In a recent interview with NPR, 
Lauryn Hill spoke candidly, even detailing why she stopped putting out music.
Ms. Hill, who performed at the Harmony Festival a couple weeks ago, has performed very little in the United States in the past decade. But that may be about to change: “I think it’s just time. I’m starting to get excited again.”
On Why She Stopped Putting Out Music:
“There were a number of different reasons. But partly, the support system that I needed was not necessarily in place. There were things about myself, personal-growth things, that I had to go through in order to feel like it was worth it. In fact, as musicians and artists, it’s important we have an environment — and I guess when I say environment, I really mean the [music] industry, that really nurtures these gifts. Oftentimes, the machine can overlook the need to take care of the people who produce the sounds that have a lot to do with the health and well-being of society, or at least some aspect of society. And it’s important that people be given the time that they need to go through, to grow, so that the consciousness level of the general public is properly affected. Oftentimes, I think people are forced to make decisions prematurely. And then that sound radiates.”On People’s Attraction to Her:
Believe it or not, I think what people are attracted to about me, if anything, is my passion. People got exposed to my passion through music and song first. I think people might realize, you know, ‘We love the way she sounds, we love the music, but I think we just love how fearless she is. How boundless she is, when it comes to what she wants to do.’ And I think that can be infectious.”On Her Voice:
“I’m trying to open up my range and really sing more. With The Fugees initially, and even with Miseducation, it was very hip-hop — always a singing over beats. I don’t think people have really heard me sing out. So if I do record again, perhaps it will have an expanded context. Where people can hear a bit more.”
Wow I can actually say im FIRST!!! Woooo Hooooo!!! LMAO
But LAURYN pllllllllllllllllllllllz come back to us!!! We miss you. Bring back your passion and your gift!!!!
I PUT MS HILL AND DR DRE DETOX IN THE SAME BOAT…I’LL BELIEVE IT WHEN I SEE IT
UNTIL THEN ITS A MYTHICAL CREATURE….
I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU’RE SAYING LAURYN. MAXWELL SAID SOMETHING SIMILAR ABOUT BEING GONE FOR SO LONG. HE CAME BACK WITH A #1 SPOT DEBUT. YOU CAN DO THE SAME THING! NOW COME ON BACK AND CONTINUE TO SHARE YOUR GIFT WITH US. THAT’S WHAT YOU HAVE IT FOR GIRL! LET’S GO!
Wow, I really miss her music! Please Lauryn come back, music in general needs you!
I still bump the Miseducation album good stuff!
Miseducation, Hands down was/ is the best album ever made… I hear what sh eis saying, Truth is she came off as an intellect, a profit, and and an inspiration, not just to black women, but black people, people! Just like her kids grandfather. That is why she needs to come back, she is chosen! Running from that is like a mother running from her kids. She’s obligated to testify about the wonders that GOD has provided her with. No man should be able to take that away, you can;t run from it.
Lauryn, I have been patiently waiting. I love and miss you. No one has filled that spot, and please don’t forget hip hop. It needs you more than ever. God Bless you and your family!
LAURYN please COME BACK! i miss the passion and raw talent you possess! i still listen to the Miseducation frequently!
LAURYN please COME BACK! i miss the passion and raw talent you possess! i still listen to the Miseducation frequently!
i wish she’d come out with a new record already….its been 12 YEARS!!!miseducation is a classic but we need more!!!!
love you Lauren! Please put out more music! You are gifted!
I really wish she would’ve put out more than just one album…probably the most talented female ever.
Yessss!
I don’t care if she sings or raps, I just NEED another album from her. Her lyrics are some of the best lines ever written. Please, drop an album, single or something soon. Music needs this so bad.
rihanna cant afford to stay out the spotlight for 2 seconds.
#imjustsaying
We waiting on you girl!!! Don’t get me wrong I listen to more than just hip hop, especially now days. But HIP HOP NEEDS YOU. Give us a good Hip Hop album, your voice speaks volumes and we need that back. Your like food to those that fiend for real music.
…………..
