It serves as the opening song on her 1998 debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, released through Ruffhouse and Columbia Records.
[1] While Hill does not explicitly name individuals in the song, it is widely believed to address her former Fugees bandmate Wyclef Jean, with whom she had a strained personal and professional relationship.
Although not released as an official single, "Lost Ones" received significant radio play in the United States, peaking at number 27 on the Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay chart.
[4] Praised for its raw lyricism and sharp delivery, "Lost Ones" is frequently cited as one of the best diss tracks and one of the greatest hip-hop songs of all time.
[6] Publications including The Guardian, HipHopDX, and MTV have also regarded it as the greatest hip hop diss track by a woman in hip-hop history.
"Lost Ones" was written and recorded at Chung King Studios in New York City, and completed in June 1998 at Tuff Gong Studios in Kingston, Jamaica, the song makes mention of this with the lyrics "I was hopeless, now I’m on Hope Road," and Hill figuratively and literally was: Tuff Gong's address is 56 Hope Road.
[7] The song is considered to be a nameless diss track aimed towards Hill's former Fugees bandmate Wyclef Jean.
"[13] Wu-Tang Clan member Inspectah Deck sampled it for his song "Elevation" from his critically acclaimed solo album Uncontrolled Substance (1999).
[21] American rapper Rapsody paid tribute to the song while speaking to Billboard, stating that Hill "knew how to incorporate melody into a rhyme so people could sing along with her, even as she was rapping about things that might have been complex", she then added "When I started making music, my cadences weren’t easy to learn, my lyrics were a puzzle.
[23] According to Pitchfork, writer Joan Morgan hails "Lost Ones" as a "rare opportunity for the cathartic release hip-hop is known for, but one usually associated with testosterone" in her book She Begat This.