Ex Factor Lauryn Hill Sample:
In the midst of a Lauryn Hill resurgence in spirit, XXL took a look back at some of the hardest songs to sample the music icon, listed in reverse chronological order. Wyclef Jean, Hill’s partner in the Fugees, has praised ‘Ex-Factor’ as one of his favorite songs from his former collaborator. I always like the boldness of an artist to just say what they are going through,’ Jean told Vibe in 2010. There are only 22 albums in hip-hop history that have been christened with a perfect XXL rating. Amongst that rare ilk sits Lauryn Hill’s 1998 classic, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Songs by Lauryn Hill’and by extension, the Fugees’seem to be such popular source material as a result of her wide-ranging musical palate.
But as it turns out, Johnson approximating Hill might have been exactly what ‘All Falls Down’ needed. There is something more natural about the recreated version of the song, which has an almost gospel soul feel without losing the down-to-earth appeal at the center of Hill’s folksy melody. NxWorries’ Knxwledge is one of the most interesting beat makers in rap right now, known for his eclectic palate and his finely chopped soul sample work. Then, after flipping (future collaborator) Anderson .Paak’s ‘P.Y.P.’ into a funk fusion, the producer effortlessly attaches ‘Jerusalem,’ connecting the songs at their joints. They are so obviously different songs when listened to separately, and yet Knxwledge is able to see them as two halves of a whole, bridging a tiny gap between acoustic soul and funky R&B.
It spent 22 weeks on the US Billboard Hot 100, peaking at number 21 on the chart dated April 10, 1999. The song peaked atop the US R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay.[12] It also charted on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, spending 31 weeks and peaking at number seven on March 13, 1999. It reached number four on the UK Singles Chart and spent 16 weeks on the chart, remaining Hill’s biggest hit in the United Kingdom to date. Drake isn’t the only rap star who has recently sampled ‘Ex-Factor.’ The ’90s hit was also used in Cardi B’s ‘Be Careful,’ which is featured on her new debut album, Invasion of Privacy.
The day after Cardi’s Invasion of Privacy dropped, Drake released ‘Nice For What,’ his second attempt at nailing a Lauryn sample and now the No. 1 song in the country. “Ex-Factor” is a song by American recording artist Lauryn Hill for her debut solo studio album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998). Written and produced by Hill herself, it incorporates elements of R&B, neo soul and hip hop soul. This month, L-Boogie has returned to the music spotlight in a major way, thanks to some of today’s hottest artists. Cardi B sampled the legendary rapper/singer’s classic song “Ex Factor” for her own scorned anthem “Be Careful.” Drake doubled down with a sample of the same song on his new hit single “Nice For What,” placing Ms. Hill’s riffs in the forefront. And for good measure, King Combs looped up the Fugees on “Bad Boy Back,” from his new mixtape, 90’s Baby.
On some tracks she’d hum a smooth melody, whereas others find her belting out strong choruses or running through rapid-fire lyrics. Plus, the beat breaks and drum patterns to which she’d flow are nostalgia ultra.
These charming outtakes from the Born Sinner promo run, respectively released on the two Truly Yours EPs that preceded J. Cole’s sophomore album, are some of the best-kept secrets from the popular rapper turned punching bag. The voices in the former amplify Cole’s musings, while Hill’s writing is clearly a touchstone on the latter. In his albums, Cole can be contrived and boring, but in these moments he delivers some of his most self-effacing and attentive rapping (‘No looking back, don’t this content even want to see my prom pictures/Pardon the rhyme scheme, I guess I’m long-winded,’ he raps on ‘Cole Summer’). As the 20th anniversary of Lauryn Hill’s debut solo album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, approaches, it’s clear to see that the Fugees singer continues to have a profound influence on modern-day hip-hop and R&B. Critics largely hated Lauryn Hill’s 2002 live album, taped during her performance for ‘MTV Unplugged,’ but rappers have mined it for inspiration constantly.
