The Tom Joyner Foundation recently announced that musical icon Lauryn Hill will be joining their 2023 cruise in honor of HBCU students.
Known as “The Tom Joyner Foundation’s Fantastic Voyage,” the event, dubbed the Ultimate Party with a Purpose, will help collect funds for students attending HBCUs. With support from artists like Queen Latifah, Fantasia and LL Cool J., the cruise has already helped raise in part over $60 million in grants and scholarships for over 20,000 students in more than 100 HBCUs.
Hill will join musical legends such as Stevie Wonder and Charlie Wilson that are already confirmed to take part in the cruise. Set to run from May 20 to May 27, the event will begin in Fort Lauderdale before setting sail to start at ports in Cozumel, Jamaica and the Cayman Islands amongst others.
“I am so excited that Ms. Lauryn Hill is performing on the Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage 2023,” said former radio host and creator of the Tom Joyner Foundation, Tom Joyner, in a press release announcing the cruise. “She is one of the best of all time. Cruisers coming to Party with a Purpose and help raise money for HBCU scholarships won’t be disappointed with what will be an amazing show.”
The cruise is currently one of Hill’s rare appearances these days. Earlier this year, Hill- along with Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel- announced that the Fugees reunion tour would not take place.
Her latest appearance was at the ONE Musicfest festival held in Atlanta over the weekend on October 10. During the performance, the rapper and singer teased that a 25th-anniversary tour in honor of her hit album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill may be a possibility.
Released in August 1998, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is Hill’s debut and only solo studio album to date. The album went straight to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold more than 400,000 album units during its week of release.
It won five out of the 10 Grammys it was nominated for, including the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. With her win, Hill became the first person to have a hip-hop album that was awarded the title. She also became the first woman to win five Grammys in a single Grammy night.
The success of the album made it a pivotal release for the neo-soul genre, a type of music with soul and contemporary R&B roots.
