Pic: Chance the Rapper and Lauryn Hill at an Event

Checkout this picture of Chance the Rapper and legendary female rapper, Lauryn Hill. The picture was taken at an event a couple of weeks ago. I am sure Chance was awestruck when he saw Lauryn.

New Music: Lauryn Hill- Black Rage (Ferguson Dedication)

Lauryn Hill drops this new politically conscious song, Black Rage. This speaks on what is going on at Ferguson right now, where a riot is going on cause of the murder of a black teenager black a white police man. 

Download the song here Black Rage

Throwback Song: If I Ruled The Word (Nas feat. Lauryn Hill)

If I Ruled The World is from Nas's 1996 album, It Was Written. This was the song that made Nas an International star.

Download here- If I Ruled The World

Lauryn Hill's Australian Tour Dates

It's good to see Lauryn Hill touring...I am a big Fugees fan and, even if they can't make a group album again, I'd like to at least see them do okay individually. She hasn't released an album in a long time, but she has a lot of material to tour with. She is going to Tour Australia in May, and play in four venues. Check out the dates below.

Wednesday 21 May – Melbourne – Palais Theatre
Presale: Friday 28 March. Register via Ticketmaster
General Ticket Sales: 9AM Monday 31 March via Ticketmaster

Saturday 24 May – Perth – Fremantle Arts Centre
Tickets: 9AM Thursday 27 March via Oztix

Tuesday 27 May – Sydney Opera House – Vivid
Wednesday 28 May – Sydney Opera House – Vivid
Presale: Wed 26 March. Register via the Sydney Opera House
General ticket sales: 9AM Mon 31 March from vividlive.sydneyoperahouse.com

Lauryn Hill Is Not Owing The IRS $900K

Last year, Lauryn Hill spent three months behind bars for tax evasion charges (even after she had offset the over a million dollars in back taxes). Fresh news started making rounds a couple of days ago that she had still had debt of $900k to pay off to the government, but her publicists has set the record straight.

"Contrary to media gossip (fact checking seems to be a dying art-form) there are no changes in Ms. Hill's legal status. Ms. Hill has finished her sentence, has been fulfilling her agreement with the IRS, and is taking care of all outstanding matters in regards to this situation. She is not in jeopardy of any further charges. The press is reporting on paperwork that had recently been filed, and has now become public record." (Statement)




Thank God for that. I know how being in debt can be, and i don't wish that on my enemy. Now, Lauryn should get back in the studio and give us some music. I need a new Lauryn Hill album.

Lauryn Hill Says Violence In Black Communities is a Reflection Of Past Slavery

Legendary female rapper, Lauryn Hill says violence in black communities is a reflection of the past enslavement of black people. Of cos not in those words, but that is a summary of what she is trying to say in her new 1,500-word essay on her Tumblr page. Lauryn is set to start her 3 months tax evasion prison sentence on July 8; she had failed to file tax returns in 2005, 2006, and 2007.

The open letter is really long, put I have extracted some paragraphs that I feel drive hom the point she is trying to make-

"The concept of reverse racism is flawed, if not absolutely ridiculous. Most, if not all of the negative responses from people of color toward white people, are reactions to the hatred, violence, cruelty and brutality that they were shown by white people for centuries. Much of the foundation of the modern world was built on the forced free labor of black peoples. The African Slave Trade, the institution of slavery, colonialism, its derivative systems, and the multiple holocausts throughout history, where whites used race as the defining reason to justify their oppression, conquest, and brutal treatment of non-white peoples, are how race became such a factor to begin with.

The initial claim by the oppressors, followed a moral imperative (so they said) that people outside of Occidental and European birth were in savage and cursed conditions, and that God justified the captivity of these people, and the rape and pillage of their lands."

Hmm! As much as I don't like to play the blame game as a black man, I think she makes some valid points in her essay. Keep reading...

