Sourcce: Instagram

On Tuesday night, Lauryn Hill held an impromptu concert at the Williamsburg Hall of Music in Brooklyn to introduce her new single, “Neurotic Society Compulsory Mix.” Reaction to the news was mixed, considering everyone knows the singer is headed to prison in a month to serve a three-month sentence for tax evasion. But one person who thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to see her idol live was Melanie Fiona.

The Canadian singer took to Instagram to post a pic of her with Lauryn and express her feelings about seeing such an icon in person. She wrote:

I have had many blessed, spiritual, and unforgettable moments in my life… But none more inspiring and life altering than last night. For those of you have ever listened to my music as a full body of work, heard any of my interviews, or have been to any of my live shows… Knows, that Lauryn Hill is a driving force of inspiration in everything I do. There would be no first audition for me if couldn’t sing her version of “his eye is on the sparrow”… There wouldn’t be “Felony Miona” …. There wouldn’t be the artist you see today who isn’t afraid to bare her soul about life and love. And last night, I got to tell her that.

After seeing her murder the stage…I personally got to express my teary eyed gratitude. A REAL dream come true for me. Lauryn Hill is the true essence of artistry that I aspire to represent… One who can break barriers, colour lines, industry standards, and ignorant minds… All while making amazing heartfelt educated music. My life will never be the same… It will be better… For what I received last night in energy and inspiration will most definitely make me a better artist and woman in this industry. You will feel it. Thank You #LaurynHill… You are singlehandedly, hands down, the greatest to ever do it ALL… Triple Threat… And to inspire a musical generation so starved that we still anticipate any and everything that you will do in the future. With Love, Respect, Support and Gratitude, MF xo

Have any of you had a chance to see Lauryn Hill in concert? Can you identify with what Melanie Fiona felt?

It’s hard to stay relevant in the music industry. Every day there is a new face ready to drop their clothing and sing with auto-tune that can easily catch the attention of the masses and take it away from true talent. Nobody knows that more than these artists, who’ve had major highs in the industry, and quite a few lows as well. They’ve managed to bounce back and forth over the years, some finally getting positive shine, but their talents are so worthy, we just want to see them win in the long run. How about you?

Brandy

Source: WENN

Currently, Brandy is doing big things. She’s got a regular casting role as Chardonnay on The Game, recently put out a critically acclaimed album, Two Eleven, and she got engaged to music exec Ryan Press during the holidays late last year. But as we all know (and you can watch the Behind The Music) episode for further confirmation, things haven’t always been a winning situation for the singer. There was the fatal car accident, the fake marriage scandal, the reality show that didn’t paint her or her brother in the best light, and a fickle listening audience who stopped checking for her. Now that she’s regained a good amount of relevance, we’d love for her to keep it. B Rocka’s voice has always been one of our favorites!

Source(s): TMZ, WENN

90s songstress Lauryn Hill was sentenced to three months in prison last week for tax evasion, but her former Fugee’s group member Pras Michel isn’t convinced that she’ll actually have to serve any time though. TMZ recently caught up with the 40-year-old Brooklynite to pick his brain about whether or not he thinks there will be a Fugees reunion and to get the scoop on what he thinks of Lauryn’s sentencing.

“Any chance of you guys getting back together?” the cameraman asked Pras, who was seated in his navy blue vehicle.

“Eh, I don’t know about that,” Pras said, letting out a chuckle.

When asked if he’s spoken to Lauryn, he revealed that he tried to reach out to her, but she hasn’t returned his calls.

“Nah, I haven’t spoken to her. I did leave a call for her, so you know if she gets back to me… I just wanted to reach out be like, ‘Yo, whatever you need, I got your back.”

The cameraman then suggested that Lauryn would be fine, considering how short her sentence is, but Pras revealed that he isn’t too convinced that she will have to serve any time at all.

“I doubt if she’s going to do three months though. Listen, if Lindsay Lohan doesn’t have to do any time, why would she do time?” Pras asked.

Though Pras may not be taking the sentencing seriously, Lauryn certainly is. Just yesterday we reported that the singer has already put a plan in motion with the assistance of her former beau and baby daddy, Rohan Marley regarding who will care for her six children throughout the duration of her three-month prison stint.

We hope Pras is right, but we won’t hold our breath.

Check out Pras’ interview on the next page. Do you agree with his logic?

