Folks who attended the packed Lauryn Hill concert on Wednesday at Deep Ellum's Bomb Factory are probably now revisiting her brilliant but raw MTV Unplugged 2.0 album from 2002. It marked a dramatic shift for Hill, away from the concerns of the charts and the follow-up demands after her blockbuster solo debut. But it also showed us a more uncompromising side of her artistry.
At her Bomb Factory show, what were once acoustic-guitar driven tunes from that under-appreciated record were infused with full-band power and repurposed as tone-setters for the evening.
Hill’s band threw a light island rhythm on “I Gotta Find a Peace of Mind” and intensified throughout until an explosive ending, when the singer did a gospel-style call-and-response with her fans. “War in the Mind (Freedom Time)” was funked up, James Brown-style, and then “Mystery of Iniquity” segued from breakneck to breezy with a two-part rendition.
The crowd likely didn't know the rapid-fire raps (which Hill handled without missing a word) by heart, but the applause after each song of the beginning section indicated the house was entertained. I was inspired.
‘Miseducation,’ reinterpretation
It was established with those first few songs that the dozen or so musicians on stage with Hill (including a horn section and three backing singers) are as important to the singer’s modern-day production as any of her hit songs. Refreshingly, she seems to be the kind of live performer who makes the most of the room in which she’s performing, and the people playing with her.
With such a capable and nimble band (fresh from accompanying her at New Orleans’ Jazz Fest), it was natural that they chose to speed up the slow and mid-tempo material to keep the crowd moving.
That meant the tunes of the 1998 breakout record The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, while not unrecognizable by any means, were very different than when we first heard them. The expertly written "Ex-Factor" was juiced up with a '70s soul treatment which allowed Hill to ad lib beautifully after the final lyrics. She went full-on Fela Kuti for "Everything is Everything," catching the carnivalesque beat and moving with her singers before offering up another reggae reprise.
Then it was back to dancing and feeling a fiery spirit on “Final Hour,” which moved back and forth from a dancehall vibe to a trap-rap breakdown. By “Lost Ones,” Hill was rapping as though she were possessed. The woman can do it all.
Don’t forget the Fugees
Of course, Hill didn't emerge fully-formed in the late '90s with her Miseducation era. Before that she'd found huge crossover success with the melodic hip-hop hits of the Fugees. So we got muscled-up renditions of songs from that group, as well. The crowd went wild when they recognized the bars of "How Many Mics," and Hill asked them to cheer louder in confirmation of their Fugee love before "Fu-Gee-La."
They didn’t need any help, though, singing along on “Ready or Not” and “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” even if the updated arrangements were curveballs.
Hill rounded out the remainder of her set with some Bob Marley reggae classics (she has five children with the late singer’s son, Rohan), her recent take on Nina Simone’s “Feeling Good” and, yep, “Doo Wop (That Thing).”
But by the final victory lap, Hill had already proven that she's still one of the most inspired and passionate performers in the game. Who even cares how few records the woman has when she can put together this kind of show?
