Lauryn, where are your people?!
Just days ago, Lauryn Hill seemed (yet again) poised for another comeback. But now, the star — who’s seen no shortage of personal and professional troubles since rising to fame in 1998 — is in hot water with the IRS.
Federal authorities are charging Hill with tax evasion, saying she failed to file tax returns in 2005, 2006 and 2007. Hill made about $1.6 million in those three years, according to officials, mostly from music and film royalties. Hill also happens to own four corporations, according to court papers.
It’s a case of unfortunate timing for Hill, who just started winning back the trust of her fans after delivering two solid performances on back-to-back nights in New York and New Jersey.
First was her solo, one-night-only engagement at the Highline Ballroom in Manhattan, where she rehashed and remixed the best-loved hits from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. The show, unlike the ones during her maligned 2011 tour, started on time and featured a hospitable Hill, who assured her fans that she “never abandoned” them.
theGrio slideshow: Lookin’ back at Lauryn Hill through the years
A day later, when Hot 97 lost Nicki Minaj as the headliner for this year’s Summer Jam (thanks to a few choice and unflattering words from Hot 97 deejay Peter Rosenberg), producers scrambled and sent Ms. Hill out onto the stage, alongside Nas, to rock the crowd with her hip-hop classics — “Lost Ones,” “Ready or Not,” and “If I Ruled The World.” Rolling Stone‘s Jeff Rosenthal wrote that one fan was so stunned by Hill’s appearance that she began to cry.
The two performances were a stark contrast to the ones she delivered over a year ago — the one where she showed up hours late to venues, played unrecognizable versions of her most-loved songs and sometimes became confrontational and hostile with audiences. For fans who have been waiting 14 years for the Lauryn they remember smoothly crooning on “X-Factor” and blithely rhyming on “Lost Ones,” the two performances provided a glimmer of hope.
But now, with the IRS on her case, Hill has much more to worry about than disappointing her ever-loyal fans. If convicted of these federal tax evasion charges, Hill could be dealt up to $300,000 in fines and sentenced to time in prison.
How did it get to be this way for Lauryn Hill? A career that started with such sparkling promise has been terribly dulled by romantic woes, unprofessional antics and financial missteps. Are there no friends to provide words of wisdom? No mentors to offer sage advice? No public relations professional or trusted tax accountant? How has Hill managed to slip through so many cracks?
It could be that Hill has never been relieved of the pressure that comes with fame at an young age. It may be hard to believe, but Hill was still a teenager when struck gold with The Fugees in the mid-90s. And when The Miseducation dropped? Lauryn was just 23, a young woman unwittingly becoming something of an oracle to devoted listeners. The gift of The Miseducation is also its curse — even after 14 years, fans have never stopped wanting that version of Lauryn, the one who made them feel honest, and strong and beautiful, vulnerable yet ever-resilient. The common refrain among loyal Lauryn-ites has been, “We wanted too much,” and it repeated with every bungled public appearance, ill-received concert and unfulfilled promise of a return.
At the same time, it’s possible Hill has been focused on her role as a mother of six, and wanting to protect her children from the glare of the spotlight that became too much for her to bear. At her New York concert this week, she addressed the audience, saying, “I had to make sure I was safe and my family was safe. I never abandoned you.”
And it’s easy to see why Hill would want to protect herself — her relationships with Wyclef Jean and Rohan Marley have read less like fairy tales and more like Shakespearean tragedies. Her rocky relationship with Wyclef Jean is thought to be the reason behind the break-up of The Fugees. And though they were together for fifteen years and had five children, Lauryn and Rohan Marley were in what turned out to be nothing more than a “spiritual” marriage — that is, not legally husband-and-wife as Hill claimed early in the relationship. (Just last month, Marley announced that he’s now engaged to a Brazilian model.) Part of it could be that Ms. Hill simply has back luck in love — but part of it also has to be attributed to ill-advised decision-making when it comes to romantic relationships.
All told, it’s reasonable that fans are still eager to forgive and reconcile with Ms. Hill. The trouble is, the IRS isn’t an eager fan. The feds are the one audience Lauryn Hill can’t win over with a song and a mea culpa. Here’s to hoping Ms. Hill starts making more sound decisions — or at least consulting with people who can help her do that — and fast.
Veronica Miller can be found on Twitter at @veronicamarche.