"Of course there are white people who live transcendent lives, not exploiting ill-gotten privilege or perpetuating the sins of their ancestors who used violence and deceit as a means to gain advantage over others. Humanity in proper order is obligated to acknowledge the Truth, whoever it comes from, be they Black, White or other. Righteous indignation is simply a response to long-standing evil.

Much of the world is still reeling from the abuses of Imperialist selfishness, misunderstanding, ignorance and greed. Black people remain in many ways a shattered community, disenfranchised, forcefully removed from context and still caged in, denied from making truly independent choices and experiencing existential freedom. Their natural homes, just like their natural selves, raped and pillaged of the resources and gifts God has given to them. Interpreted through someone else’s slanted lens and filter, they remain in many ways, misrepresented. Taxation without proper representation, might I remind you, was the very platform of protest that began the Revolutionary War, which gained this country its independence from England. Anger is not only the natural response to the abuse of power, but is also appropriate when there is no real acknowledgment of these abuses, or deep, meaningful and profound change.

If we took all of what we deem horrible regarding the criminal abuses that black people have committed over this country’s history, and add it all up, it still does not compare to the hundreds of years of terrorism, violent domination, theft, rape, abuse, captivity, and beyond that black people have suffered under the ideologies and systems of white supremacy, racism, and slave based paradigms. I say this only to say that abuse unresolved begets or creates abuse. How then does the chief offender become the judge? Might does not necessarily mean right. Right is right. People forcibly reduced to sub-human existences, so that they behave in sub-human ways, helps a system to justify itself or feel less guilty about its blood saturated foundation and gross crimes against humanity. People, like plants, grow where the light is. When you enclose a plant and limit its light source, it will bend itself toward the light, for the light is necessary for its survival. This same thing happens to people locked in communities where little light and little opportunity is allowed them, survival then forces them to twist and/or bend toward the only way of escape."

If I want to sum up what she is trying to say, I'd quote part of Nas's verse on Tripple Beam Dreams (a Rick Ross song feat. Nas)-

"A project minded individual criminal tactics
Us blacks kids born with birth defects, we hyperactive
Mentally sex-crazed dysfunctional they describe us
They liars, the end of the day, we fucking survivors."

We blacks are just a result of the pyschological and mental trauma from past conditions of slavery, segregaion, and colonization. And for the African Americans, they just want to survive in the poor housing communities they were put in. But, even though all these are facts, I think the generation of white people that have this supremacy mentality are passing away with time. The current generation of white kids, or I'd say, the white kids from the age bracket of 15-35 don't have as strong a mentality of being a supreme race as those older. And this is a good thing, cos they are the ones that would rule in the future.

If you want to read the rest of Lauryn's open letter, you can visit her Tumblr page here- Lauryn Hill's Tumblr Page

Lauryn Hill Finally Speaks On Tax Evasion Issues

Lauryn Hill, as a solo artist, and a member of the legendary Fugees (alongside Wyclef and Praz) sold monumental records in the 90s. I can say, for a rap artists, she surpassed what any other female artists before and after her has ever sold in records. Just singling out her first solo album, Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill, which has sold 19 million copies worldwide to date, shows how much this lady has generated in her career. And to now think that she is currently unable to pay a tax debt of $968,000, is questionable.

In a post on her Tumblr page yesterday night, Lauryn spoke on her tax issues and also on her music career-


"It has been reported that I signed a new record deal, and that I did this to pay taxes. Yes, I have recently entered into an agreement with Sony Worldwide Entertainment, to launch a new label, on which my new music will be released. And yes, I am working on new music. I've remained silent, after an extensive healing process. This has been a 10+ year battle, for a long time played out behind closed doors, but now in front of the public eye. This is an old conflict between art and commerce... free minds, and minds that are perhaps overly tethered to structure. This is about inequity, and the resulting disenfranchisement caused by it. I've been fighting for existential and economic freedom, which means the freedom to create and live without someone threatening, controlling, and/or manipulating the art and the artist, by tying the purse strings. It took years for me to get out of the 'parasitic' dynamic of my youth, and into a deal that better reflects my true contribution as an artist, and (purportedly) gives me the control necessary to create a paradigm suitable for my needs. I have been working towards this for a long time, not just because of my current legal situation, but because I am an artist, I love to create, and I need the proper platform to do so." (Ms Lauryn Hill Tumblr)





