The Destruction of Lauryn Hill

February 8, 1999, TIME magazine blessed the cover with the face of hip hop artist Lauryn Hill, crowning her as Hip Hop’s matriarch. The issue was made to celebrate Hip Hop’s 20^th anniversary; highlighting the impact of rap music and its affiliated culture. The 12 page cover story examined many legend rap artists including Sugarhill Gang’s 1979 hit “Rappers Delight”. Yet they choose Lauryn Hill to represent Hip Hop.

It was during that time period when she realized her position. The resounding success of her empowering album, Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, put her in the position to lead the masses. It was evident that she would lead a new generation of rappers that were intent on stepping beyond explicit and misogynistic status quo and to emphasize person and conscientious themes.

But then things went all downhill. Her career took an unexpected turn.  People were wondering when she will return. Than they began to wonder if she would ever return at all. Rumors surfaced that Hill had bipolar disorder, received spiritual misguidance, and underwent paternity disputes. She denied nearly every interview. However in 2002 she finally made an appearance doing her live album, MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 which clearly showed her disillusionment. To make matters worse in June 2012 she was charge with tax evasion. She pleaded guilty to file tax returns on more than $1.8 million between 2005 and 2007. 

Before she went in, Hill made issued a statement to the public:

“…I entered into my craft full of optimism (which I still possess), but immediately saw the suppressive force within the system attempts to maintain its control over a give paradigm. I’ve seen people promote addiction, use sabotage, black listing, media bullying and any other coercion technique they could, to prevent artists from knowing their true value, or exercising their full power. These devices of control, of no matter how well intentioned (or not), can have a devastating outcome on the lives of people, especially creative types who must grow and exist within a certain environment and according to a certain pace, in order to live and create optimally…It became increasingly obvious that certain indulgences and privileges were expected to come at the expense of my free soul, free mind, and therefore my health and integrity…Individual growth was expected to take place unnaturally, or stagnated outright, subject to marketing and politics. Addressing critical issues like pop culture cannibalism or its manipulation of the young at the expense of everything, was frowned upon and discouraged by limiting funding or denying it outright” (click here for full statement).

Hill states that it were these conditions that led her to not be able to file and pay her taxes. “Someone did the math, and it came to around $600 million,” she said. “And I sit here before you trying to figure out how to pay a tax debt. If that’s not like enough to slavery…”. The question rises of why. Why the record were labels putting her in that position. It is because she resisted. She refused to “sell her soul”. But Hill had brought in an overwhelming amount of money that exceeded all expectations. During the week Miseducation hit shelves, Hill sold more than 420,000 copies, breaking the record release-week sales by any female artist. The Record Industry Association of America certified the album Gold a little more than a month after it came out and the record spent 81 weeks in the Billboard 200. They did not want to let that go.

Lauryn Hill is my favorite artist. Her outspokenness and positive outlook on situations makes her admirable. The soul that she put into her music captivated the world. She honest and intimate. She opened the doors for female artists who aren’t materialistic and flashing. It’s sad to say with the destruction of Hill, it tore the road she built. Yet the bridge that she made connecting Hip-Hop to mainstream stayed strong. 

Hopefully by now you can see how the greed of money that some record labels possess, can truly destroy people lives. 

There have been many articles stating the how record labels and corporations exploit black culture. However Hip-hop isn’t the only genre to be exploited. Is there a difference between the exploitations? Stick around and find out next week. Love and Peace.