It’s May in Los Angeles. My friend Tami just moved to the area and we’re looking for things to do. The Do Over season is about to begin, and that’s great, but there will be plenty of time for those. What better way to introduce a friend to the West Coast than a concert that we couldn’t catch back home in Michigan? We’ll go see Lauryn Hill!
Years had passed since her shows in San Francisco and Oakland that left fans wondering what they were listening to, or who they had saw. It had been years since Rock The Bells 2010 in NY where concertgoers so fed up with her they walked away from the stage in droves. The 2010 Rock The Bells in D.C., the one where she was three hours late to a show because she desperately needed a manicure and pedicure was also an afterthought.
So I dole out $180 for two tickets; second row from the ceiling. Hop in my gas guzzling Ford and make the 17.6 mile trek to what is now the Microsoft Theater. In pure Lauryn Hill fashion we’re about 30 minutes late. Nothing major. Paid the $30 to park in a LA Live parking garage and head straight to the bar once we’re inside for $30 drinks. We get to our seats and the energy is palpable. Everyone is enjoying themselves. We’ve made a good decision. Right?
It was at this point Charlie Murphy’s voice never rang so loudly in my head before: “Wrong.”
Half an hour goes by. An hour. Another hour and a half. That palpable energy is turning into restlessness. Resentment. Anger. Two hours go by. During the wait, the crowd is given a DJ who makes it very known on the microphone every 15 minutes that he isn’t actually a DJ. I lost track after the two-hour mark but Lauryn finally emerges amidst a sea of mixed reaction; And she proceeded to give the most disjointed, clusterfuck of a performance I’ve ever seen.
With a vitriol that a native Michigander only reserves for things Ohio State related, I took to Twitter in a fury. After my tweets of disdain went viral, being noticed by LA Times writers and Billboard editors alike, we decided to leave 45 minutes into Lauryn’s struggle set.
This was 2014.
Fast forward to current day and Ms. Hill is back to her regularly scheduled antics yet again.
Social media exploded this past Friday after L-Boog swindled her constituents yet again, this time in Atlanta, as she showed up two hours tardy to her show at the Chastain Park Amphitheater. A venue known to have a strict curfew, the sound was promptly cut at 11 p.m. sharp: Just 40 minutes after the fallen Fugee finally took stage.
At this point the question should no longer be about why she continues to defraud her devotees. After a documented 11 years operating with impunity and no regard or respect for those who still support her, she is who we thought she was.
And we’re letting her off the hook.
For as many detractors over the past couple of days, there have been an equal amount of capes going up across the Internet. Caped crusaders have rushed to their keyboards to take arms with anyone who should find issue with Lauryn’s blatant disregard for anyone but herself. Similarities to stories of tardiness from Yasiin Bey of the early 00s all the way to Miles Davis and Nina Simone have been made to excuse her behavior. Overtures of possible mental health disorders have been used to absolve her of personal responsibility.
Even Lauryn’s contemporaries such as Talib Kweli have taken to Twitter with an Ivan Drago, “If she’s late she’s late,” approach. Never one to miss an opportunity for nonsensical rants, Kweli also chimed in to say that an artist who has given him “life” through their music doesn’t owe him the courtesy of being on time for a show or anything else.
Why after a decade of irreverence is Lauryn given a pass? Sister Act 2 was 23 years ago. The Score celebrated its 20th anniversary early this year; Miseducation turns 18 in August. Aside from the buffoonery of Billboard’s Top 10 Greatest Rappers list placing L-Boog at #7 and 2Pac not charting, she hasn’t done anything of worth in nearly two decades.
It’s time we start holding our artists, our luminaries accountable for their bullshit.
There’s no reason Lauryn Hill should still be able to tour. There’s no reason R. Kelly should even be a free man, let alone have a career. There’s no reason to defend Jill Scott after her defense of Bill Cosby. There’s no reason to let KRS-One off the hook for his placement of Hip-Hop over the well being of molestation victims. There’s no reason to excuse Erykah Badu’s illogical diatribe on the sexuality of grown men and teenage girls.
