Lauryn Hill Breaks Silence On Hiatus, Children & More

    For many years, one of the biggest questions looming in the music world has been, “Where is Lauryn Hill?” After creating critically acclaimed work as a member of the Fugees and as a successful solo artist, she stopped releasing music. This caused many fans to ask why someone at the top of the music world would leave it all behind. She began making rare appearances, building a mystique around her personality, story and work. In the Rap world, some have begged for her return while her former group members have said she is “mentally ill” and “the problem.” Through it all, few have gotten her to speak on the incredibly long hiatus. However, she seems to be poised for more appearances this year. She’s presently committed to performing at this year’s Rock the Bells and she recently did the Harmony Festival. It was at this Festival that NPR got a chance to speak with Ms. Hill about a variety of things, including that hiatus. 

    “There were a number of different reasons,” she told NPR when asked why she stopped releasing music. “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.”

    Adding some insight, Hill also shared that she has five children, the youngest of which is 2 years old.

    “I don’t know if you know this, but I have five children. The youngest is 2 now, so she’s old enough that I can leave her for a period of time and know she’s going to be okay. That’s one reason [Hill is starting to perform again]. And I think it’s just time. I’m starting to get excited again. 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.”

    Ms. Hill also spoke on the importance of taking care of herself when she is asked about the responsibility that comes with being an influential voice.

    “I have to take care of myself in order to take care of this gift, which has affected so many. I don’t treat it lightly. It’s important to me to be healthy and to be whole.”

    She also said that if she records again, fans may hear a different side of her.

    “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.”

    For more of this interview, the whole interview with NPR can be read here.

    98 thoughts on “Lauryn Hill Breaks Silence On Hiatus, Children & More

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    1. she’s obviously fuckin nuts but oh well. genius and insanity go hand in hand sometimes. anyway, ms. hill will be welcome wit open arms if she ever decides to make a comeback.

    2. Hope she don’t get too gospel, or try to do soft rock and tempo, other than that seem find I guess as long as it’s good.

    3. Shes a Beast. shes what a lot of hip-hop/r&b artists wannabe!!! She took the hip-hop game by surprise

    4. Mann I wish she didn’t have the mental issues…this lady would’ve definitely been at the top of the game. Hands down most talented female in our decade! Please come back out and not with no weird shit…

      1. theres alot of artists (meanin not jus music) who got mental issues dmx, stanley kubrick (r.i.p) tim burton & budden etc

    5. Im glad I didn’t read a comment about “The Illuminati” or some dumb shit. Even though she does mention how “the machine” of the music industry wasn’t ready for what she was trying to bring to the table. Lauryn is the best female rapper of all time.

    6. Fuck Lauryn Hill. I refuse to read your article about her, listen to her shitty music, or give her any more of my attention after I’m done posting this comment. I’m not a hater by any stretch of the imagination but I will always and forever bash L. Hill for being the racist no good piece of shit she really is. This no good bitch has the gull to call out white people and nobody says a thing about it at the time yet you turn that around and have a guy like John Mayer say a couple things about some black people and OH SHIT the entire world has come to a stop cause he’s a worthless piece of shit. Well I say fuck Lauryn Hill, and Fuck John Mayer. They both racists and racists are nobodies besides losers who have self esteem issues. And that goes for any of you D-Bags on here posting racist type comments as well. I’ll smack the shit out a racist!

      1. calm yo stupid ass down!!! there has been so much racism in the industry, not just them two. damn near ever black artist has thrown shots at the white man, whites are just too scared to, not because they have respect cause thats BULLSHIT!!! Lauryn Hill spoke her mind about whites and blacks, like many others and im sure yo ass is racist too like 99% of the world you duck.

      2. John Mayer say a couple things about some black people ,i think he did more than say a couple of things.but i got to say you quite funny.

      3. Lol what? Dude she never said anything about white people that was false. You a butthurt fucka. Writing essays hating like you’re a blogger on xxlmag.com. Shame

      4. Json, While I agree with you about her being a racist (because she did say a lot of shit about white people Yungsuny), but her music is far from shitty. She is a real MC. I don’t really like the idea of her singing more than rapping though. PS, John Mayer said he isn’t attracted to black women. He said it in a ridiculously stupid way, but I don’t believe he is a racist.

      5. “I’d rather die than have a white person buy one of my albums.” Lauryn Hill. Hey her music was good, just like 2Pac, but personally I can’t stand them as people because they are racist. JSon remember that black people are mad dramatic. They think how many years later they can still bring up slavery which is bullshit anymore. You don’t hear the Jews still bitching!

