Flickers is a podcast exploring the work and lives of musicians who incorporate spirituality in their music. Each episode focuses on spiritual themes that appear in the musician's discography. Season 2 examines the themes of love, justice, and freedom as found in the music and life of Ms. Lauryn Hill. Hosted by Lauryn Hill researcher, Krystal Roberts and hip hop scholar, Matt Linder.
Summary: Krystal Roberts and Matt Linder reflect on their favorite contributor moments from Season 2, the Lauryn Hill season. They also walk through their top three bars from Lauryn Hill's unreleased songs that have been the most impactful on them.
Timestamps:
Krystal and Matt discuss their favorite moments from Season 2 - 1:45
Krystal and Matt share their top three bars from unreleased Lauryn Hill songs. - 11:27
Hosts: Lauryn Hill researcher, Krystal Roberts, and Hip Hop scholar, Matt Linder.
Join the conversation about Lauryn over at our Goodpods group.
Take the next step and text this episode to a friend who is a Lauryn Hill fan, a hip hop fan, or a music fan. They can subscribe on their favorite podcast app here: https://www.flickerspodcast.com/listen.
Summary: "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" was an album very clearly held together by a theme, love. And then when Lauryn performed on that stage in MTV studios with a brand new set of songs with just her and an acoustic guitar, there seemed to be a lack of cohesion within the songs themselves as well as the performance as a whole. Initially derided by critics and fans, "MTV Unplugged No. 2.0" went on to influence artists such as Kanye, Lecrae, and many others in hip hop. But what might not be apparent from a single or a dozen listens of the performance is that the album's songs are narratively connected. This album is her story but it is also the story of all humanity, where Lauryn takes us from Genesis to Revelation and through the words and life of Jesus.
Timestamps:
The Media, Critic, and Fan Response to "MTV Unplugged No. 2.0" - 00:00
Bob Marley's "Babylon System" As The Inspiration for "Unplugged" - 4:50
Femi Olutade Dissects "Mr. Intentional" - 8:16
"Adam Lives in Theory" as the Story of All Humanity - 13:00
"Freedom Time" as the Central Theme of "Unplugged - 20:06
Femi talk through various "Unplugged" songs ("Just Like Water," "I Gotta Find Peace of Mind," "The Mystery of Iniquity," and "I Get Out") as the narrative of the Bible - 34:29
"The Conquering Lion" as Jesus and the one who destroys the "Babylon System" - 35:59
Krystal and Matt React to the Narrative that Femi found within "Unplugged" - 45:44
Hosts: Lauryn Hill researcher, Krystal Roberts, and Hip Hop scholar, Matt Linder.
Contributors: Julius Tunstall, Raven Jones Stanbrough, and Femi Olutade.
Summary: A mixtape of Lauryn Hill songs that speak of freedom. From her personal emancipation to her freedom as black woman in the United States to the freedom she wants all of humanity to have. Krystal and Matt breakdown "I Get Out." And then we hear from Cona Marshall, Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, Eric House, Alex Nava, and OT The Goldn Child as they cover "Lost Ones," "Final Hour," "I Used to Love Him," "Oh Jerusalem," and "Freedom Time."
Timestamps:
Cona Marshall speaks about Lauryn Hill as the preacher. - 00:00
Krystal Roberts and Matt Linder discuss "I Get Out" from the "Unplugged" album. - 2:28
Cheryl Kirk-Duggan on "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" - 10:25
Eric House on "Lost Ones" - 14:28
Alex Nava on "Final Hour" - 22:17
Alex Nava on "I Used to Love Him" - 28:55
Otis Lambert on "Oh Jerusalem" - 33:12
Cheryl Kirk-Duggan on "Freedom Time" - 35:17
Hosts: Lauryn Hill researcher, Krystal Roberts, and Hip Hop scholar, Matt Linder.
Contributors: Cona Marshall, Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, Alex Nava, Eric House, and Otis Lambert aka OT The GoldN' Child.