I hope she comes back too, BUT she needs to quit that “industry environment” BS. The drugs and wild parties will always be in the music industry. It’s up to the entertainers to just say NO! Don’t blame the “support system” and the “machine” for your mess with the Marleys. Just like MC Hammer, when he blamed his entourage for his down fall. It wasn’t the entourage, it was all the drugs that took his money.
I hope she can open her range, but somethings do actually get worst with age. Alicia Keys tried to open her range on the BET awards tribute to Prince, be she sounded like a truck stuck in second gear. It is what it is.
God was there supporting Lauryn when she sang “His Eyes On the Sparrow”…and He’s still there now. She knew He was “Watching over Her” but the support does no good if we don’t accept it. Nice comeback Lauryn, but take ownership for your actions.
WOOP! I’m too, too, too excited! Me and so many others have missed Lauryn for such a long time, and I really enjoyed reading this interview. I’ve always know Lauryn to be a intellectual and well-spoken person and her behaviour in the last past years I believe was due to her frustrations with the music industry. I’m happy to see her excited about working again.
http://www.notlikereallife.blogspot.com
woooooo!!!I came acorss a great hot PLACE.
If you put “A G E” and “M IN GLE” together, then you will get the url.
It’s a nice and free place for Younger- Women and Older Men, or Older Women and Younger Men, to interact with each other. Maybe you wanna check out or- tell your friends
I don’t know how I lived without another album from lauryn she gives hip hop meaning…. she make me feel good about being a black women who thinks differently from the ppl around me…. I really wish u would come out with something…..anything help show my generation what it means to be the best female mc alive cause this barbie crap just aint gonna cut it!
COME BACK LAURYN WE AND MUSIC NEED YOU, ON THE REAL! ONE OF THE FEW THAT CAN LEAVE FOR YEARS AND COME BACK AND STILL HAVE A TRUE FAN BASE AND FOLLOWING, MISEDUCATION OF L.H. IS ONE OF THE VERY FEW CLASSICS MADE OF MY GENERATION VERY FEW ARTISTS CAN SAY THEY HAVE PUT OUT A CLASSIC ALBUM ESPECIALLY THE ONES YOU PPL ARE ALL BATTLING OVER DAILY.
I can relate to what she is saying, especially in light of Nick’s lack of performance and getting a BET award without an album, but c’mon, she’ had what 6 or 7 years to think about that question. So its easy to say it was the industry vs, I just couldn’t deal with it anymore.
I’m awaiting L. Boogie’s return. The hip hop game is truly missing talent and skills, I’m so sick of this popcorn and bubble rapping and lyrics without contact, nursery rhyme, BS. Naming name..Nicki.
Clean up them brows!
best female to ever roc a mic.. no autotunes.. real singer adn rapper.
I NEED her to come back! It drives me nuts when REAL artist flip out and fall off the map. It gets no better than a singer, song writer, EMCEE and musician. There is NO ONE out here currently with that type of talent right now. Time out for the Bull$shyt! Time in for real music. Come on back girl!
Lauryn Hill is an immensely talented artist with intellgence, sophistication, and something meaningful to say. I can not wait for her new music and being the true lyricist that I know she is I will not be disappointed.
oh
—-A very talented person at one time, but she needs to shut it down lol. She’d be
—-better off as one of those people that get remembered due to the lack of quantity
—-but the level of quality of the product she put forth. This reminds me of Michael
—-Jordan with the Wizards. She should be thankful that she got out of the music
—-industry with what little mind she has left, because she clearly is not all there now.
—-I believe that the idle-mindedness has started to overwhelm her; either that, or the
—-money is drying up. I don’t understand how she’s going to “sing more”, when the
—-last time I saw one of her performances, she sounded like she was yelling for
—-help lol.
Im really hoping for a comeback from Lauryn. I think she stopped short of giving us her best….The anticiipation is for her next work is really thick. Hopefully she does something that she stays true to, and something win or lose, something she’s proud of.
Can’t wait, can’t wait, can’t wait.
@13.
I see Rihanna has become the new person to mention on every post. It used to be Beyonce and now its Rihanna. WTF she gotta do with a Lauryn Hill post? Lauryn ain’t thinking about Rihanna and Rihanna not thinking about her.
