#stories memories memoir studiolife studiocenter audioengineer

[lawrencescaduto]

Lauryn Hill didn’t write The MisEducation of Lauryn Hill

Now this is common knowledge. But in 1998 it wasn't.I was an intern/sometimes paid assistant engineer at Studio Center in Miami. A really nice Jamaican whose name I forgot came to join us for a few months. He was an engineer and assistant at a studio in Jamaica. We bonded really quickly. He was really nice and smart. I really liked the guy. He worked at the studio in Jamaica where some of Lauryn Hills album was recorded. I got some great gossip out of him. He told me that Lauryn Hill and Wyclef were in a tumultuous relationship during the recording of that album and that there were a ton of co-writers on the album that weren't credited. It was only years later that this came out. When the news broke I felt special that I knew this gossip before anyone else did. I just went to wikipedia and read this: Though The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was largely a collaborative work between Hill and a group of musicians known as New Ark (Vada Nobles, Rasheem Pugh, Tejumold Newton, and Johari Newton), there was "label pressure to do the Prince thing," wherein all tracks would be credited as "written and produced by" the artist with little outside help.[12][28] While recording the album, when Hill was asked about providing contracts or documentation to the musicians, she replied: "We all love each other. This ain't about documents. This is blessed."[12] In 1998, New Ark filed a 50-page lawsuit against Hill, her management and her record label, stating that Hill "used their songs and production skills, but failed to properly credit them for the work."[84] The musicians claimed to be the primary songwriters on two tracks, and major contributors on several others, though Gordon Williams, the album's mixer and engineer, described the project as a "powerfully personal effort by Hill ... It was definitely her vision."[39] In response to the lawsuit, Hill claimed that New Ark took advantage of her success.[85] New Ark requested partial writing credits, and monetary reimbursement.[86] The suit was eventually settled out of court in February 2001 for a reported $5 million.[28] In 2000, Vere Isaac filed suit against Hill in New York, with the complaint that he wrote the melody of the single "A Rose Is Still a Rose" when he worked with Hill and Aretha Franklin on the single's sessions.[87] Looks like i was wrong this entire time! The lawsuit was filed in 1998. I started at studio center in late 1998. Oh well. I got to feel special for all of these years. I just went to look at the credits for this album to see if any of the names rang a bell. They didn't. Jamaican intern who I really, really liked from studio center in miami. Reach out to me. I'd love to catch up. Lawrence at lawrence scaduto dot com.

#stories memories memoir studiolife studiocenter audioengineer