Lauryn Hill becomes first female rapper with diamond status album

With that, she becomes the first woman MC to go diamond.

Hill originally found her footing in the industry as a founding member of socially conscious hip-hop group Fugees alongside Pras and Wyclef Jean:

The Fugees controversially broke up in 1997, setting Hill up for solo success. Miseducation peaked at No. 1 on Billboard 200 in September 1998, while tracks "Doo Wop (That Thing)," "Everything Is Everything" and "Ex-Factor" charted on Billboard's Hot 100.

Hill never released a proper sophomore solo album to follow Miseducation, which scored her five Grammy Awards, though the New Jersey native did perform a new batch of strictly acoustic songs on MTV Unplugged No. 2.0—released as a live album May 7, 2002. 

In early January, Hill joined Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums podcast for a rare interview. She was asked if she plans to re-enter the studio for a full-length project, which led to an extremely revealing response explaining why she hasn't recorded one to this point. Here is a portion:

"The wild thing is no one from my label has ever called me and asked how can we help you make another album, EVER…EVER. Did I say ever? Ever! With The Miseducation, there was no precedent. I was, for the most part, free to explore, experiment and express. After The Miseducation, there were scores of tentacled obstructionists, politics, repressing agendas, unrealistic expectations, and saboteurs EVERYWHERE. People had included me in their own narratives of THEIR successes as it pertained to my album, and if this contradicted my experience, I was considered an enemy.  

Artist suppression is definitely a thing. I won’t go too much into it here, but where there should have been overwhelming support, there wasn’t any. I began touring because I needed the creative outlet and to support myself and my family. I create at the speed and flow of my inspiration, which doesn’t always work in a traditional system. I have always had to custom build what I’ve needed in order to get things done. The lack of respect and willingness to understand what that is, or what I need to be productive and healthy, doesn’t really sit well with me."

Hill drew upon that experience to speak out against systemic oppression and racism last June:

From a music standpoint, the certainty with Hill is that she will continue to perform live. She currently has dates scheduled for July 12 and 14 in Austria and Germany respectively.