Ms. Lauryn Hill has developed a reputation for hitting the stage after her appointed time. She was tardy again on Saturday night for her show in Los Angeles at the Kia Forum celebrating the 25th anniversary of her landmark The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill solo album and according to video by fans, she had something to say about her lateness.
“You’re saying’ ‘She’s late. She’s late a lot.’ Yo, y’all lucky I make it on this blood ras stage every night,” Hill said. “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 do it. God is the one who allows me to do it, who surrounded me with family and community when there was no support.”
Hill then went on to articulate what sounded like a lingering distaste over what she described as her limited musical options in the wake of Miseducation‘s smash success, which included more than 20 million in sales and five Grammy awards. “When the album sold so many records, and no one showed up and said, ‘Hey, would you like to make another one?’ So I went around the world, and I played the same album over and over and over and over again,” Hill said during the first of two shows at the venue, where she was once again joined by her Fugees bandmates Wyclef Jean and Pras for a portion of the show. “Because we’re the survivors, and we’re not just survivors, we’re the thrivers.”
Hills has never released another solo studio album in the wake of 1998’s Miseducation, which was followed-up in 2002 with the uneven MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 and a handful of non-charting one-off singles.
Hill had to hit pause on the tour last week, postponing a show in Fort Worth, TX after she said doctors ordered vocal rest after earlier postponing the third date on the run — in Philadelphia — due to similar issues. “As you may know, I’ve been doing my best to overcome a serious case of vocal strain/injury over the past week or so,” Hill wrote in a tweet just hours before curtain for the Fort Worth show. “I fought through the last couple shows, pushing my voice, and masking the injury with medication. This isn’t safe or sustainable. I woke up this morning hoping to have enough voice to get through tonight, but I can barely talk let alone sing or rap.”
Watch Hill’s statement about lateness below.
