1998 SPECIAL REPORT: "LAURYN HILL"

Hill's sole solo studio album The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill (1998) was released to widespread acclaim. It contains the songs "Ex-Factor" and "Lost Ones". It debuted at No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard 200, with the highest first-week sales for a debut album by a woman in the 20th century. The lead single "Doo Wop (That Thing)" debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, and made her the first artist to have debuted at No. 1 on both the Billboard 200 and Hot 100 with their first entries, as well as the first female rapper to have reached No. 1 on each chart. At the 41st Grammy Awards, Hill set a record for the most nominations in one night for a woman, with ten; while winning five awards including Album of the Year, becoming the first hip hop artist to win the award.

The album was later selected for the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry. Ultimately she dropped out of the public eye, dissatisfied with the music industry and suffering from the pressures of fame. In 2002, Hill released the new-material live album MTV Unplugged No. 2.0, which was certified platinum by the RIAA.