24 Years Ago, Lauryn Hill's Controversial Live Album 'MTV Unplugged No. 2' Divided Fans

Any musician would kill to have a career trajectory like that of Lauryn Hill. After reaching mainstream success as a member of Fugees - particularly with the group's cover of Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly With His Song" - she released The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in 1998 to critical and commercial fanfare.

The album turned Hill into a bona fide superstar with the No. 1 single "Doo Wop (That Thing)" and the emotional ballad "Ex Factor," which Drake sampled in "Nice for What" and Cardi B sampled in "Be Careful." In 1999, it won Hill five Grammys - a record for most awards won by a female artist in a single night.

What makes Hill's career even more astonishing is that she has been able to ride the success of The Miseducation for nearly 30 years. It's the only solo album she's ever put out.

But technically, that's not entirely true. Hill also released a polarizing live album that turns 24 years old today.

Why People Hated Lauryn Hill's 'MTV Unplugged No. 2'

On May 7, 2002, Hill released MTV Unplugged No. 2, a live recording of an MTV Unplugged concert she had done. It was particularly jarring for fans because it differed from The Miseducation in virtually every way. She ditched the hip-hop stylings that made her famous a single acoustic guitar. She didn't perform covers of her greatest hits either. Instead, she performed entirely new songs that the public hadn't heard before.

It was a rare opportunity to see a famous artist work out her material, raw and unpolished. But since she had the smashing success of The Miseducation to live up to, the public didn't see it that way. Village Voiceeven called it "one of the worst album[s] ever released by an artist of substance." Entertainment Weeklycalled it "the most bizarre follow-up in the history of pop."

"Anyone with ears can hear there are only three chords being played on every song," an industry executive told Rolling Stone, lamenting Hill's beginner-level guitar playing. "I saw it with a roomful of professionals, and someone said, ‘I feel like jumpin' out a window.'"

Another insider told the magazine, "A lesser artist would've been shot and thrown out the window."

Despite being critically panned, Hill did earn a Grammy nom for the song "Mystery of Iniquity."

This story was originally published by Men's Journal on May 7, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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This story was originally published May 7, 2026 at 1:56 PM.