Summary: Lauryn Hill experienced good love growing up in a loving, caring, and supportive family. But once she went out into the world and started to interact with others, she began to realize that not everyone experienced that sort of grounding familial love. She discovered that the love she was experiencing outside of her family came with baggage and was often broken. And yet, that type of broken and messy love taught her lessons about what love she deserves and what love truly is. It is through the anger of "Lost Ones" and heartbreak of "Ex-Factor, " the opening tracks from "The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill," that we as listeners begin to understand her conception of love. A love that Eric House uncovers through a musical and lyrical analysis of both songs.
Timestamps:
Lauryn Hill and Cheryl Kirk-Duggan on the Difficulty of Love. - 00:00
Eric House and Otis Lambert on Miseducation of Lauryn Hill album interludes. - 2:04
Eric House breaks down "Lost Ones" and "Ex-Factor" and details the surprising ways the songs express what Lauryn learned about love. - 3:10
Krystal Roberts and Matt Linder's reaction to Eric House's analysis of "Ex-Factor." - 15:57
Lauryn Hill speaking on the baggage we bring to our love. - 24:33
Hosts: Lauryn Hill researcher, Krystal Roberts, and Hip Hop scholar, Matt Linder.
Contributors: Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, Otis Lambert aka OT The GoldN' Child, and Eric House.
Summary: Zion. The name of Lauryn Hill's son. The representation of God's holiness on earth. For Lauryn, Zion is both things, a holy place and the holiness she found in giving birth to her son. We explore "To Zion" and the choice she made to continue on with her pregnancy, despite pressure from friends, family, and record executives to end her pregnancy. In addition, Raven Jones Stanbrough will walk us through Lauryn's religious history via "Everything is Everything."
Timestamps:
Lauryn Hill describes the ways she loves and experiences love. - 00:00
Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, Julius Tunstall and Raven Jones Stranbrough examine the Lauryn's choice to keep Zion in light of love through the song "To Zion." - 4:53
Personal impact of "To Zion" on women, who like Lauryn, similarly found themselves pregnant at an unexpected time. - 10:57
Alex Nava explains the dual meaning of Zion. - 18:59
A brief exploration of Lauryn's religious history. - 21:34
Cona Marshall explores Lauryn's religious history through "Everything is Everything." - 24:49
Femi Olutade breaks down the history of Abba Moses. - 33:30
Cona walks through the Gospel music connection in "Everything is Everything." - 36:19
Julius Tunstall on the expanding of Lauryn's Religious Understanding - 37:57
Hosts: Lauryn Hill researcher, Krystal Roberts, and Hip Hop scholar, Matt Linder.
Contributors: Raven Jones Stanbrough, Cona Marshall, Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, Alex Nava, Julius Tunstall, and Femi Olutade.
Krystal and Matt recently appeared on the Beerz and Barz podcast to discuss the creation of this season of Flickers and give our thoughts on Lauryn Hill and her music, all while enjoying a beer.
About Beerz and Barz:
RAP and BEER with OT the Goldn Child and Kamalkiddo. Two former college roommates still drinking and arguing about the world’s most popular music genre
Episode Details:
On this episode, we talked with Krystal and Matt of Flickers. Flickers is a podcast exploring the work and lives of musicians who incorporate spirituality in their music. Season 2 just kicked off, in which the topic of discussion is none other than Lauryn Hill!
This Week's Beer:
- La Xingona - Double IPA with Guava - ABV: 9% (King Cong Brewing)
Lauryn Hill with only one studio album had a significant impact on many hip hop artists that came after her. Her impact on women rappers is not to be understated and even the wave of Drakes and melodic rappers can be directly traced back to her. But her influence is more than just her music but how she presented and carried herself as strong, feminine, and confident in God. And also the ways in which she spoke up against misogyny, racism, classism, capitalism, and so many other -isms. Besides her dope music these are just a few of the reasons why her legacy is felt even today, a legacy that has reached far beyond music and into the very lives of her fans. Those personal encounters with Lauryn and her music are the stories we’ll hear today.
