We’ve spent a lot of time talking about legends this past week. Well it’s time to make room for at least one more, but this one is even more of a rarity than the others. On October 16th, Ms. Lauryn Hill and H.E.R. will be playing a one night only engagement at the Hollywood Bowl. 

Now as mentioned in some previous posts, the Hollywood Bowl is a particularly special venue. This isn’t necessarily because of its location (though that is certainly an enhancement) it’s because of the very nature of the venue. Something about the way is set up just makes for a greater ability to make an extremely cool, highly produced show. There’s a ton of examples of this but two that stick out in my mind are the last time Phoenix was at the Bowl and when Solange played her “Cosmic Journey” show in 2017.

Lauryn Hill is one of the most important, and most talented hip-hop artists in history, full stop. It’s important to cut off the sentence there. Far too often people will say that she’s the greatest female rapper ever or one of the most important female artists in hip-hop. At this point, to add the female qualifier is insulting and unnecessary, it’s like saying Serena Williams is one of the best female tennis players ever, she’s one of the best TENNIS players ever, no qualifier. 

That all being said, what she did for the perception of female rappers was unprecedented, and her very presence affected the future of hip-hop in ways that could be compared to legends like Rakim, Biggie and 2-Pac. She redefined the way in which a rapper who was a woman could be perceived. It didn’t have to be sex appeal only, a woman could craft just as narratively and sonically dense songs and albums as any man could, hell, Lauryn Hill proved she could arguably do it better than any living man could when she released her seminal record The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in 1998. Check out a selection from that record at the below video.

Of course, Ms. Hill (whose contributions we haven’t begun to scratch the surface of, I mean we didn’t even get to mention Fugees) will be sharing the wonderfully talented H.E.R.. H.E.R. is a rising star in the R&B world who managed to garner five Grammy nominations with her debut album and is sure to serve as an excellent primer for Ms. Hill.

Every stop of Lauryn Hill’s tour so far has seen tickets quickly snatched up so buy yours while you can and don’t miss out on an incredible night underneath the stars.

Location: The Hollywood Bowl

Address: 2301 N Highland Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90068

Tickets available starting at 39.50

Photo Credit: Marv Watson