Anyways I love Lauryn Hill and will be copping that album. Now I ain’t about to wait another 12 years girl so that album better be here next year.
i am SO glad you posted this pic of Lauryn Hill. how many artist can be gone for 12 years and have people anticipate an album from them. if that ain’t a gift, i don’t know what is!
i’m just sayin’
Take your time Lauryn Hill come out whenever you feel like it i will still support you
@ Meat
I think it’s much deeper than the “industry environment”, and the “machine”. She used those terms to speak to you on a level of understanding that wouldn’t go over your head. Lauryn Hill has been deemed “crazy” by the very same industry that let her rise to stardom.
If you people don’t listen to her Unplugged album and really grasp what she is trying to say then you won’t get her. Her Unplugged album is the reason why she all of a sudden went “crazy”. There was way too much information on that cd that the powers that be didn’t want us to grasp.
She is coming back but she is telling you all she has matured and her album is not going to be hip-hop. It is going to be her singing which I think would be wonderful. I can tell you what you won’t see you won’t see her rolling around on the floor half naked because she is way to classy for that. You won’t see her face all over everything because that is not what gets her going. She is starting to perform more and more because she is getting people ready.
There are a few artisist out now that can do what she and Maxwell did. Disappear forever and comeback out and just kill it. She is getting ready to record if she’s not already that is why she is giving all these interviews.
LAURYN…WE LOVE YOU! WE MISS YOU AND NEED YOU TO SALVAGE WHAT IS LEFT OF THE MUSIC INDUSTRY. YOU ARE AMAZING AND MY SISTA, YOUR SONGS ARE DEEP. NOW QUIT CHILLIN AND START WORKING!!!! LOL
@ #5 Asia, Actually, Lauryn Hill UNPLUGGED was the best album she ever created. It was the soundtrack to life in society. Liberation. emancipation. And if anyone wishes to absorb some wisdom, i’d recommend that album. You’ll definitely learn something. Even with the simplicity of the album’s instrumental, its overall message is more overpowering, and worth the listen.
She looks like the black version of Rizzo from the John Travolta movie Grease..Great singer!!
I JUST HAVE TO LAFF AT ALL THE POSITIVE FEEDBACK LAURYN IS RECEIVING. SHE HAVE 5 KIDS AND NOT MARRIED. HAVE CAUGHT HER MAN WITH A BACKUP SINGER AND HER COUSIN. WE ALL KNOW THOSE R JUST TWO OF HIS LOVERS. YET SOME OF U CALL ALICIA KEYS DUMB. HOW MANY OTHER KIDS DOES LAURYN’S BABIES DADDY HAVE? OH, YEA, LIKE I THOUGHT, LOL. IF THIS CHIC ISN’T AT THE TOP OF DUMBNESS JUST FOR HAVING ALL OF THOSE KIDS, I DON’T KNOW WHO IS. THAT IS WHY I CAN ALWAYS TELL WHEN JEALOUSY PLAYS A BIG FACTOR TOWARDS SOME CELEBS. LAURYN ISN’T NOTHING SPECIAL TO LOOK AT AND SHE DAYUM SURE ISN’T TALENTED LIKE ALICIA.
she need to stick to hip hop……her voice is not that great to be singing
@ Judah
You are right. Her money is definitely drying up. She looks and is more desperate than before. She performed in her hometown of South Orange two times this month. Once at her middle school with her daughter, who was in a talent show and the other at a local theatre that had other local residents who “made it”/”celebs”. AJ from 106 & Park introduced her and when she came on, many of the audience (who were old white wealthy folks) got up and left. Mind you, she has NEVER performed for/in her hometown before and turned down many offers to perform as the main act in her town because the money was not “right”. Now, she emerges and performs for the same price that was offered or even lower because she was one of 15 well established Broadway and Hollywood acts that performed. I felt and still feel bad for her. When she comes back out, it will not be what is expected and like you said I believe she is bored and needs something to do. Don’t get me wrong, she is talented but she should be remembered for her past work. This woman has 5 kids all within the same age range. She is struggling to support them. I do not know what went wrong but she definitely is not the same Lauryn Hill that was when the Fugees first came out.