Source: WENN

Last week when we reported that Lauryn Hill was sentenced to three months in prison, despite the fact that she paid off her tax debt, some expressed concern about what would become of her six children, whose ages range from 1 – 15, while she serves her three-month stint.

Rohan Marley, who fathers five of Hill’s children told TMZ that although he is already very active in his children’s lives, he plans to step it up a notch and help out with his children as much as he possibly can while their mom serves out her prison sentence.

“I will be there even more while she is dealing with this … to make sure that everything is fine,” Marley said.

Rohan and Lauryn dated for thirteen years. The pair called it quits back in 2009. Sources tell TMZ that both Rohan and Lauryn agreed that the children will primarily stay with family and Rohan will support those family members in caring for the children. As previously reported, Lauryn has been ordered to turn herself in and begin her three-month sentence on July 8th.

Although this appears to be a very challenging situation, it’s great to see that Lauryn and Rohan are working together to make sure that things go as smoothly as possible for their children, who will more than likely feel much of the impact of their mom’s prison sentence.

It has been a few days since Lauryn Hill was sentenced to three months in prison for tax evasion, and since then, she has been mum so far on her thoughts about the whole situation. What we do know now is that Hill will have to report to prison on July 8. But before she was even sentenced, many of her fans, including a few celebrity ones, were pulling together to lobby for the singer to get a more lenient sentence. In a way, it seemed to work because Hill was facing a year each for three counts, and in the end, she only received three months, and she could possibly end up doing less depending on her behavior inside and considering other factors. But the singer took to her blog to thank the individuals who wrote on her behalf from around the world, including Alicia Keys and Stevie Wonder, and she says that she plans to share her thoughts on her situation soon:

I want to extend a sincere thank you to the following people, who wrote letters to the judge on my behalf:

Linda Banks, Edison, NJ

Davonne Breedlove

Binna Choi, Beijing, China

Hafiz Farid, East Orange, NJ

Miriam Anne Banks Farrakhan, Union, NJ

Vincent Gardner, New York, NY

Michael Green, Fair Bluff, NC

Elitta Harden, Ft Worth, TX

Mrs. Valarie Hill, South Orange, NJ

Maureen Hogan, Jersey City, NJ

Walter Jones, New York, NY

Alicia Keys

Elena Lau, Toronto, Canada

Jerald Miller, New York, NY

Tracy Morris, Jacksonville Beach, FL

Elise Munoz, France

Bunmi Olukoya, Laurel, MD

Jimmie Pierre, Trenton, NJ

Cherisse Pittman

Gabrielle Fulton Ponder, Atlanta, GA

Dominique Reese, Oakland, CA

Chris Schwartz, Philadelphia, PA

Ashley Scott, Brooklyn, NY

Derek Singletary, Astoria, NY

Dr. Sara Tai, Manchester, UK

Suzette Williams, Teaneck, NJ

Lisa Willis, Philadelphia, PA

Stevie Wonder

Jonathan Wunderlich, Cabarete, DR

 

And thank you Jerald Miller, for taking the initiative to put this together.

I also want to thank all of my family, friends, business associates, and fans who have called, emailed, sent texts, and posted messages of concern, encouragement, and support. I appreciate the well wishes, and I thank you for your prayers.

Also, to anyone who may have written letters that we did not know about, thank you also, all of you.

I will have more to say soon, but did not want to further delay expressing my appreciation.

 

Thank you again,

MLH

Lauryn Hill has so much to offer the world with her talent, and it’s a shame that she’ll have to do any real time. But as she used to say, “big ups” to all the people who found the time to write the judge and stand by the singer during such a trying time. Can’t wait to hear what her thoughts are on everything currently happening in her life.

Lauryn Hill leaving federal court in Newark last month. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

Despite her best efforts to avoid jail time because of her failure to pay taxes over the years, including paying off her tax debt at the 25th hour, Lauryn Hill has just been sentenced to three months in prison, as well as three additional months of home confinement for tax evasion.

According to the ABC affiliate in Philadelphia, while in court in Newark, New Jersey today, Hill tried to explain to the judge that she had every intention to pay those taxes, but wasn’t capable of doing so during a time when she separated herself from the music industry.

“I needed to be able to earn so I could pay my taxes, without compromising the health and welfare of my children, and I was being denied that.”

And as we said, she made an attempt and successfully completed payment of those taxes to the state and federal government, with her attorney saying she paid more than $970,000.

