Dear Gossips,

I don’t think I’ve gone an entire day the last couple of weeks without hearing Drake’s Nice For What. We were at a party on Saturday night and when it came on, Duana, Sasha, and I looked at each other and shook our heads – not in disapproval but disbelief. Like, I can’t believe how much I love this song. But that’s actually not true. Because of course we love the song. He sampled a classic. And she sampled him right back.

During her performance at the Apollo the other night, Ms Lauryn Hill mixed Nice For What in during Ex-Factor and stepped on Drake’s verses to remind him, and us, as if we needed the reminder, that an original can never be equaled. At the same time, this is also a wonderful example of how art is constantly digesting and redigesting itself, that something newer can come from something old made new, that imagining is also reimagining. 

 

Ms Lauryn Hill is going on tour this summer to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill. Many of us consider it to be one of the most important albums of our lives. Duana, Kathleen, and I are going to the Toronto show on July 18th and it’s probably going to be the centerpiece of our summer. You know what I love about watching (and listening to) Ms Lauryn Hill? I LOVE it that she does not stop telling her band what to do – which you can see in this video. She is constantly, constantly giving them direction. 

But…does this mean Drake isn’t invited? 

Here's Lauryn Hill performing at the 33rd Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony in Ohio last month. 

Yours in gossip,

Lainey