Lauryn Hill Interview (page: 5 / 6) Singer, Songwriter & Record Producer	Print Interview

Did acting come before music?

Get the Flash Player to see this video. Lauryn Hill: Actually the music came before the acting. But while I was doing music I found myself meeting people who acted, and they exposed me to that field. And I was kind of like, "Hey, all right, I'll try it," always thinking, "Well, music is my first love." And I just stumbled -- I know when I tell you I stumbled upon all this, actually I didn't stumble, because there are no accidents. But I didn't have that intense ambition to be a musician or an actress. I just enjoyed it, and if there was an opportunity, hey, I'll go. And by enjoying it, because I loved it, it enabled me to get better at what I was doing, because there was a love behind it. It wasn't like, "I've got to do this." It wasn't just naked ambition. I really enjoyed what I was doing. And all the while that I enjoyed it, I was happy doing it. I was content doing it, whether it was for three squirrels in the park or with three acorns as compensation. It didn't matter to me. Because we loved it so much, I think that that was a reflection to others, I think that they saw that. That, to me, penetrated the minds and the hearts of people more than, "Hey, look how well we can play." It was something else that was communicated, by the music and by the artistry. And that created opportunity.

[ Key to Success ] Passion

It sounds like you were pretty sophisticated at a young age. Were you a ham?

Lauryn Hill: Definitely. But I don't think very sophisticated. I think that was just some straight ghetto singing into the hairbrush in the mirror. There was nothing sophisticated about it at all. Where I grew up, everyone was like that. Especially in my family, there was not an abundance of wealth, but there was an abundance of love. So there was always humor, and there was joy and there was comfort and there was this environment just to have a good time.

Get the Flash Player to see this video. In having a good time, sometimes -- oh! -- you stumble upon a talent. Wow, like, say I'm going to sing this song. "Hey, you can sing, did you know that, girl?" "I can? Let me take this a little more seriously." But it was just something that we all did. It really was the performance part of humanity. I think I was just acting out on my humanity, on this gift that God gave me, and just being a kid. Really being a kid. And if I became sophisticated while I was doing it, if that took place, then I didn't know about it, because I certainly wasn't trying to. I just tried to sing that song just like Whitney Houston. You know what I mean? That really was the goal at that point. But if you love something, if you love something and if you're committed and diligent -- the things that happen! Some people who are blessed with gifts -- but then there are other people who can work toward -- even with the gift that I have now, I mean, I've leaned on God for so long. "Hey, God, you just gave me this gift, and I'm just going to go out there and sing." But it's only now that I'm realizing how much larger and how expansive my gift becomes when I actually pay attention to it and try to practice and try to perfect it. "I'm not going to warm up, I'm just going to go in the studio and I'm going to sing this song and inspiration will take me..." and yes, that's true, we are inspired to do things and definitely. But now I'm understanding that -- like in the Bible, for example, when it talked about David, it always said that David was a skillful player. He played cunningly. So that took practice. And I'm not afraid of that anymore. That's exciting to me.

[ Key to Success ] Passion

What kind of work was your dad in?

Lauryn Hill: Boy, that's an interesting question. My mother's an educator, but I didn't know what my father did for the first 15 years of my life. Everybody who asked me I would say he works with computers or something, because he was a consultant and consulting is such a vague term. But my father, he was a computer consultant, and only now that I do some consulting sometimes I understand exactly what consulting means. But my father, he was brilliant, because he was just exposed to so much culture and he exposed us to so much culture. I remember being seven years old, wanting to go to International House of Pancakes on Saturday, and my father takes us to Dim Sum, which is like a Chinese breakfast, and me being like, "What?" but really learning and enjoying and appreciating culture that wasn't just my own from a very young age.

Is he still around?

Lauryn Hill: Yes, definitely still around.

How have your parents reacted to your phenomenal success?

Lauryn Hill: They, like everyone else, have just been carried away. I'm only kidding! They've lost it completely. No, my parents are very humble, very real. My mother's always very honest with me. And I'm thankful for that, because I need that. You need someone who just can penetrate the façade and say, "I knew you when, and let's go back there right now." So they've definitely handled it well.

How old were you when you started performing professionally?

Get the Flash Player to see this video. Lauryn Hill: I probably was about 13. I guess "professionally" would be the first time I entered into a studio, or film, and maybe television, and performed for money. It was probably 13, 14 years old, something like that. Once again, all these opportunities were just presented. I did not go out and pursue them, and I was always surprised. I was always very surprised at how people received what I did. I was always like, "Really? I said those lines okay?" I think there was a certain amount of seriousness. From a child, I understood that. I think that my work ethic -- I think the work ethic that was established in my family -- was also something very important. If you plant the seed, if you sow sparingly and reap sparingly. If you sow in abundance you'll reap in abundance. So that was always sort of in us from very young. So even the things that I love, I tried to put a couple seeds, a bunch of seeds in the ground and see what sprung up. Sometimes it was acting and sometimes it was music. But whatever it was I continued to plant.

[ Key to Success ] Preparation

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