101 Times I Fell In Love With Lauryn Hill

I can’t say that I am a Lauryn Hill fan because that would be an understatement. Is there a word we can use to describe the obsession I have for her and her work?

I have been listening to Lauryn Hill’s music since high school and back then all I ever really loved about her music were the beats but at a later stage I started paying attention to what she says. See, the thing about Lauryn Hill is that she uses very playful and fun beats when she is actually saying the deepest things. She says serious things in a funny way and sometimes even laughs after saying something that gets you zoning out into deep thoughts.

I have written and posted 3 blog posts based on her songs – Wisdom is Better Than Silver and Gold, “How you gonna win when you ain’t right within?” and After Winter Must Come Spring. If my love for her is still no clear enough for you, here are 101 things she said that helped me heal, think and see things differently. Also, at the end of the post I created a nice playlist for you of the songs I am yet to mention – do enjoy.

1. “Tomorrow our seeds will grow, all we need is dedication”
2. “You could get the money, you could get the power but keep your eyes on the final hour”
3. “Pay no mind, party like it’s 1999”
4. “I’ve been here before, this isn’t a battle this is war”
5. “And even when there’s leaks you can’t capsize this ship ‘cause I baptize my lips every time I take a sip”
6. “It ain’t about what you cop, it’s about what you keep”
7. “You gonna fall tryin’to ball”
8. “I keep letting you back in, how can I explain myself”
9. “Music is supposed to inspire, how come we ain’t getting no higher”
10. “Watch out what you cling to”
11. “Now tell me your philosophy on exactly what an artist should be. Should they be someone with prosperity and no concept of reality?”
12. “I know you think that you’ve got it all and by making other people feel small makes you think you’re unable to fall. And when you do, who you gonna call?”
13. “No matter how I think we grow you always seem to let me know it ain’t working”
14. “See, what you give is just what you get, I know it hasn’t hit you yet”
15. “Just as Christ was a superstar, you stupid star, they’ll hail you then they’ll nail you no matter who you are”
16. “If you feel real good, wave your hands in the air and lick two shots in the atmosphere”
17. “Where were you when I needed you?”
18. “Don’t be a hard rock when you really are a gem”
19. “Baby girl, respect is just the minimum”
20. “Loving you is like a battle and we both end up with scars”
21. “Get diplomatic immunity in every ghetto community”
22. “The second verse is dedicated to the men – more concerned with his rims and his Timbs than his woman”
23. “… now you wonder why women hate men”
24. “How you gon’ win when you ain’t right within?”
25. “They said, ‘Lauryn baby use your head,’ but instead I chose to use my heart”
26. “I’ve never been in love like this before”
27. “See I know that a gift so great is only one God could create and I’m reminded every time I see your face”
28. “It could all be so simple, but you rather make it hard”
29. “Showing off your ass ‘cause you’re thinking it’s a trend”
30. “And when I try to walk away you hurt yourself to make me stay, this is crazy”
31. “See I know what we’ve got to do, you let go and I let go too”
32. “No one’s hurt me more than you and no one ever will”
33. “It’s funny how money change a situation”
34. “Now I don’t mean to get you upset but every cause has an effect”
35. “Tryin’ to grab hold of what you can’t control now you’re all floss, what a sight to behold”
36. “Consequence is no coincidence”
37. “There come many paths and you must choose one and if you don’t change then the rain soon come”
38. “Everything you did has already been done”
39. “Never underestimate those who you scar ‘cause karma, karma, karma comes back to you hard”
40. “I tried and I tried and I tried to keep him in my life but I couldn’t make it right. But I, I loved the young man and if you’ve ever been in love then you’d understand”
41. “Beware the false motives of others. Be careful of those who pretend to be brothers and you never suppose it’s those who are closest to you”
42. “Feed a man ‘til he’s full and he still want beef”
43. “Why black people always be the ones to settle?”
44. “You might win some but you just lost one”
45. “Hypocrites always wanna play innocent. Always want to take it to the full out extent, always want to make it seem like good intent. Never want to face it when it’s time for punishment”
