Why Be a Hard Rock When You Really Are a Gem?

Every once in a while, I want to do a post on modern-day style icons, and who better than to kick off that series than Lauryn Hill? Hill, or should I say Ms. Hill, has changed a lot over the years. In looking at this images, we can see her going from an exuberant young girl with her arms literally open to the world to a more cautious figure, who nonetheless still blazes with an intense, barn-burning energy.

In recent interviews, Hill has complained about having ideas stolen from her, and she specifically mentions her fashion style as being jacked by everyone and their sister. It's funny though, while Hill is indeed a trendsetter, it's hard to imagine anyone successfuly stealing her look. It would be akin to ripping the stripes from a tigress, pasting them on a kitten and declaring it a fierce animal.

I wonder though, if that feeling of being stolen from really has anything to do with tangable items or is it something else she's feeling people grabbing for? In the song "Lost Ones," Hill sings, "Now don't you understand man universal law, what you throw out comes back to you," but not everyone would agree with her sentiment. I wanna say it was Talib Kweli, who, commenting on Hill's recent ups and downs, recently said (and I'm paraphrasing here), sometimes when you're an artist and put your soul out there like Lauryn has, you don't necessarily get it all back again. Truer words.

More images of Hill from over the years: