Lauryn Hill “Explains” Her Recurring Lateness: “Y’all Lucky I Make It On This Stage Every Night”
On Saturday (Nov. 4), Lauryn Hill directly explained her perpetual lateness and why she only has one studio album during the first of two shows held in Los Angeles for The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill 25th Anniversary Tour.
“People say, ‘Oh, she’s late.’ ‘She’s late a lot.’ Yo, y’all lucky I make it on this blood ras stage every night,” Hill declared in a viral video (below). Surrounded by her daughters, Selah and Sara as well as her mother, Valerie, the 48-year-old continued, “Pour out my heart and my soul on this stage. And I don’t do it because they let me do it. I do it because I stand here in the name of God. And I know it. God is the one who allows me to do it, who surrounded me with family and community — when there was no support, when the album sold so many records and no one showed up and said, ‘Hey, would you like to make another one?’”
She concluded, “So I went around the world, and I played the same album over and over and over and over again. Because we are survivors, and we’re not just survivors, we’re thrivers.”
The sentiment was part of a bigger speech praising her mother in honor of her birthday.
Anita Baker was among those defending Hill as backlash ensued. The “Caught Up In The Rapture” singer tweeted, “Much Respect, Queen. Women often DISrespected, On the Road. Given Sub Par Equipment. Timetables & Deadlines. [Are] often *Disregarded Even tho we pay Vendors the same$$$… sometimes Double & receive Sub-Par, service. & guess who bares The Blame. Women. Don’t quit, Queen!”
A fan also showed their support for Hill by adding, “Such a Queen! I’ll be seeing her next month and I’ll wait all night for her!” Meanwhile, there were several others who weren’t condoning Hill’s behavior and felt her speech should’ve just been a simple apology.
One tweeted, “if you’re going to a Lauryn Hill concert and expecting anything to do with ‘timely’ you’re just playing your schedule and time at that point. this album changed lives, we know this, but nobody is above common courtesy.” Someone else commented on TikTok, “Naw you lucky they still paying to come see you. Be humble in your tardiness sis. We love you,” while another chimed in calling this, “The Misunaccountability of Lauryn Hill.”
In regards to Hill’s claims that nobody wanted to make a second album with her, many believed this was her own fault as noted in a 2003 Rolling Stone op-ed. A source expressed, “I think Lauryn grew to despise who Lauryn Hill was,” and shared that there were multiple factors that caused the New Jersey native to retreat from the spotlight including allegations of unprofessionalism and using God/spirituality as a form of payment for services rendered when it came to creating new music.
This isn’t the first time that Hill has addressed her habit of tardiness. Back in 2016, she explained on Facebook that the lateness was actually about “aligning [her] energy.”
“I don’t show up late to shows because I don’t care,” shared the “Ex-Factor” songbird.
“I have nothing but Love and respect for my fans. The challenge is aligning my energy with the time, taking something that isn’t easily classified or contained, and trying to make it available for others. I don’t have an on/off switch. I am at my best when I am open, rested, sensitive and liberated to express myself as truthfully as possible. For every performance that I’ve arrived to late, there have been countless others where I’ve performed in excess of two hours, beyond what I am contracted to do, pouring everything out on the stage… If I didn’t Love and respect the art, I wouldn’t be doing this. The audience and I should have that in common.”
View Hill’s full speech above and additional photos from the show below.
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