Ms. Lauryn Hill may be sporadic with her music, but at least she is consistent with her bullsh*t. A recent Facebook post addressing her late concert arrivals have fans riled up. This past Friday (May 6), Hill arrived two-hours late to a show in Atlanta. The venue, Chastain Park, has a notoriously strict cut off time of 11 p.m. Hill’s mic was cut promptly at that time, resulting in her only being on stage for roughly 40 minutes. Upset concert goers took to Twitter to voice their frustrations. Their complaints fell on mostly deaf ears and many questioned why they are still buying Lauryn Hill concert tickets given her track record of not only showing up late for shows, but not performing the songs that people want to hear. Where Hill initially blamed her driver for her late arrival, she posted a lengthy, almost non-sensical letter revealing she is always late for her shows. Read the B.S. below: I don’t show up late to shows because I don’t care. And 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. Because I care so deeply about the artistic process, I scrutinize, have perfectionist tendencies, and want space made for spontaneity, which is not an easy process, with the many moving parts on the road. Some days we are more successful than others re time. However, the vitality that is infused into the performances is always appreciated by the audiences, who may not know exactly what it took to accomplish. What hasn’t been touched upon by the media, I’m sure, are the hundreds of people who rushed the stage and stayed in excess of an hour after the show ended last night, just to connect. Our challenge is to figure out the best way to accommodate the vitality, spontaneity, and spirit that make the performances worthwhile and special to begin with, while also making that experience available and accessible to others. If I didn’t Love and respect the art, I wouldn’t be doing this. The audience and I should have that in common. My true audience knows emphatically that I care. It isn’t possible to affect people in any deep and meaningful way without putting sacrificial time in. I have nothing but Love and appreciation for the fans in Atlanta, and regret not being able to give you a full show. We are figuring out a plan to make it up to you, and will announce details as soon as we have them. Respectfully, MLH Lauryn Hill posted the letter at 4:38 Sunday morning, perhaps thinking no one would see it. She was wrong. Her followers and what is left of her fanbase let her have it. Peep some of the reactions on the next page. CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE
