hitmusic Premiere – J.PERIOD has made the seemingly impossible, possible and cleared the seemingly un-clearable. Last year, the tenured DJ/producer received the green light to re-release his two-part mixtape, J. PERIOD Presents…The Best Of Lauryn Hill (Fire & Water), exclusively on Apple Music.
After debuting The Best Of Lauryn Hill (Vol. 1: Fire) earlier this month, J.PERIOD is back with The Best Of Lauryn Hill (Vol. 2: Water), containing snippets of the former Fugee’s most brilliant work.
“The mission of these mixtapes has always been to highlight incredible artists and their stories,” J.Period tells hitmusic. “As a storyteller, I try to dig deeper than what the headlines reveal, to what the music reveals. As a producer, I try to remix verses in new context to shine new light on the lyrics, and make fans listens closer. From the moment I dropped this tape, the response was electric.”
J.PERIOD continued, “Hearing back-to-back L-Boogie bars for 80 minutes is impossible to front on, and the clearest illustration that Ms. Hill belongs in the conversation of the best MCs of all time. Volume 2 completes the picture. There are other rappers and there are other singers, but there is no one else who can do both quite like Ms. Lauryn Hill.
“It’s why you hear today’s stars — from Drake to Cardi B to Rapsody — all paying tribute to her and shouting her out in their work. Listen to the mixtape, and name another artist that compares.”
J.PERIOD originally dropped the mixtape independently in 2005, which led to a real life collaboration with Ms. Hill. He wound up becoming her official tour DJ in the wake of its release, and was also asked to record the scratches on The Fugees’ reunion song, “Take It Easy.”
The rest is history.
Ms. Hill embarked on a new tour last week with continuing dates through July, including a stop at The Kennedy Center for Black Girls Rock in March.
As explained in a press release, “J.PERIOD’s mixtape not only redefines what a “mixtape” can be — fusing behind-the-scenes interviews with re-imagined hits, remixes, rarities, and live performances — it weaves itself into a kind of “musical documentary” of this once-in-a-lifetime artist, in her own words and music.”
Check out the The Best Of Lauryn Hill (Vol. 2: Water) album stream and cover art below and find Vol. 1 here.