      6. idk about that last statement. i hear jews bitch all day. but again i hear cubans bitch, white people bitch, blacks, etc. you can lable a race. people are people. take a look at these new dudes growing up. they do mad pillow talking and act like they’re on a menstral cycle. that’s supposed to be for females but these younger dudes are doing it too. in the end people are all the same.

        plus that “i’d rather have white poeple buy my album” statement is a bit blown out of proportion i believe. if a dude said “i’d rather have girls buy my albums” would you call him sexist? i’m spanish and taking no sides. its not like what the dude from seinfeld pulled.

      7. Totally agreed! calm down my ass. who do you think bought a majority of her shit at retail, and lined her ass with cash??? The very stupid white people who she cant stand!!! She didnt speak her mind, she just made herself sound like a backwards, ignorant fuck!!! The answer to racism is more racism??? Not impressed, never thought she was this GENUIS like everyone else did, and could give a shit about what she does. No we are not too scared to speak our minds jackass, HELLO! It’s 2010, if you look at someone the wrong way you get called a racist! She was not brave just stupid! All it did was cost her record sales, and no 99% of rappers over the years had their issues, but none were STUPID enough to actually come out and specifially say they hate white people, even friggin Ice-T was smarter than that years ago. Artists like Biggie, Jay-Z, Busta ryhmes always seemed to respect talent no matter where it came from…… All she did was limit herself and sound dumb. It’s about the talent and the green people, NOT the color or sex

      8. LMAO @ this non-sense. If you have problems with her and Tupac spitting racist shit against white people, then you might as well leave most of Hip-Hop alone.

        Most of what Hardcore MC’s spit is anti-white, including the MC’s that *are* white. But it pays to be in denial, I guess. Carry on then.

        To the person that said “you never hear Jews bitch”…. Wow, you are one ignorant ding bat. What the fuck do you think “Never Again” is about?

        Kill yourself, fuckin’ dumb ass.

      9. You should kill yourself homie for calling someone a ding-bat wtf is that. Now apparently your stupid ass can’t read..”Hey her music was good, just like 2Pac, but personally I can’t stand them as people because they are racist”. Never bitched about the music cocksucker, just the comments they made in interviews. Same as Kanye, hate his ass but he makes good music. Read the whole thing before making yourself sound like a retard.

    7. Personally thought her best comeback window was around the time of College Dropout when Kanye was doing the soul samples. Lauryn Hill over that landscape or something like Common’s “Be” would have been epic.

      Just don’t know where she’d fall in today’s landscape dominated by sounds like Drake’s and Lady Gaga’s. Very talented artist. Let’s hope she gets it together.

    8. Dang JSON… tell us how you really feel (nh).

      In all seriousness (and I respect his stance cause he does have valid points with the double standard), L Boogie was proven to be a fraud for one with the songwriting credit demo. I think people have forgotten about such. Lauryn was always overrated, overhyped, and a pure marketing tool. She didn’t write her own music…so therefore she didn’t actually have her own talent. Sure she was a good looking face behind the marketing but didn’t the infamous MTV Unplugged demo and other appearances kinda show the obvious after all of this was deemed true, amongst the public as well as in a court of law?

      I wish her well-being, good health, and happiness but please. Hip hop doesn’t need another fraud truthfully….especially one that was found out to be such as fraud.

      1. many, many, many of the greatest artists of all time had people write their lyrics…Motown had some of the best “writers” of all time…does that make the temptations frauds?

      2. She had issues about production/executive producer credit for her solo album…which ended up being settled i believe…

        No one ever said they wrote her lyrics (song or otherwise) when it wasn’t credited..if someone was writing her lyrics who are they? Wyclef?–no body from their circle could rap in the style she did and she was better than most of her contemporaries..

        Real frauds are the ones that clearly have someone’s style and pretend as though they are original while reciting regurgitated lines with no substance other than talkin about “i’m doin me” or “i’m drivin’ this” or in the case of female rappers taking pride in being superficial materialistic self described “b*tches”…Lauryn Hill is an artist

    9. She cool, but Im not buying what she speaking. At the end of the day someone who had reached her level could EASILY have the machine work for her. Im sure it was other issues other than that affecting her outside of that and wanting to have kids. Still, she has a chance to come back…even though someone mentioned the enviroment right now having the Gaga’s and Drake’s, you also have MIA, Santigold, Jean Grae and others like that who still carry the L. Boogie tradition. There’s a market out there and the industry and fans both would welcome it as long as she comes out with heat and the right support (in terms of producers, AR’s, features even)

      1. Immortal Technique once said that if there’s a market for fetish porn than there’s a market for everything else, including good music.

      2. lol but your point is valid. She will do well…theres an allure to her especially in the Hip Hop/Indie community by both those who do it and those who just act like they part of the culture.

    10. All this “the game needs her” and “save us from the wackness” is complete bullshit! As soon as she comes back and releases an album, you same muthafuckas will be crying about how it’s not like her old shit or what you expected. You deserve every Nicki Minaj and Ke$ha that you get!

      1. I completely agree with you. Nicki Minaj won BET “Best Female Hip Hop Artist”. You know why? Because people don’t demand more from the music that they listen to. Lauren Hill was one of the most prolific women to ever touch a microphone. But people today hold Nicki Minaj and other artists like her in the same light and it’s sad really. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not hating on Nicki, but I personally need more than a phat ass and some gimmicks to convince me she’s worth the hype.

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    11. L.Hill should just do whatever puts her at ease. It’s not like she’s strapped for cash or anything of the sort. And how is she suppose to make it into an industry where the popularity of music is dictated by the amount of airtime you get on stations, which are targeted at teeny boppers, and only allow songs where the emphasis is on beats and hooks. And if she did put out another album it probably wouldn’t get backing from heads cause she’s a hip POP aritist (the best there’s ever been). Which means she’s the musicical descendent of the top 10 hit radio sensations who’ve basterdized her style of music and that might turn people away who think she sounds like B.o.B. or Drake.

    12. Would love to see if lauren has still got it lyricaly also when recording..but could she still get the backing in this… bling dance bubble metrosexual gum age…

    13. while i support her come back and is guaranteed to PURCHASE the album when it comes out, something inside me is saying that this will not go as planned for LH or us.

      i will say this….If she ends up sounding the way mainstream sounds music today, i am wrapping my lips around a desert eagle and say “…give me a kiss baby!”, then pull the trigger. SERIOUSLY!!! THAT WILL BE THE END OF GOOD MUSIC (NOT GET OUT OF MY DREAMS MUSIC BTW)!!!

    14. 5 kids!? no wonder shes creeping out of hiding. Home girl needs the cash. Is it me or does her response sound a little out there on the schizo tip. Either way she was one the best to ever do it. good luck to her.

    15. Whatever man, I have no patience for that crazy shit Lauryn’s on, and from reading this it doesn’t sound like she got over it so in the meantime not interested.

    16. the greatest and realest….lol @ the ignorant comments by some. u cant beat the truth no mater how hard u try folks..lmao

    17. lol.. Lauryn Hill… she always says the realest shit, no matter what. She literally just opened up my eyes a lil bit more. For me, this interview was a very conscience perspective on not just how hip hop is made, but how it is also consumed.

      “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.”

      lol… in order words, the industry is a controlling machince forcing practitioners (emcees primarily) to make premature decisions when making music for the public. .

      Think about it, thats why all the music these days really sound the same, or should i say everybody just talks about the same shit. 95% of the content in hip hop, both underground and commercial, focuses on the same shit: which is really nothing at all. music is just not what it used to be… I think Lauryn saw that coming, and still sees it in the stat quo. Her argument is that she had to ground herself in the world before she created music for the world, especially at the level she was and making the amount of money she was making. She could have easily gotten caught up in the machine! and she had 5 kids, lol…

      anywho, as far as her music goes. i look forward to it. i think she needs to let kanye executive produce her whole album. otherwise, i cant see too many producers covering her the way she needs to be covered in order to dive back into popular culture. we’ll see. im not expecting anything incredible, but i would like to hear her on a track or two, just to see what it sounds like. especially if she talking bout singin. imma need her to kick some rhymes too…

    18. It’s easy for people to label that which they do not understand as “crazy”.

      Eeveryone that is real understands exactly what she is saying, and respects Lauryn Hill for what she has done, and what she is.

      All the soulja boy kiddies postin on here sayin she her response sounds crazy – The real music isn’t made for your undeveloped minds in the first place.

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    20. IMA SPLACK BABY GURL WHEN I SEE HER. IMA HOLLA AT THAT FINE PSYCHOTIC CRAZY PIECE OF AZZ. WORD IS BOND, FAGGOT ASS NIGGAS.

    21. lauryn hill makes great music(at least used to) but is even better at being crazy. Just like Wyclef, she fell off. Only Wyclef didn’t go crazy he now makes Ritz cracker commercials with Auto-tune and spews out terrible music album after album.

    22. i don’t care if this sista sings the phonebook a-z just put out something. i’m a very big fan and we need more artist like her today. she is pure talent, as a lyricist and songstress. that is very, very rare today; nearly extinct. come back please so i can have something decent to listen to.

      1. Naw…why record with a person who can sing..and is a gimic? Lauryn Hill does not need to get with the wack….

      2. Naw…why record with a person who can’t sing..and is a gimic? Lauryn Hill does not need to get with the wack….

    23. Lauryn Hill WAS, IS and will still be one the THE best women in music to bless the mic!! so wahtever it is everybody thinks, bow down to the QUEEN of hip hop!! sheeeeee’s baaack!!

      1. Very classy “Rusty Scars” !!! At least Lauryn has more grasp of the English Language then you do….oh wait….that’s why she IS Ms. Lauryn Hill and you are…simply….rusty scars!

    24. I think she is washed up. Too much time has passed since the last album, she has too much bagage plus the people who wrote the last album with (or for her) all sued her. Her reputation for being a flake these past few years will make it hard to get a quality producer to want t take on the product!

      1. your are right!!…..she IS very “washed up”!…..stay home with your 5 kids…you sound like SHIT on the mic!

    25. Ms. Hill Welcome Back, you have been missed.

      I don’t understand the need to task musicians “to keep it real” and when they do the public trashes them. Keep your ownself real and try not to worry so much about those that don’t even know your name. Purchase her music if you desire to and leave it alone if don’t. Just wondering how many of the public has or knows someone with “mental issues” and tears them down the same way you do in a comment post.
      Working her craft and proud of her.

    26. Lauryn Hill is an amazing artist…welcome back Lauryn…I’d love to see her do something with Phonte, where they’re both rapping and singing…that would be truly dope. Just picture Lauryn Hill ft. Foreign Exchange = Greatness

    27. I never knew what the hype was with her. She just talked about nothing deep over beats. Her voice even annoys me. It sounds raunchy. Her mind seems fried on Marley’s maryjane. That stuff is more harmful than some know…

      1. You see I loved hard once, but the love wasn’t returned
        I found out the man I’d die for, he wasn’t even concerned
        And time it turned,
        He tried to burn me like a perm
        Though my eyes saw the deception, My heart wouldn’t let me learn
        From um, some, dumb woman, was I,
        And everytime he’d lie, he would cry and inside I’d die.
        My heart must have died a thousand deaths
        Compared myself to Toni Braxton thought I’d never catch my breath
        Nothing left, he stole the heart beating from my chest
        I tried to call the cops, that type of thief you can’t arrest
        Pain suppressed, will lead to cardiac arrest
        Diamonds deserve diamonds, but he convinced me I was worth less
        when my peoples would protest,
        I told them mind their business, cause my s*** was complex
        More than just the sex
        I was blessed, but couldn’t feel it like when I was caressed
        I’d spend nights clutching my breasts overwhelmed by God’s test
        I was God’s best contemplating death with a Gillette
        But no man is ever worth the paradise MANIFEST

    28. if u listen to roots….u know bout lauryn
      if u listen to talib kweli, mos def…u know bout ms. hill
      if u listen to k. west…u know bout l. boogie
      feel me? if u get down with that soul infused rap…u appreciate lauryn hill

      BUT…
      if u listen to lil wayne…u aint up on lauryn
      if u under 21…educate urself on the miseducation
      if u hatin on l. boogie…u prolly on nikki minaj tit
      buncha homos…i hear u singin lil kims hook from “magic stick” from here

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    31. Welcome back Ms. Hill!!!!!!!!!!!!!! this is what the game is missing all us real hip hop heads understand that it is very important for lauryn to re educate us …. the death of hip hop was a tragic death now it feels like ms hills return can really get the game back to wat its been wanting yall young cats that thinks wezzy & all them are rap are about to get a slap in the face

    32. @ Json –

      Lauryn Hill NEVER said she did not want white people to but her music. It was an internet rumor you dum my!! Google it!! I t was a lie made up by acaller to that racist Howard Stern’s show… I bet you listen to him though.

      Lauryn was raised in a white jewish neighborhood and even had white musicians play on her Miseducation record. Do your homework and stop reading lies on the internet.

      Lauryn Hill is simply the greatest lyricist in the ZHISTORY of HIP HOP MUSIC.

      Listen to –

      Final Hour , Watch Out for Babylon on Utube and tell me she isnt the best lyricist.,

    33. Lauren u had 5 children by a married man, I would have LOST my mind too when he called ur little relationship a situation – damn!

    34. Lauryn, you need to get back in the studio. We miss your music baby!

      Go to platinumcatbeats.net for the hottest music instrumentals on the web.

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