Editor’s note: The following article is an op-ed, and the views expressed are the author’s own. Read more opinions on theGrio.
I don’t know what Lauryn Hill is talking about, but I do know that she’s as wrong as two left shoes. For years, one of her fans’ biggest complaints has been that Lauryn is chronically late to her shows if she arrives at all. It’s become a big part of her reputation and image. She’s been showing up three hours late or four hours late over and over for years, and it’s not cool. I experienced it in 2014 when she performed at the Brooklyn Bowl in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. She was like two hours late to the stage, and while I knew that she was going to be late because she is so often, it was still frustrating.
In 2011, after Lauryn showed up four hours late to a show in New York, the crowd booed. Lauryn told them that their booing was “disrespectful.” I think she’s got that backwards.
That night at Brooklyn Bowl, just before Lauryn took the stage, I remember seeing four of her six children standing together near the stage. That reminded me that Lauryn has a lot going on in her life, and it could have been that she was late because of some family responsibility. Perhaps she refused to say no to one of her children even though people were waiting. Maybe. I wrote a long piece in 2003 called “The Mystery of Lauryn Hill” about how turbulent Lauryn Hill’s life had been and how it had gotten in the way of her making her art. I know Lauryn is an extremely principled and very serious person. I can see her demanding the right to put her family first even if there are thousands of fans/strangers waiting for her. I don’t know if any of that is true, but that’s a vibe I got after interviewing her several times and seeing her interact with her kids.
In 2016, Lauryn said on Facebook: “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.” I don’t really get what that means, but I think it’s like she wants to get onstage when the vibes are right and that usually comes together many hours after the start time set by some promoter who just wants things to run on time.
This past weekend at a show in Los Angeles Lauryn said, “They say, ‘She’s late a lot.’ Yo, y’all lucky I make it on this stage every night. I don’t do it because they let me do it, I do it because I stand here in the name of God.” OK, but God is always on time so I’m confused. But seriously, that’s not an explanation, and it’s not even an attempt at a defense. That’s offense. That’s a verbal middle finger. That’s “Let them eat cake.” That’s “My presence is a present.” Now I’m mad. Now I feel disrespected.
I miss Lauryn Hill
When an artist announces a concert, there’s a presumed contract with the fans. I will pay, and you will show up (probably), and you’ll get onstage at a reasonable time (probably), and you’ll do about two hours of music. I say probably because unlike sports fans or theater fans, music fans know that there’s always a chance that the band won’t come at all or they won’t stay long — I’ve seen both Herbie Hancock and the White Stripes walk off after 20 minutes. Very disappointing but not shocking.
To say “You’re lucky I’m here at all,” suggests you’re fortunate that I decided to keep my word. Um, you’re supposed to keep your word. You said you were going to be here. You don’t get extra points for showing up when you said you would.
If Lauryn had said, “Hey, my life is harder than you even know” or “I know I’m late a lot, but my responsibility to my family comes first,” or even “I was waiting for God to tell me when to go out,” then it might’ve come across as touching and understandable. But instead, she said something that felt arrogant and imperious.
Lauryn is an artist with fans in their 40s and 50s. The people who loved her when she dropped “Miseducation” are now parents. It takes a lot for us to get to a concert — we gotta get someone to take care of the kids, and we gotta find the energy to be out late. Lauryn showing up wildly late is a wrecking ball that blows up a delicately planned evening. For her to say, “You’re lucky I came at all” is tone-deaf. It’s also backwards.
Yes, Lauryn is a legend but Talib Kweli once said to me, “You don’t retire from the fans, the fans retire you.” He meant usually people stop paying attention to you before you’re ready to quit. So even for someone of Lauryn’s stature, she’s the one who’s lucky. She’s fortunate that we still want to see her perform. I don’t mean that disrespectfully, but the fact is she’s a legacy artist. By that I mean she’s not releasing new music or trying to get to the top of the charts or doing big stadium tours like say Beyoncé or Drake. She’s performing her old music in medium-sized venues. That’s not a diss; that’s a great place for a mature artist to be, and it’s potentially very lucrative.
But when you’re beyond the stage of releasing new music it’s a different game — you’re relying on the fans to come to see you do your same old stuff again. Comedians have to keep on reinventing their act. Actors have to move from job to job. But singers who are in the legacy act stage of their career get to go out and sing the same old songs. You are the one who should be grateful that we still want to see you do your thing again.
Touré is a host and Creative Director at theGrio. He is the host of Masters of the Game on theGrioTV. He is also the host and creator of the docuseries podcast “Being Black: The ’80s” and the animated show “Star Stories with Toure” which you can find at TheGrio.com/starstories. He is also the host of the podcast “Toure Show” and the podcast docuseries “Who Was Prince?” He is the author of eight books including the Prince biography Nothing Compares 2 U and the ebook The Ivy League Counterfeiter.
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