Lauryn Hill has just made history as she has sold over 10 million copies of her lauded solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
She becomes the first female rapper to go diamond.
On February, 16, 2021, the Recording Industry Association of America , RIAA, made it official, tweeting, “Welcome to the RIAA Diamond Club @MsLaurynHill! #TheMiseducationofLaurynHill is now a (10X) certified album! @ColumbiaRecords #BlackHistoryMonth #RIAATopCertified.”
Welcome to the RIAA Diamond Club @MsLaurynHill! #TheMiseducationofLaurynHill is now a 💎 (10X) certified album! @ColumbiaRecords #BlackHistoryMonth #RIAATopCertified pic.twitter.com/mWWByv74kp
— RIAA (@RIAA) February 17, 2021
Released in August 1998, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill arrived two years after The Fugees had attained mainstream success with The Score.
A year later, Hill embarked on a solo career after the group tore apart due to creative and personal differences.
With singles such as “Doo Wop (That Thing),” “Everything Is Everything” and “Ex-Factor,” the Miseducation album set Lauryn Hill on a lightening speed trajectory toward superstardom.
The album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling 422,624 copies in its first week and breaking the record for first-week sales by a female artist.
Hill also set a record at the 41st Annual Grammy Awards where she was nominated for 10 gilded trophies and walked away with five, making Hill the first woman to receive that many nominations and awards in a singular night.
In 2015, the Library of Congress added Miseducation to the National Recording Registry.
Miseducation remains Lauryn Hill’s only solo album to date.
