The hip-hop album Timothée Chalamet was floored by: “One of the most beautiful things”
Timothée Chalamet is vocal about his love of hip-hop, citing Kid Cudi as his favourite artist and crediting him as the person responsible for his acting career. The actor, who has recently starred in Wonka, Dune: Part Two and most recently, the Bob Dylan biopic, A Complete Unknown, has been diving back into rap history and discovered a classic in the past 12 months.
While walking around Record Surplus in Santa Monica, California, Chalamet admitted that he was late to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill but was flawed by Lauryn Hill’s debut album.
“Listen, I’m gonna be honest to my lack of music education,” he told Nardwuar. “This is an album I got into [in] the last year, which I know makes me about 20-30 years late to The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. But I was absolutely floored by how incredible this album is.”
He added, “There’s a live performance of Lauryn Hill doing ‘Ex-Factor’ from 2023, I wanna say, that’s really one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.” The powerhouse performer may be somewhat flawed in her hesitance to truly embrace the idea of being a musical artist, but she knows how to put on a performance. The actor continued: “She’s wearing this crazy hat. A lot of musicians, it’s hard not to lose it, she didn’t lose it. My God, amazing.”
Many consider The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill to be one of the best albums of all time. Released in 1998, the Fugees member’s solo LP debuted at the top of the Billboard 200 with 422,000 copies in its first week, breaking the record for a female artist at the time.
As well as hip-hop, the album included elements of neo-soul, R&B and reggae, with features coming from the likes of Mary J. Blige and D’Angelo. The album went on to win ‘Album of the Year’ and ‘Best R&B Album’ at the Grammys in 1999. It’s a record that has long stood the test of time and become an emblem of creativity.
Chalamet also praised the likes of Common and Lupe Fiasco throughout his interview with Nardwuar. While he credits Cudi for much of his success, he also claims that his career took off as a result of his encounter with Lil B when he was just a teenager.
“I met him at NYU,” he said. “I had $50 from a commercial I did, I bribed a kid to give me his ticket. I was in there alone, you know, front row to the right. I raised my hand, I got called on by him, [and] told him I was going to ask out a crush. He invited me on stage and he knighted me.”
He continued, “And honestly, he said, ‘That boy’s hands been blessed,’ and from there, my acting career took off. Thank you, BasedGod. I was struggling before that, basically just done Royal Pains, and, you know, I was nominated for an Oscar by the time I was 22. Shout out, Lil B. Nothing possible without Lil B.”