Key Moments:
Montage of Lauryn Hill’s life and career. - 00:00
Krystal Roberts and Matt Linder introduce themselves and why they're doing this podcast. - 03:07
Lauryn's influence on other artists - 06:09
Krystal shares what Lauryn has meant to her. - 08:39
Raven Jones Stanbrough relives her experience of buying and listening to “Miseducation” for the first time. - 12:23
Cona Marshall and Raven recount how revolutionary Lauryn’s look was in the late 90s and the personal impact of Lauryn’s look on them. - 15:50
Eric House talks about singing “Joyful, Joyful” at church and “Killing Me Softly” at summer camp. - 23:48
Alex Nava discusses Lauryn’s collaboration with Santana and the influence of Latinos in hip hop. - 27:54
Julius Tunstall speaks on Lauryn’s influence on his music and how it made him grow as a Black creative. - 32:32
Otis Lambert on how Lauryn allowed him to rap about real topics and not care what others think. - 40:16
Cheryl Kirk-Duggan relates Lauryn’s life to her own and how Lauryn’s music has been a part of her academic work. - 47:45
After the credits: Hear Matt’s introduction to Lauryn story and how she made him fall in love with hip hop. - 55:55
Hosts: Lauryn Hill researcher, Krystal Roberts, and Hip Hop scholar, Matt Linder.
Contributors: Raven Jones Stanbrough, Cona Marshall, Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, Alex Nava, Eric House, Julius Tunstall, and Otis Lambert aka OT The GoldN' Child.
Season 2 Trailer: Ms. Lauryn Hill
Season 2
Wednesday, February 16, 2022 • Duration 02:19
February 16, 2022
Season 2 Trailer: Ms. Lauryn Hill
Ms. Lauryn Hill, the singer, rapper, songwriter, producer, poet, actress, mother, and social activist. Her music and life have been imbued with a spiritual foundation founded on love. Love for Lauryn is the place where her own justice and freedom have blossomed and love is what drives her to fight for the salvation and emancipation of all people. Join the hosts, Lauryn Hill scholar, Krystal Roberts, and Hip Hop scholar, Matt Linder as they explore the spiritual underpinnings of Lauryn Hill’s music.
Contributors include hip hop academics: Raven Jones Stanbrough, Cona Marshall, Cheryl Kirk-Duggan, Alex Nava, and Eric House; musicians: Julius Tunstall and Otis Lambert aka OT The GoldN' Child; and Dissect Podcast Season 5 co-writer: Femi Olutade.
You heard this trailer and you’re excited. So take the next step and text it to a friend who is a Lauryn Hill fan, a hip hop fan, or a music fan. They can subscribe on their favorite podcast app here: https://www.flickerspodcast.com/listen.
Ms. Lauryn Hill, the singer, rapper, songwriter, producer, poet, actress, mother, and social activist. Her music and life have been imbued with a spiritual foundation founded on love. Love for Lauryn is the place where her own justice and freedom have blossomed and love is what drives her to fight for the salvation and emancipation of all people. Join the hosts, Lauryn Hill scholar, Krystal Roberts, and Hip Hop scholar, Matt Linder, as well as hip hop academics and musicians as they explore the spiritual underpinnings of Lauryn Hill’s music.
You heard this teaser and you’re excited. So take the next step and text it to a friend who is a Lauryn Hill fan, a hip hop fan, or a music fan. They can subscribe on their favorite podcast app here: https://www.flickerspodcast.com/listen.
God showed me I can sing songs about love. I can sing songs about me and those people enjoy those songs. But when they're desperately, desperately in need of help. What will my music do? How will it help them? Will it redeem them, save them, will it fight that battle for them. You know, it's just a song.
