Music can take you to so many places, from the highest highs to the lowest lows and every stop in between. For Chance the Rapper, Ms. Lauryn Hill’s landmark The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill solo album is a reminder of his fondest memories of growing up listening to her with his mother, a time he recalled in a touching Instagram tribute on Monday (Oct. 30) after they took in a Hill show together at Chicago’s United Center on Saturday night.
“In the 90s my mom owned Touches, an incredibly successful hair salon and barbershop on the South Side of Chicago,” Chance wrote alongside a snap of him and his mom at the gig. “She employed a lot black folks and got a lot of people started in the industry. Her business fostered relationships, built marriages and friendships and was a cornerstone of the community. There she met my father and eventually they got pregnant with me.”
Chance (born Chancelor Johnathan Bennett), 30, then described the difficult decision his mom faced about beginning a “new path of motherhood and family for herself” or continuing to pursue her art and business. “My mama chose me. She was at the top of her field, a black woman in her 20s with ownership and investment in her community, but she chose the difficult yet beautiful path to family,” he wrote. “My mom sold the salon and spent all her time raising me and teaching me so many of the things i love about myself. She taught me so much about love and faith and kindness and most importantly music.”
During that time, Chance said, the soundtrack of those lessons was provided by Hill, specifically the Miseducation tribute to the Fugees singer/rapper’s first-born son, Zion David Marley, “To Zion.” Chance remembers his mom singing him the lyrics:
“Unsure of what the balance held
I touched my belly overwhelmed
By what I had been chosen to perform
But then an angel came one day
Told me to kneel down and pray
For unto me a man child would be born
Woe this crazy circumstance
I knew his life deserved a chance
But everybody told me to be smart
‘Look at your career,’ they said
‘Lauryn, baby, use your head’
But instead I chose to use my heart
Now the joy of my world is in Zion”
Chance concluded by thanking Hill and her Fugees bandmates, Wyclef Jean and Pras, and most importantly, his mother. The next date on the Hill/Fugees reunion tour, on Thursday (Nov. 2), IN Fort Worth, TX has been postponed due to Hill’s vocal issues.
Check out Chance’s tribute below.