Or even Sister Act for that matter.
She was such a blessing to the music bizz and really hope she come out soon what ever u put out will hit #1 Lauryn u dont have to worry about that u have a true talent that many in music dont have and ur fans miss u soooooo much.
——@IDOMIND
——I agree. She does not have what she once had, and for those who are God-gifted,
——that is oftentimes a very difficult thing to accept. This is why I compared her to
——Michael Jordan; because he was another person who was not just talented, but
——God-gifted. Those people are usually delusional as to when that gift is ebbing
——away, or altogether gone for that matter. I’m not surprised as to what you said
——about her performing at talent shows, and that information is much appreciated.
——You can look at her face and see that she is weathered, and trying to cope with
——spirits that are tormenting her. That industry always takes something from you,
——and the artists who attempt to speak out on it are usually doing so out of guilt
——for what they did behind closed doors to get the stardom they lusted after. Lauryn
——Hill is much worse off than someone like Beyonce or Rihanna because she is
——exceedingly intelligent, which means that she is tormented more. It’s clear just in
——her conduct that she is both idle-minded (as many of the people who want her to
——come back are), and low on money. She seemed very into the “diva” mode, and
——worshiping herself at one time, and now she has been brought down.
Well, like Whitney Houston, even though their skill is fading, I rather listen to them over the Beyonce and Rihanna. However, when Lauryn took the stage, she was gone and going off on a tangent. You could barely hear her, she looked nervous like it was her first time on stage. Still, I rather see her in concert than others. I do not know if that pack/tribe of kids were all hers. One or two of them seemed given or just adopted from that deadbeat Marley, who continues to impregnant women and ignore her. I would not be surprised if she shaved her head bald too. Now that you say that JUDAH, she did kind of remind me of Erykah Badu and the exalting and praising her goddess-”ness”. What I do not get is if you have the talent, why sell your soul or do unnecessary things to get favor? It seems from the talent show, she will push her daughter in this music career as a ways to money too because she has to feed the tribe of 5, her, her mother and the other beggars around her because I am sure she is not getting child support.
She really is intelligent. Maybe she should go back to school, be a professor and teach Music Theory or something to occupy her mind.
32. Amber, Stop making excuses for Lauryn. She’s very outspoken and there’s a price she had to pay for saying any/ and everything that pop into her head. She has great “Unpluged” knowledge, but she lacked wisdom. It’s no wonder that she’s now using “deeper…terms to speak” so she won’t upset the apple cart. Did she learn a lesson to bridle her tongue? Conflict resolution and justice don’t come easy.
I’m sure she didn’t count up the cost before she told the “machine” what she thought of them. And, now she’s treading on thin ice, because she don’t know how to get paid without the blessings of…”the machine”.
If she doesn’t wants to go over peoples heads, she could start by keeping it 100 rather than portraying herself as a victim of the industry. Her life has been an open book and we all know her story. hec, even Obama has made mistakes in his first year.
People just get too damn deep! what ever happened to just wanting to listen to good Music! my Word!
—–@IDOMIND
—–If she was going off on a tangent like you say, which I believe, it is because she is
—–dealing with those tormenting spirits and she is probably demonically possessed.
—–That is what the entertainment industry is about, that being the progressional
—–change into a walking demonic entity. This is what those who embrace the
—–occultic beliefs and doctrines of that industry refer to as “evolution” or
—–”transformation”. Some artists can survive the “evolution” and others cannot. Each
—–male and female in the highest levels of entertainment must recognize themselves
—–and each other as “gods” and “goddesses”; self-determining, “all-powerful”
—–creatures who believe that they are worthy of being worshiped and adored by
—–their “fans” (congregants). This is why they all end up bugged out. They get so
—–high off of their own success (either legitimate or manufactured) that they must
—–become drug addicts to maintain that high, & to forget the rituals they are forced
—–to perform to advance up the ladder of celebrity. Talent is not enough when the
—–point of the entertainment industry is to take talented individuals, craft them into
—–pawns, and in turn use those pawns to program these average people. These
—–”artists” must sell their souls to show their loyalty at best, and at worst to assure
—–that there can be no real escape once your soul is sold. This is what I meant
—–when I spoke about the artists who do speak out, doing so out of guilt. Tupac
—–knew that he sold his soul. That is why he reiterated in his songs that he knew
—–that he was going to “hell”.