Lauryn Hill 00:25
Ultimately, I had to lose myself in order to love me better, in order to love others better. As far as I'm concerned, I'm crazy and deranged. As for all y'all know, I'm crazy and deranged. We could look at, uh, you know, one human being, but it's about the spirit of freedom being taken out and how it's taken out in all of us.
After Dark: "Yesterday's Wake"
Season 1
Wednesday, December 15, 2021 • Duration 34:57
Matthew Metcalf ends off Season 1 with an exploration of the EP and the song "Yesterday's Wake."
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Join the conversation about Lauryn over at our Goodpods group.
Take the next step and text this episode to a friend who is a Lauryn Hill fan, a hip hop fan, or a music fan. They can subscribe on their favorite podcast app here: https://www.flickerspodcast.com/listen.
Follow our Harklist for Season 2 highlights: https://harkaudio.com/lauryn-hill-season-highlights-77939
Join the conversation about Lauryn over at our Goodpods group.
Take the next step and text this episode to a friend who is a Lauryn Hill fan, a hip hop fan, or a music fan. They can subscribe on their favorite podcast app here: https://www.flickerspodcast.com/listen.
Join the conversation about Lauryn over at our Goodpods group.
Take the next step and text this episode to a friend who is a Lauryn Hill fan, a hip hop fan, or a music fan. They can subscribe on their favorite podcast app here: https://www.flickerspodcast.com/listen.
Join the conversation about Lauryn over at our Goodpods group.
Take the next step and text this episode to a friend who is a Lauryn Hill fan, a hip hop fan, or a music fan. They can subscribe on their favorite podcast app here: https://www.flickerspodcast.com/listen.
Join the conversation about Lauryn over at our Goodpods group.
Take the next step and text this episode to a friend who is a Lauryn Hill fan, a hip hop fan, or a music fan. They can subscribe on their favorite podcast app here: https://www.flickerspodcast.com/listen.
There was a meme floating around saying that Lauryn Hill is not a legend, she just created a legendary album.
Matt Linder 00:10
She arrived on the scene as hip hop was transitioning.
Alex Nava 00:16
When “Miseducation” came out this was a period just after the death of Biggie and Tupac.
Krystal Roberts 00:26
She was a Nina Simone for the neo-soul era.
Raven Jones Stanbrough 00:32
This is a black sister coming out, talking her talk and fusing reggae, hip hop, neo-soul all these intersectional musical genres to be able to spread her message.
Matt Linder 00:48
Who's deeply religious.
Cona Marshall 00:53
She was raised Baptist. But then, baptized Ethiopian Orthodox. Her kid's father is Rastafarian. And she became a part of the five percenters.
Krystal Roberts 01:07
Became overwhelmed by her celebrity.
Julius Tunstall 01:11
So then when it all came out, she was like: Oh, I'm actually way more famous than I want to be. I just want to be a mom. I want to be an individual. I want to be a black woman out in the world. Not this overblown like star
Matt Linder 01:28
With a desire to be free.
Femi Olutade 01:32
What she's saying is that all of the system, these things that have been set up are actually causing people to fail, and actually keeping one third of us in jail.
Krystal Roberts 01:39
And getting out of all of your boxes.
Eric House 01:44
People get their jokes off about Lauryn Hill now. Because of things like showing up late to concerts and not putting out new music all the time. I think it's about agency. It's about saying, I don't really care what you all expect for me to do. I'm not living my life by your expectations and your standards.
Matt Linder 02:02
But ultimately arriving at her own peace.
Cheryl Kirk-Duggan 02:07
If you start with her understanding of freedom, you're going to move toward love, because for Lauryn, you cannot be free if you don't know love. You cannot experience justice if you don't have freedom. And it's vocally present in her music and it's present in her life.
Krystal Roberts
I'm Lauryn Hill researcher, Krystal Roberts.
Matt Linder
And I'm hip hop scholar, Matt Linder.
Krystal Roberts
Join us February 23rd as we explore the spirituality of Ms. Lauryn Hill's music.