However, it seems that it was a little too late. You could say that things could be a lot worse, especially since Hill was facing a maximum sentence of “one year each on three counts.” But as a mother of six children, prison is the last place she needs to be. Hill and her attorney were hoping just for probation, and she even plead guilty, but just like actor Wesley Snipes (who served more than two years in prison for failing to file federal income taxes and more and was just recently released), she will have to face jail time despite paying back what she owed.

We’ll keep you updated on when she’s expected to start her sentence when the information is released, and any statements she puts out about the case, possibly on her blog. This is such a shame for such an extraordinarily talented woman, and we wish her the best.

Lauryn Hill leaving federal court in Newark last month. (AP Photo/Mel Evans)

UPDATE: Lauryn Hill has been sentenced to three months in prison and three months house arrest. Details here.

Lauryn Hill’s attorney Nathan Hochman says the Grammy-award winning singer has paid $900,000 in back taxes and penalties ahead of her sentencing for federal tax evasion, Reuters reports. Hill will be in court in Newark today to face the judge over failure to file tax returns on $1.8 million between 2005 and 2007.

Reuters says her sentence will be impacted by the amount she ultimately pays.

“Ms Hill has not only now fully paid prior to sentencing her taxes, which are part of her criminal restitution, but she has additionally fully paid her federal and state personal taxes for the entire period under examination through 2009,” Hochman said in an email.

Last month her attorney said she has arranged for loans on two pieces of real estate to cover the tax tab. He says the money didn’t come from music sales.

Hill did release a new song, “Neurotic Society,” this past week. She says it was another thing she was legally required to do, but felt strongly about the message in light of the death of Kriss Kross rapper Chris Kelly.

In a post on Tumblr a couple of weeks ago, Hill confirmed that she has a new contract with Sony Worldwide Entertainment to launch a new label and is working on new music. She added that she has been fighting a decade-long battle “for existential and economic freedom, which means the freedom to create and live without someone threatening, controlling, and/or manipulating the art and the artist, by tying the purse strings.”

Paul Smith/ WENN

When you are locked into contracts and legal battles, sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

On Saturday, without anyone knowing it was going to happen, Lauryn Hill dropped a song on her Tumblr page called “Neurotic Society (Compulsory Mix).”  I’m just going to put it out there now: it took a lot of focus for me to drown out the beat so I could understand what she was actually rapping about.

“Neurotic Society,” simply put, talks about the state of the world as Lauryn – and many others see it.  She believes the world is surviving because the people choose to be ignorant to a lot of things and focus on a “fake” world that isn’t of importance. Further, children are being taken advantage of and losing their innocence and quite frankly, many of us would agree with that.

Still, where in the world did this song come from? Well, when Lauryn posted it on Tumblr, she added the following message:

Hello All:

Here is a link to a piece that I was ‘required’ to release immediately, by virtue of the impending legal deadline. I love being able to reach people directly, but in an ideal scenario, I would not have to rush the release of new music… but the message is still there. In light of Wednesday’s tragic loss (of former label mate Chris Kelly), I am even more pressed to YELL this to a multitude that may not understand the cost of allowing today’s unhealthy paradigms to remain unchecked!

- MLH

Again, the electronic beat situation is “the most” but if you can get past it, you just might agree with the message:

Let us know what you think! By the way, if you do love it, “Neurotic Society” is available for purchase on iTunes.

Source: WENN

It’s like 1998 all over again, because everywhere we turn there’s Lauryn Hill again. However, we’re not getting her back in the way we were hoping for, as she’s come out of her sabbatical to do some touring (to not so rave reviews) and to battle legal troubles. In the midst of all that, the singer took to her Tumblr yesterday to speak on the reports that while trying to stay out of jail, she had inked a new record deal with Sony, to also announce that new music will be on the way, and to of course speak on how she had been bamboozled by the industry:

It has been reported that I signed a new record deal, and that I did this to pay taxes. Yes, I have recently entered into an agreement with Sony Worldwide Entertainment, to launch a new label, on which my new music will be released. And yes, I am working on new music.

I’ve remained silent, after an extensive healing process. This has been a 10+ year battle, for a long time played out behind closed doors, but now in front of the public eye. This is an old conflict between art and commerce… free minds, and minds that are perhaps overly tethered to structure. This is about inequity, and the resulting disenfranchisement caused by it. I’ve been fighting for existential and economic freedom, which means the freedom to create and live without someone threatening, controlling, and/or manipulating the art and the artist, by tying the purse strings.