I’m proud of Lauryn. The industry tried to pimp her out, like they try to do to all our beautiful black queens, (have you seen the new Ciara video??) and she made the courageous decision to tell them to kiss her black ass! That took COURAGE people! She is living her life on her OWN terms. She should be considered a role model. Not only that but, she is arguably, the best female MC to ever bless the mic. I can’t wait for her to drop her next album. Music needs Lauryn Hill. WE NEED Lauryn Hill.
@32 YOU HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD
I love the unplugged album,both parts 1 and 2.I use to listen to that album everyday for like 8 months straight,no joke.I find myself listening to her unreleased songs like they’re actual singles.I listen to Lauryn at least once a week.Her music keeps me sane and makes me feel like I’m not alone in this crazy crazy world.She is tooo far ahead of this time for the average robotic minded person to even receive the level of knowledge that she has to share.I would rather see her just go take care of her children and accept being a legend.
That industry is worse now than ever.The listeners will not support her like they say they will.Just go look at the numbers from the Unplugged album.I know she has a contract to fullfill but If she does decide I will be the first one in line to pick up two copies.
@42 as much as I like Lauryn’s music,I must say I agree with your comment.I just want her to have a peace of mind.Her knowledge can be used in a different way,not just in that evil industry.She did say on the Miseducation that she has did alot of things that she prays the father will forgive.I believe messing with wyclef was one of them(he was married) and many other things we are not aware of.I’m not here to dog her out but I just wish she would just focus on being mentally,physically,and spiritually healthy for her children.She don’t owe the public anything.We have classic songs to hold us over from her
Mississippi Scarlet
Tuesday, June 29, 2010 /
rihanna cant afford to stay out the spotlight for 2 seconds.
#imjustsaying
______________________________________________________________________
AS LONG AS THERE ARE PEOPLE LIKE YOU THAT CAN’T GO A DAY WITHOUT MENTIONING HER NAME SHE WON’T EVER BE OUT OF THE SPOTLIGHT
#IMJUSTSAYINGTOO
@ Judah. She kept walking on and off stage. What I wonder is at what point did she sell her soul? She speaks all this deep and poetic material, if she was such an intellect why would she do that transaction? Also, why did she take so much time off? If she was a pawn, would they not use her until they can’t anymore. Or was it because she spoke out and would not comply anymore, they took it all from her and painted her as crazy like Dave Chapelle?
How do some of you people get on these sites and say what people CAN or CANNOT do???? Do you know Lauryn personally? How in the hell do you know shes being tormented by spirts? Are you in her head? GET A LIFE!!!! Improve yourselves before you trying to determine the shortcomings of others!!!!!!
@ MEAT
you clearly know NOTHING about the music industry…
It is a major fucking machine and does crush people not willing to conform. People made fun of Lauryn and labeled her as “crazy” after her unplugged… did those people listen to the lyrics and “get it” ? probably not. I compare her departure to Dave Chapelle’s, two people at their peak that up and left the industry and then labeled crazy. There is a reason why they walk away from the fame and money.
By the way, that whole her Marley cheated on her and she went crazy story… I NEVER believed that crap for one second.
@ Judah
I think that she is just “broken”. She is talented and probably misses making music. She has played around with the idea of coming back for years. I saw her live at the Chapelle block party and people were so hyped to see her everyone was jumping up and down (i’m talking 2 feet off the floor) and screaming but as much as she was feeling the love, she looked torn. The chances of her coming back and being able to make music she wants to make are very slim. As we know, the music industry does NOT encourage consciousness. It’s all about looking like a whore or singing/rapping about being a whore for females. You’re right, I rather remember the good ole days than watch her come back and have her image changed, rearranged and looking deranged.