In November of 2023, I began work on a long-form piece of creative nonfiction with the working title ‘Passion, Pain, etc.’ This became the basis of a directed study I took on during the following spring semester of 2024. This project is on-going, with 7 chapters drafted and 8 in the early stages of development.

The goal of my project is to examine and outline the creative process through the outlet of artistry. In this series of chapters, I analyze musicians, filmmakers, and authors to explore how creativity is both vital to the human condition, and necessary for others—non creatives—to understand. The overarching work follows a narrative structure that builds chapter-to-chapter, serving as an outline of how to approach and culturally implement creative expression and a guide to truly appreciate artistry through broad, well-encouraged media literacy.

Below is an excerpt from the chapter titled “Pivotal Participatin’,” which follows the artistry of Lauryn Hill and Spike Lee and their efforts to spark change in their industries:

For a performance at the Apollo theater in 1996, immortalized in the season nine, episode twenty one, installment of Showtime at the Apollo, the hip hop trio Fugees—consisting of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill—took the stage to perform two tracks off of their acclaimed album The Score. To call the stage sacred would be an understatement, as for decades the venue has housed countless artists who went on to become living legends, or were invited there to showcase their pre-established fame. The historical relevance that can be attributed to the theater is immeasurable, as many of the inquiries regarding catalysts and influences—as we explored in the prior chapter—are often too relative in nature to be distinguished, if not completely arbitrary. The Apollo’s website puts it bluntly in the first paragraph of the page outlining the theater’s general history, opting to lean on the side of accomplishment when producing their self-appraisal: 

Since opening its doors in 1914 and introducing the first Amateur Night contests in 1934, the Apollo has played a major role in the emergence of jazz, swing, bebop, R&B, gospel, blues, and soul — all quintessentially American music genres. Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Billie Holiday, Sammy Davis Jr., James Brown, Gladys Knight, Luther Vandross, D’Angelo, Lauryn Hill, and countless others began their road to stardom on the Apollo stage.

The theater had been previously blessed with the appearance of one of Fugees’s members the decade prior, as Lauryn Hill took the same stage to perform The Jackson 5’s “Who’s Lovin’ You” in 1987. She, like many others, wanted to test her luck on the renowned stage for an installment of amateur night. The young teen walked out with the composure of a professional artist and a mission of affecting the audience in whatever way she could manage. Though, as many casual music historians like to hyperbolize, she was not met with a welcoming embrace by many of the members of the live audience. A common title of most social media clips and articles that cover the story would be something along the lines of ‘Lauryn Hill Getting BOOED off Stage at The Apollo Theatre,’ but the story is portrayed inaccurately when prefaced in this way. Hill was indeed booed as she started to perform the cover but was also met with a great deal of praise by the end of the performance. Additionally, the exaggerated notion that she got booed off the stage is a laughable misconception. Her voice was clearly timid as she started, and the scrutinizing half of the audience seemed to think ill of her ambitious vocal dynamics. Albeit, the future superstar was adamant about her ability to get through the song and change the tide of her audience's reception, which she ultimately did. She made it through the entirety of the performance and eventually did receive an abundance of cheers to coincide with the heaps of negative energy that were projected in her direction. Many of those who sat in the seats of the fabled auditorium on that bittersweet day of her history had unapologetically left a stain on her creative spirit through their wicked remarks but could never dictate the overarching path of her creative glory.

So, upon her return in ‘96, we can all only imagine the amplified sense of initiative that Hill channeled in the space. A television host by the name of Steve Harvey, early in his career and sporting a solid head of hair, introduced the trio before the curtains rose to reveal a stage of bright blue strobe lights and crimson red set pieces. Without any other words of introduction, the group commenced their short performance with the track “How Many Mics,” led with a short chorus and a verse by Ms. Lauryn Hill herself. The crew was energized and meticulous in their movements around the stage, circling each other as if carrying out a coordinated strike; their target invisible to the eye of the beholder, because they were fighting a fight of producing an energy. They complemented each other's vocals—Pras providing an echo of Lauryn’s verse, highlighting lines with an extra sting—as the verse was recited true to form for those familiar with the album. Although, this version of the track, for whatever reason, was not sufficient for what Fugees had visualized. A sudden shift had to be made in the middle of the song in order to properly nurture their wave of intent. Initiated by Wyclef Jean, he stepped in and interrupted Hill in the middle of her verse to assess their situation, “Hold on, hold on. Yo, we got a problem. The crowd isn’t moving. What’s going on?”, and without taking a spare second to analyze further they prompted a freestyle from the female emcee:

The waxy residue on your rhyme style is ridiculous. If you're a misogynist then you probably cannot get with this. If you sift with this, we'll leave no witnesses. See nobody can touch what Jah bless and I mean this. So I be like Osiris, betta yet I'm Isis. If you talkin' female MCs say that I'm the nicest. [inaudible] be the lyrical prophet. If you put the fat beat on the freestyle they will drop it. Yo, I- I come with many gifts, who’s to be my nemesis. If you want to battle this, I bring it with niceness

When rewatching the show on YouTube and hovering over the seek bar, one can see the influx of viewers that tuned in for the prolific moment of the performance. A grayed-out, bell-shaped distribution displays the countless viewers who continue to direct their attention to the legendary freestyle. If the visual representation is not enough, the website also dictates the segment’s popularity to the user through a small message reading “Most replayed.” Perhaps the snippet is not only rewound so often because of the ad-libbed verse itself but because of the orchestrated effect that it successfully induced in the audience, for in that moment the crowd started moving like no other.

There are two important distinctions about Hill’s presence that are referenced throughout her freestyle, which explain its ability to produce so much positive energy: the incorporation of theological elements to enhance the narrative she presents and the emphasis of creating a likable environment for her audience to seek refuge in. She, like so many artists, understands the chaos that exists within our practical society and uses her voice to aid those who are willing to be influenced by her. In her personal life, she is guided by a foundational presence of Christian faith and she implements these beliefs into her work in a multitude of ways. Her references to Jah–short for ‘Jehovah,’ the name of God based upon the original English translation of the old testament—and the Egyptian gods Osiris and Isis all contribute to her faith-based outlook on the world. In associating herself with Isis, she is comparing herself to a feminine deity that is no less capable than her husband of ruling over something as paramount as “the power of fate itself” (https://egyptianmuseum.org/). While the lyrics may seem overindulgent in nature, she is focusing her self-proclaimed power on the ability to produce an aura of positivity for the audience that surrounds her. When she “comes with niceness” she is laying a foundation of positivity that not only attracts an audience, but lets them in on the goal of her engagement. This energy that she provides not only contributes to the message that the audience is receiving from her performance, but it even impacts who is likely to internalize the first place. A study by Jennifer R. Dunn and Maurice E. Schweitzer analyzes the way “happiness and gratitude— emotions with positive valence—increase trust, and anger—an emotion with negative valence— decreases trust”, through five different experiments (Dunn & Schweitzer). Her voice carried a resonance that lived on within the audience, feeding their souls and leaving them inspired in a way that was likely contagious even after the ending of the show. Most importantly she approached every live performance with an elevated sense of intent, and her audience looked up to her for that reason. No matter what role she took on, she was approaching it with a positive attitude and her own sense of style.