Photo by Scott Dudelson/Getty Images
H.E.R. is one of the most fascinating and mercurial figures in modern R&B, and she opened her latest project, I Used to Know Her: The Prelude by paying homage to one of the most legendary names in the genre. Her track “Lost Souls" uses a similar flow, drum pattern, and scratches to Lauryn Hill’s “Lost Ones” off The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.
Both songs delve into topics including feminism, materialism, and legacy, with H.E.R.’s verses expanding on ideas Hill laid down on her track. On “Lost Ones,” Hill takes aim at deceptive people around her, rapping:
Hypocrites always wanna play innocent
Always want to take it to the full out extent
Always want to make it seem like good intent
Never want to face it when it time for punishment
While on “Lost Souls,” H.E.R. takes that idea and uses it to target people who claim to support women but don’t do so in their own lives:
Say you empower women, ay
But don’t acknowledge them
Feminism not what you embodyin'
You false hope, you false positive, uh
The altered title of H.E.R.’s track could be an allusion to a line on the second verse of Hill’s original:
Now, now, how come your talk turn cold?
Gain the whole world for the price of your soul
H.E.R. has previously made her love of Hill known. In June, she performed a live version of her Daniel Caesar collaboration “Best Part” that transitions into a cover of Hill’s “Nothing Even Matters”:
And in an interview with VIBE she said Hill helped inspire her to be a “multi-hyphenate” artist.
“I wanted to be Lauryn Hill and touch the women and be empowering,” she said.
Hill has a writing credit on “Lost Souls,” which also features New York DJ and producer DJ Scratch. The past few months have seen Hill’s name in the news frequently, as she has been sampled and interpolated by artists like Cardi B A$AP Rocky, and Drake, and is in the midst of touring the world for the 20th anniversary of her debut album.
Read all the lyrics to “Lost Souls” and the rest of H.E.R.’s discography on Genius now.
