
Lauryn had completely changed the tempo of all of her songs and remixed them into gospel/jazz/disco music. I was confused as to what to even call it!? The booing started at the first song but got worse as the crowd realised that it wasn’t going to get any better. She had changed every single one of her classics – our beloved classics, there was no soul left and they sounded like covers.
The sound in the arena and remixes were so bad to the point that the songs were unrecognisable. I was so disappointed that I’m still not over it. If you don’t believe me, believe Twitter.
Having said the above, I guess we should respect her individuality. We have to bear in mind that these songs were released over 15 years ago. Over the years her style of music has changed and she was simply reflecting that, it was just not my thing. Do release new songs but don’t ruin the classics.
I love Lauryn and one good thing I can say for certain is that her voice is as beautiful and strong as its always been. She could have done everything acapella and it would have been amazing. She has raw talent and doesn’t need anything else. The tampering with her own music was completely unnecessary in my opinion.
For those considering buying tickets to the show. Save yourselves from having your good opinions of her tarnished and keep your money. I am going to wipe this from my memory and remember her for the good times. If you want a taste of what it will be like, I’ve attached the same set from Spain.
Maybe her other concerts will be better with improved sound. She might win some but she just lost one.
3/10
Yeah sorry, that video sounded horrible. She definitely lost more than one. But, at least you won a new follower right? Good post! :-)
Author
Thanks very much for reading and for following Brian! Much appreciated.
This is really interesting. You don’t hear much about her anymore. I lost a lot of respect for her years ago when she was quoted as saying that she would ‘rather die than have a white person buy (her) album’. That just makes me sick.
Such a bummer you wasted your time and money. :o(
V
Life+1
Author
No way! I had never heard about that until now. I will make myself think that was just hear say because I still listen to miseducation :)