ms. lauryn hill
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Paul Natkin / Getty
The legendary Roberta Flack was laid to rest on Monday (March 10) in New York during a public memorial service that featured words from the Rev. Al Sharpton and other notable figures. Stevie Wonder was on hand for a moving tribute, along with a surprise appearance from Ms. Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean.
Roberta Flack passed away on Feb. 24, sparking several responses from entertainers and music lovers from around the world on social media. Flack’s influence and towering legacy were mentioned several times throughout the service, and Rev. Sharpton artfully illustrated the vocalist’s significance in Black music culture, as reported by the Associated Press.
The outlet added in its reporting that Stevie Wonder was a scheduled performer, and other performers, such as Valerie Simpson of Ashford & Simpson fame, took to the stage. Phylicia Rashad, who shared that she first encountered Flack as a young vocalist while attending Howard University, remarked how arresting the singer’s voice was then.
There were also video tributes delivered by Clive Davis, Dionne Warwick, India.Arie, and Alicia Keys, along with remarks delivered by many in attendance in honor of Flack and her lasting legacy.
The appearance of Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean was not on the docket, and Hill delivered a speech citing Flack’s influence on her life.
“I adore Ms. Roberta Flack,” Hill said during a speech. “Roberta Flack is legend.”
Hill performed a rendition of “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” and then launched into the Fugees’ award-winning cover of “Killing Me Softly With His Song,” with Wonder joining on harmonica and Jean on guitar. Wonder then took to the stage and performed “If It’s Magic” alongside a harpist. Wonder then went to the piano and performed “I Can See the Sun in Late December,” a song he wrote for Flack.
Roberta Flack was 88 at the time of her passing.
Watch the memorial service in full below.
—
Photo: Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Steve Jennings / Getty
After a few embattled show experiences, Ms. Lauryn Hill is pausing her anniversary concert tour due to vocal strain and her desire to avoid any lasting effects of the steroid prednisone.
The Grammy-winner took to Instagram to share the news with fans, writing, “As many of you may know, I’ve been battling serious vocal strain for the past month. I made it through each show by taking prescribed prednisone, but this can be detrimental to the body when taken in large amounts over long periods of time,” Hill said. “In order to prevent any long-term negative [effects] on my voice and my body, I need to take time off to allow for real vocal recovery so that I can discontinue the medication completely.”
The tour has hit many major U.S. cities including New York and Los Angeles. The tour was supposed to run through the middle of December.
Hill began her post saying, “I’d like to start this off by saying how much I’ve enjoyed being on the road, and how much I appreciate all of the fans who have come out to celebrate this incredible milestone anniversary and history making reunion with us. Being able to tour this album to sold out crowds after 25 years has been an emotional experience! I’ve loved sharing the stage again with Wyclef and Pras. The Return of the Fugees has been powerful and amazing—those who’ve witnessed it can testify,” Hill said. “The tour itself reminds us the artists, and the audiences alike of earlier, perhaps less complicated times when ‘It could all be so simple…’ or ‘Ready Or Not, here I come!’ were on repeat on the airwaves. Simply put, classic. Classic music, classic performances with audiences who love those classics has been nothing but…wait for it…EPIC. (I almost said classic again!)
When the tour picks back up there are expected to be new tour stops added including some in Europe.
Released in 1998, the singer’s legendary album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill achieved historic commercial success. The now-classic album debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart, selling approximately 422,624 copies in its first week and eventually becoming certified 8x Platinum in the United States by the RIAA, according to BET. The album won five Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year.
Miseducation remains Hill’s only solo studio album.
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Ms. Lauryn Hill and the tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of her debut solo album is one of the hottest tour tickets in the world. However, the rapper and vocalist is growing tired of complaints about her lateness when it comes to performing and addressed the crowd during a recent tour stop.
Ms. Lauryn Hill stopped in Los Angeles, Calif. this past weekend and arrived on the stage later than the scheduled time. While there, Hill, perhaps sensing the complaints that were possibly on some minds of the patrons in attendance, spoke to the issue directly. The speech can be seen in full as posted by VIBE R&B reporter Mya Abraham.
As it stands, Hill is aware of the complaints, something she once mentioned on the track “Nobody from” Nas’ King’s Disease II album in 2021.
Hill doesn’t dive too deeply into why she arrives on the stage at the staggered times that she does, but it appears that she isn’t exactly lacking understanding. What it does illustrate is that she hopes to gain some empathy from her fans instead of the constant complaints.
Joining Hill on the tour are her Fugees bandmates Wyclef Jean and Praz Michel, doing new renditions of their past hits from the two albums the trio recorded in the 1990s.
On X, formerly Twitter, fans are reacting to the footage that was released, along with their thoughts about the speech. Check out those replies below.
—
Photo: Christopher Polk / Getty
HipHopWired Featured Video
Over the weekend, The Roots Picnic out in Philadelphia was making noise for some of its surprise sets such as the reunion of State Property, but fans in attendance were really taken aback when Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, and Pras reunited to become The Fugees one more time.
According to TMZ, the multiplatinum rap group put the band together for what could be the last time this past Saturday (June 3) during The Roots Picnic Music Festival and while on stage performed “Ready or Not” much to the delight of the surprised crowd.
Though it’s not clear if they went into their illustrious catalog of hits, their mere presence was enough reason to celebrate as the group hasn’t been on the same stage for quite some time and may not get a chance to do so for again as Pras is facing up to two decades in prison of conspiracy for defrauding the United States.
Celebrating the 25th anniversary of her classic album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, L-Boogie was doing her thing on stage before Wyclef and Pras eventually joined her and got the crowd rowdy and rocking.
TMZ reports:
Sounds like the show went off without a hitch, and the festival’s key organizer — Questlove — was certainly grateful. He took to IG with a throwback post of one of The Fugees’ first gigs, noting this may well be one of the final times they join forces like this in this setting.
He wrote, “@MsLaurynHill did us a solid by letting us not only letting us celebrate with her the classic #MiseducationOfLaurynHill but she also made a moment by bringing together her bredren @WyclefJean & @PrasMichel … I’m giving all the gratitude for making this miracle of a night happen.”With OG artists from the golden era like Nas and Wu-Tang Clan going on tour, hopefully, The Fugees can put something together for their day-ones before Pras is eventually sentenced and taken out of the picture.Check out another video of their time on stage below and let us know in the comments if you’d like to see a Fugees tour come to your city.https://twitter.com/Philly_PR_Girl/status/1665209280184700928
—
Photo: Getty
HipHopWired Radio
Our staff has picked their favorite stations, take a listen…
-
Pages