Ms. Lauryn Hill and the Fugees in San Francisco

Friday night at the Chase Center mounted a glorious celebration of Ms. Lauryn Hill’s seminal debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998), commemorating its 25th anniversary with the reunion of Lauryn Hill and the Fugees.

Wyclef Jean photographed by Dorothy Eck

The Fugees photographed by Dorothy Eck

Released when she was just twenty-two as a single, pregnant Black woman transitioning from adolescence to motherhood, Ms. Hill’s solo debut album is a profound narrative of love, loss, and motherhood. “Miseducation” merges musical expressions of Blackness – hip-hop, Motown-era soul, and reggae – into a declaration of self-liberation and empowerment. It’s an album embedded with confrontation and commentary, punctuated with moments of vulnerability and frustration as she lays bare the multifaceted experience of being a woman.

An audience both old and young packed the stadium with an energy of anticipation and excitement for the night ahead. Finally gracing the stage at 9:30 PM, Ms. Hill opened the night with an upbeat, faster-tempo version of “Everything is Everything.” The silver anniversary of the album gifted Ms. Hill with a penchant for experimentation, as she made it clear that she would not be performing note-for-note versions of her album. Her musical digressions were accompanied by a thirty-piece on-stage ensemble, featuring a chamber-sized string section, a brass section with a tuba, and a choir. Ms. Hill often directed the band mid-performance, orchestrating impromptu riffs and cautioning them to “not lay it on too thick.” However, the deconstruction and rearrangement of classics like “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” left some fans disoriented, expecting album-faithful performances.

Ms. Lauryn Hill photographed by Dorothy Eck

Most memorable of the night was Ms. Hill’s soulful ode to her first born “To Zion,” the emotional apex of “Miseducation” for its exploration of motherhood, agency, and autonomy. Belting the lyrics against a backdrop of pictures and home videos of then-baby Zion, the performance was as melodically poignant as it was emotionally charged. Her performance moved the audience into a thoughtful sway as quotes and accolades from Black poets and scholars flashed on screen. Intensifying “Miseducation’s” anthem to unity, sisterhood, resilience, and Black feminism, an on-screen quote from Bell Hooks quote provided Ms. Hill a moment to pause and reflect on the maternal support from women, specifically her mother, for the success of her career.

Joining Ms. Hill onstage around 11 PM, the Fugees’s Wyclef Jean and Pras brought a rambunctious energy to the stage in commemoration of the 27th anniversary of the Fugees’ The Score (1996). The playfulness of the trio translated into their improvised freestyling. In nearly every song, Wyclef would erase an entire verse just to yell out “San Francisco!” At one point, the Bay Area references were so abundant that Wyclef and Pras started freestyling about the Bay to a reggae-hip-hop beat, claiming that “There is no city like San Francisco!”

The Fugees photographed by Dorothy Eck

Wyclef and Pras photographed by Dorothy Eck

However, thirty minutes into the set, seats were emptying and the energy was noticeably dwindling. The crowd came back to life for the extended duration of the Fugees’ over-the-top rendition of “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” an undeniable classic you can’t help but dance to.

The night ended with the most legendary mashup of “Fugee-La” and “93 TilI Infinity” by Souls of Mischief. The Fugees’ performance, alongside Ms. Lauryn Hill’s, proved their creative ingenious and artistry for rewriting and “defying” the rules of hip-hop. Ms. Lauryn Hill and the Fugees not only revisited the past but also redefined it, offering new renditions on timeless classics.

Wyclef Jean photographed by Dorothy Eck

The Fugees photographed by Dorothy Eck

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is a magnum opus of music, blending hip hop, reggae, and R&B into an album that brought Black womanhood into mainstream music. Its messages of resilience, love, and self-empowerment echo as loudly today as they did 25 years ago.