It took years for me to get out of the ‘parasitic’ dynamic of my youth, and into a deal that better reflects my true contribution as an artist, and (purportedly) gives me the control necessary to create a paradigm suitable for my needs. I have been working towards this for a long time, not just because of my current legal situation, but because I am an artist, I love to create, and I need the proper platform to do so.

The nature of my new business venture, as well as the dollar amount reported, was inaccurate, only a portion of the overall deal. Keep in mind, my past recordings have sold over 50,000,000 units worldwide, earning the label a tremendous amount of money (a fraction of which actually came to me).

Only a completely complicated set of traps, manipulations, and inequitable business arrangements could put someone who has accomplished the things that I have, financially in need of anything. I am one artist who finds value in openly discussing the dynamics within this industry that force artists to compromise or distort themselves and what they do, rather than allowing them to make the music that people need. There are volumes that could (and will) be said.

MLH

Very interesting. This lack of creative control and behind-the-scenes manipulation going on in the industry in the quest for money is something Lauryn has been vocal about in the last few years, and we’re glad to hear that she has received a deal where she will be free to get back in the lab and create what she wants and say what she wants. But the question is, are you still down for some new music by Lauryn Hill?

Source: WENN

While I’m always for people lending a helping hand to folks, and Lauryn Hill could definitely use some help paying off her tax debt (and with a few other things), the idea that Wyclef Jean would offer out of all the people in the world just seems…odd. But that’s what he has done.

In an interview with DJ Green Lantern and Boss Lady on the Sirius radio show Invasion Radio, ‘Clef acted as if he wasn’t aware of her tax troubles or that she was even facing sentencing (which was postponed this week until early May), but he wanted to make it clear that despite their past squabbles, he wouldn’t want to see her end up in jail, or to see anything bad happen to her at all.

“That’s deep. What I could say to that is that at the end of the day, my heart goes out to her. I’m realizing…I have not been following that news at all…But I definitely wish her the best. That’s definitely a serious issue. Once again, if she’s listening, at the end of the day, my door is always open. I never closed my door to her in a sense of, if she ever needed anything, I was never the one to block–but she had mad people around her. But at the end of the day it’s one thing I learned about life. We could beef as much as we want, but if something was to really happen to her, I would feel bad. My arms is open…This is the first that I’m hearing about this news…but if she’s listening, I’m open.”

Hmmm. And on top of that, ‘Clef discussed the attempts in the past to get the Fugees back together and why each time was futile. A lot of if had to do with a lack of trust between members he claims, and he talks about how it led to him creating the very epic “Hips Don’t Lie” with Shakira–one of the best selling singles of all-time:

“Dave Chappelle got the Fugees together. He came and met us individually, and he didn’t have a deep story. He was just like, ‘I love the band. I think you guys should come rock with me.’ He’s funny, he’s pure, and he’s honest, and I felt other people were trying to get the band back together so that they could make billions. It’s hard with the Fugees because money never came first for us, integrity always come first. We ended up doing that, I thought it was great. When we went to the studio, keep in mind, when we did The Score, or when I met L and Pras when I was little…it was clear what everybody did in the group. What I am to the Fugees is like what will.i.am is to the Black Eyed Peas, it’s clear. I felt like once we came back, I felt like that trust was lost. I didn’t have that title no more…So then I went on and I worked with Shakira and I gave her the biggest song of all time. Written by Wyclef Jean, get it straight. I felt sad about the Fugees thing though.”

“There has to be a level of trust on what is it that every individual is doing. Like me, I’m a producer. What I’m best at doing is, I know how to create artists. I know how to blow up artists. I do it over, and over and over again…The time that  I worked with Lauryn and the amount of stuff I put together with her, I haven’t come across a female remotely close. When she’s focused the talent is the most ridiculous. It sounds like four aliens in one. For me, I respected her in that sense and she respected me as a producer. But I think what hapened was, so much time had passed and so much new groups were coming out so it was like, “Does this dude still got it?” And then I went on and tapped that thing for Shakira, but I was more wanting to do it for the Fugees, but if I went to the Fugees I wouldn’t have had “Hips Don’t Lie.”

Seems ‘Clef and Lauryn have just been at odds for too long. But I wouldn’t encourage her to take this man’s offer, seeing as how he’s been dogging her in public for the last few years. Especially after that whole issue he brought up for his memoir claiming she told him that her son, Zion, was actually his. Just seems like another thing for him to throw back in her face in the future. Run Lauryn, RUN!

What do you think about his comments?