The song itself panned out about as well as the players it celebrated, slowing Hill’s ‘Doo Wop (That Thing)’ vocals down to the point of deflating them. Drake’s second swing at invoking the rap icon, on the early song of the summer contender ‘Nice For What,’ is much more spirited and flat-out more fun. He’s less sullen than he’s been recently, party-ready and perhaps (temporarily) blog freed from his usual insecurities. But the sample itself, produced by Murda Beatz and Allen Ritter, does most of the work. The song constructs a winding carousel out of Hill’s pleas, functioning as a curio all on its own; it coolly, unexpectedly, mashes up her heartfelt hip-hop soul with joyful New Orleans bounce, conjuring up an intoxicating dance-rap hybrid.
The second single off Ms. Hill’s classic album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Jean was married to another woman while carrying on an affair with Hill, hence the tempestuous nature of the relationship described in the song. In addition to Drake and Cardi B, ‘Ex-Factor’ has been sampled by several other notable acts, including Omarion, Lil B and Kehlani. Listen to the original and other artists who have sampled it in the videos below. The most recent example is Drake’s brand new song ‘Nice for What,’ which features a sample of Miseducation’s ‘Ex-Factor,’ a top 10 single on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart in 1999. The name of the song is derived from clever wordplay; ‘ex’ as in ex-relationship, but also ‘x’ as in x-factor i.e. special something.
As Doreen St. F’lix recently wrote in The New Yorker, ‘Part of the point of sampling Hill is to tap into her cult of seriousness. As an artist, she represents a purity almost to the point of abstinence.’ Hill does personify a certain rap virtue, and sampling her can mean channelling that, but that purity can be and has been distorted to express other things. The laziest Hill samplers merely use her as a signifier, recycling her words and her melodies as substitutes for their own ideas. “Ex-Factor”, although not as successful as Hill’s previous single “Doo Wop (That Thing)”, still entered several international charts.
From Talib Kweli to Nicki Minaj, Ms. Hill’s peers and musical successors have paid homage in one way, shape or form. Soul singer-songwriter Syleena Johnson played a Lauryn Hill stand-in on Kanye West’s breakout hit ‘All Falls Down,’ but it wasn’t supposed to be this way. As the story goes, Kanye and his then-manager, John Monopoly, flew down to Miami to talk to the Marley brothers’including Rohan, the father of Hill’s children’before finally getting in touch with Hill herself. Despite what seemed to be a mutual understanding, the sample of ‘Unplugged’ cut ‘Mystery of Iniquity’ never cleared. As a fix, Johnson was brought on to sing the hook, and the other elements were reproduced. West’s original version, containing a more standard sample of Hill’s original about a broken judiciary system, found its way onto the unofficial Freshmen Adjustment mixtape in 2005.
Lauryn Hill may have mostly retreated from the public eye, but she’s never really left rap music. Her brief catalog’one solo album, one live album, and two albums with the Fugees’still casts a long shadow over hip-hop culture. ‘Ex-Factor’ alone has been repurposed over a dozen times, by artists from across the rap spectrum. The second Miseducation single reference has seen a soulful tribute from Rapsody, a based freestyle from Lil B, an Auto-Tuned rework from PnB Rock and A Boogie wit da Hoodie, and just the other week, back-to-back homages from two of rap’s biggest personalities. First, Cardi B released ‘Be Careful,’ interpolating a lasting lyric in the song’s bridge (‘Care for me/Said you’d be there for me’).
The juxtaposition of Hill’s spiraling refrain about struggling to cut ties with a noncommittal lover with Drake rapping things like ‘You gotta be nice for what to these niggas? Upon its release, “Ex-Factor” received widespread critical acclaim.[3] The song peaked at number 21 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and at number seven on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. Internationally, it peaked within the top five in Iceland and the United Kingdom. It won the Best R&B/Soul Single – Female award at the 2000 Soul Train Music Awards.[4] Spin named it the third best single of 1999.[5] In 2020, The Ringer ranked it as the 18th greatest breakup song of all time.[6] Since its release, the song has been sampled and covered by numerous artists. The 16-track album is filled with powerful messages, perfect songwriting and technically sound rapping. Not only is her solo debut scripture-worthy, her group work with the Fugees was also tremendously influential.