Lauryn Hill urged young people that "somebody out there needs your gift" as she accepted the inaugural living legend icon award at the annual BET Awards, following a star-studded tribute performance. The 51-year-old American singer and rapper was honoured at the US ceremony celebrating Black writers, musicians, filmmakers, and entertainers.
Tribute and Surprise Performance
Hill surprised the audience by performing her hit Ex-Factor from her landmark 1998 album The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill. The performance came after a tribute from stars including Nas, SZA, Doechii, Lizzo, Doja Cat, Common, and Queen Latifah.
Hill's Speech: Love, Legacy, and Encouragement
During her speech, Hill told the crowd: "I do this because I love y’all. I do this because I want you to have everything that I experienced." She added: "I had wonderful parents who loved on me, poured into me and protected me. And once I realized that not everybody got to have that experience, I felt like it was my duty, my responsibility to share as much love and to pour into (as) much people as I possibly could. Music was a way for me to do that."
Encouraging the next generation, she continued: "We hold different gifts. Someone else’s gifting might be fashion. Might be hair. Might be consoling someone. It might be this microphone. But that gifting is very important because somebody out there needs your gift. So don’t sell your gift short."
She also expressed gratitude: "Thank you all the legends and all the greats who paved the road for all of us. Let’s celebrate each other. Let’s honour each other. Let’s respect each other. If nobody else shows us respect, let’s respect each other. If nobody else loves us, let’s love on each other. And you know what’s going to happen? They’re going to start loving us. They already do, first of all. But we’re gonna show them how we wanna be loved. It’s intimidating sometimes, we shine so great."
Hill's Musical Journey
Hill first found fame as frontwoman of the multi-platinum-selling, Grammy-winning group the Fugees. Their second album, The Score, released in 1996, included the hits Killing Me Softly and Ready Or Not, and sold more than 22 million copies. It won the Grammy for Best Rap Album, making Hill the first woman to receive that prize.
Her solo debut, The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill, made her a global superstar. She wrote and recorded the album while pregnant with her first son, Zion, and the song To Zion is about her decision to become a mother against the advice of many in the music industry. Other hits on the album include Doo Wop (That Thing), Ex-Factor, Everything Is Everything, and Lost Ones. Hill became the first rapper to win the Album of the Year Grammy and the first woman to win five awards in a single night.