46. “See, no one loves you more than me and no one ever will”
47. “It took me a little while to discover, wolves in sheep coats who pretend to be lovers”
48. “After winter, must come spring. Change, it comes eventually”
49. “Some don’t know what they have ‘til it’s gone”
50. “Develop a negative into a positive picture”
51. “Sometimes it seems we’ll touch that dream. But things come slow or not at all”
52. “I’ll never be jealous and I won’t be too proud ‘cause love is not boastful and love is not loud”
53. “Now don’t you understand man universal law? What you throw out comes back to you”
54. “Cried a whole lot of years, I suffered quietly”
55. “Let’s love ourselves then we can’t fail to make a better situation”
56. “Men who lack conscience will even lie to themselves”
57. “A friend once said, and I found to be true, that everyday people they lie to God too, so what makes you think that they won’t lie to you”
58. “But deep in my heart the answer it was in me. And I made up my mind to define my own destiny”
59. “But if you feel like I feel, please let me know that it’s real”
60. “Let me patient, let me be kind. Make me unselfish without being blind”
61. “Now I may have faith to make mountains fall but if I lack love then I am nothing at all”
62. “He stole my heart like a thief in the night. Dulled my senses, blurred my sight”
63. “Now I may have wisdom and knowledge on Earth but if I speak wrong then what is it worth?”
64. “No man is ever worth the paradise”
65. “I can give away everything I possess but left without love then I have no happiness”
66. “Focused on the shadow, with my back turned to the light, too intelligent to see it’s me in the way”
67. “Our generation so aloof, only following the steps of the majority”
68. “We grin and shake hands, then lay ambush for the man who has a different point of view than us”
69. “Addicted to love like the drug of a fiend”
70. “Black rage is founded on two-thirds a person. Raping and beatings and suffering that worsens. Black human packages tied up in strings, black rage can come from all these kinds of things”
71. “Knowing my condition is the reason I must change”
72. “Diamonds deserve diamonds but he convinced me I was worth less”
73. “See, what you see is what you get. Oh and you ain’t seen nothing yet”
74. “The only way to know is to walk then learn then grow”
75. “Are you sure it’s God you’re serving?”
76. “I used to love without fear… then somebody came around and tried to hurt me, tried to make me feel like I was unworthy”
77. “Greed falsely called progress”
78. “Try if you must but you can’t have my soul”
79. “Obligated to a system, getting less than you deserving”
80. “You see I loved hard once, but the love wasn’t returned. I found out the man I’d die for he wasn’t even concerned”
81. “Wisdom is better than silver and gold”
82. “He stole the heart beating from my chest, I tried to call the cops, that type of thief you can’t arrest”
83. “Father you saved me and showed me that life was much more than being some foolish man’s wife”
84. “Don’t you forget, no way, who you are and where you stand in the struggle”
85. “Nothing can be done against the truth no matter how we remain in denial”
86. “Oh I’m such a mess, I have no choice but to confess that I’ve been desperately trying to belong”
87. “Selfishly addicted to a life that I depicted, conflicted cause it’s not reality”
88. “Please save me from myself”
89. “Ya need to know the repercussions (things can come right back to you)”
90. “It’s silly when girls sell their souls because it’s in”
91. “I used to do to it for the love a long time ago and all I ever wanted was love”
92. “Everything is gonna be alright”
93. “True love can never really forsake you but it took a little while just for me to see”
94. “Time to heal and restore myself”
95. “I played the shepherd, sheep followed”
96.  “Black rage is founded on blatant denial, sweet economics, subsistent survival, deafening silence and social control. Black rage is found in all forms in the soul”
97. “Tell me who I have to be, to gain some reciprocity”
98. “I had to lose myself so I can love you better”
99. “They say all the right things to gain their position then use your kindness as their ammunition to shoot you down in the name of ambition, they do”
100. “And just when you thought it was safe to relax, L-Boogie spits with perfect syntax”
101. “What is meant to be will be”