AND THERE’S NO REASON LAURYN HILL SHOULD STILL BE ABLE TO TOUR.
In a world where art is readily accessible, doling out hundreds of dollars for a show of someone who may not actually show, is simply financially irresponsible. YouTube has got your back for free, fam. If you like living life with your wallet in the toilet and a hand on the flusher, TIDAL has you covered with 1411kbps lossless files for $19.99 per month. Hell, don’t tell the RIAA I sent you but people still torrent. I’m sure RapGodfathers is still offering up your latest selection of iPhone-ready pirated albums.
But if you’re still undecided on buying those Lauryn Hill tickets remember that I, and thousands of others like me over the past decade, did that so hopefully you wouldn’t have to go through that.
If you listen closely, you can almost hear Her Highness getting the memo. Almost.
Marcel Williams is Michigan transplant thriving in Los Angeles and he loves his #HailHydra hashtag. Catch him on Twitter at @WHUTUPDOE.
She was late when I saw her but thankfully she was awesome on for two hours too just two hours late
Well said and I have to agree. As I noted in the original article about her ATL show, I’m still surprised that her fans buy tickets to her show. The fact that she’s been given this strange pass doesn’t do anything but allow her to keep behaving in the same fashion.
While Ms. Hill says that “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 guarantee that if venues stopped booking her due to lack of ticket sales, she would find a way to overcome the challenge.
James: That’s great that you got two great hours of a show out of her despite her being two hours late. Consider that a modern day miracle that thousands of people haven’t been so fortunate enough to experience after spending hundreds for that experience. What blows my mind is that like you, many people have to wait that long for someone to take the stage to perform. For no reason. What REALLY blows my mind is that people condone this and are ok with it. No matter how good the show was you got, it’s unprofessionalism at its finest.
I don’t know why we are still on this chick. She, along with Mos Def and Andre 3000, basically put up a middle finger to the fans be deciding to not put out music., which is there choice. Then when the need some chips/cred, they wanna put out some half ass bs and expect us to lap it up. Just for once I would like one of these artists to show up at an empty venue.
I think that we (listeners) believe in the resurrection of greatness. We throughly believe she will come back to prominence! The music that she has put out was so awe inspiring and to so fans life changing. I agree , no artist should be 2hours late ever. That’s disreceptful to fans. Deep down I just can’t fix my self to believe that she is washed up. I believe when God provides with that kind of talent. It’s there, she just needs to be inspired to knock the dust off and get right. Maybe I’m just a dreamer!
-fellow Michigan native (GunRu)
I wish I could share your optimism but after 11 documented years of the same shit? Nah. That ship has sailed.
Don’t ever disrespect MF Doom like that. The Metal Face Terrorist is dope. She is what you look at act like after doing dope, there is a difference.
Lmfao he has a similar track record when it ces to concerts, no? Even worse defrauding people by sending impostors in his Doom mask to lip sync. That might legit be worse.
I saw her myself at Rock The Bells a few years ago and she was a hot fucking mess. She was off beat and not preforming like I know she should’ve. From that day I refused to pay for her music or concerts. I do find it funny that people actually waited more than 30/45 mins without walking away and that “apology” is all that they’ve received? Today she canceled another concert all together….maybe it’s about time that she stops.
I seen Yasiin Bey once a few years ago, yes he was late like really late, but he had Jay Electronica open for him and he put together one of the best live performances I’ve ever seen, so he gets a past. That Lauryn Hill/The Weekend live performance I seen on that late night show was so cold, but she needs to step it up. She needs to put out another album or something.
Her 1 hour set @ New Orleans jazzfest was dope tho… She came out on time and killed it. Sorry to hear this tho.
thats great
It’s been 18 years since the mis-education and 20 since the score, after all these years of weak concerts and being super late idk why people would give her a dime. Don’t get me started on Kweli and his twitter account. Both these people owe the IRS way too much money to piss more people off.