And now, the part you really need to read- 

"The nature of my new business venture, as well as the dollar amount reported, was inaccurate, only a portion of the overall deal. Keep in mind, my past recordings have sold over 50,000,000 units worldwide, earning the label a tremendous amount of money (a fraction of which actually came to me). Only a completely complicated set of traps, manipulations, and inequitable business arrangements could put someone who has accomplished the things that I have, financially in need of anything. I am one artist who finds value in openly discussing the dynamics within this industry that force artists to compromise or distort themselves and what they do, rather than allowing them to make the music that people need. There are volumes that could (and will) be said."










That's a whole lot of money she made for Columbia Records. Where did all that money go? Where did her share of the money go? She was pretty young (around 20yrs old) when she blew up...straight out of high school, so I guess she was really naive with the business side of things. Lauryn has always been more concerned about the art, so I can understand how she can be in this mess. Right now, she has been given two weeks (until May 6th) to pay up the $968,000 debt or go to jail. I wish her all the best. I'm a big fan of her music, and would love to hear some new music from her.

Wyclef Opens Up About Cheating on His Wife With Lauryn Hill

This is one of, if not the major reason why The Fugees (Wyclef Jean, Pras, & Lauryn Hill) broke up. Their "The Score" (1996) album still remains one of the highest selling rap albums by a hip hop act; selling 18 million copies worldwide to date. Wyclef just released his Autobiography, titled Purpose: An Immigrant's Story, and in it he speaks on his relationship with Lauryn Hill while he was already married, and how the love between them died when she made him believe she was pregnant with his kid; later to find out it was for Rohan Marley (The Late Bob Marley's son).

Below is a direct quote from Wyclef-







"In that moment something died between us. I was married and Lauryn and I were having an affair, but she led me to believe that the baby was mine, and I couldn’t forgive that.”

“She could no longer be my muse... Our love spell was broken.”








Clef got married in 1994 to Marie Claudinette, a Haitian, and fashion person. The Fugees had their first album (Bunted on Reality) in 1994, but it was their second album, The Score (1996) that got them worldwide recognition. So, while Wyclef was cheating on his wife with Lauryn, she was also cheating on him with Rohan Marley. But, i now can see where the energy for that album came from...it was the fire between them that birthed the creativity. 









But, it must have been tough on Clef tho...i watched his interview on Wendy William's Show today, and he said he was actually at the hospital when she gave birth, and when he saw the baby, he knew immediately that it wasn't his. When Wendy asked him how he knew the bay wasn't his, he said- "the baby was yellow."







In case you don't know much about the Fugees, i would like to do a quick run through their story. Wyclef Jean and Pras Mitchell are cousins; and Lauryn Hill and Pras attended a New Jersey High School together. Pras and Lauryn were doing their music thing in school, and then Clef joined later. The Trio originally went by the name Tranzlator Crew in 1992, but changed that to The Fugees when they signed to Ruffhouse Records (distributed through Columbia Records) in 1993. Their first album (Blunted on Reality- 1994) didn't get much recognition, but their second album, The Score (1996) spawned hit singles like Ready Or Not, Killing Me Softly, Fugeela, and their own version of Bob Marley's No Woman No Cry.

After The Score in 1996, and Lauryn Hill giving birth to Rohan Marley's son (Zion) in 1997, they all went their separate ways. And people have been calling for a Fugees re-union since then, but as i have always said- it ain't ever gonna happen. By the way, Lauryn went on to have a total of 5 kids for Rohan. But they are now separated, and Rohan Marley is currently engaged to Brazilian supermodel, Isabeli Fontana.