It has been a full week since a federal court deemed that Ms. Lauryn Hill
be sentenced to serve three months in prison for evading tax payments
on her income from 2005 to 2007. Thanks to pleas of leniency, and a
payment of $900,000, she got three months instead of the usual three
years given in such a case. With this looming over her head, Lauryn
wound up not only entering into a new production situation with Sony,
but she also wound up doing a show at the Music Hall of Williamsburg
this past Tuesday. While celebrities and tax issues almost always go
hand in hand, in Lauryn Hill’s case there is more beneath the surface.
To begin with, when it comes to celebrities of color, the IRS has always
hovered around much more closely. Even Joe Louis, the great boxer
who was this country’s premier symbol of unity and pride against Adolf
Hitler and Nazi Germany in defeating Max Schmeling, was dogged by
tax debt for a good chunk of his life. From Sammy Davis Jr. to Redd
Foxx to Wesley Snipes, the tax man has been a bogeyman. But with
Lauryn Hill, this may have been a rallying point. It was a bad choice
on her part not to pay her taxes when she had the means. Even if
you agree with her hints that she shouldn’t pay because reparations
are still owed to her and other descendants of slaves who are citizens
made on record in court. But while this may be more fodder for jokes,
it could be a point in time where she can actually rebound and rise up
triumphant again. The reviews of her Brooklyn concert have been
positive and glowing, a marked difference from other shows where
some have claimed she was distant and erratic. And the new single,
‘Neurotic Society Compulsory Mix’ is her first in three years. Does it
have a message laden in its lyrics? Yes. Was it rushed as hell? Yes
and it shows in the overall production. But even the response has
created a buzz. For a music world starved for another complete musical
effort from Ms.Hill, it’s something significant. It’s a chance for Lauryn
to firmly set herself back as an artist who was a definitive paradigm
shifter from her days with the Fugees and as a highly successful
solo artist. And a possible chance to be a counerpoint to the current
slate of R&B ‘divas’ out there in look and message.
Artists sometimes need overwhelming pressure to create. Take Marvin
Gaye and ‘Here, My Dear’, produced to satisfy his obligations to Motown
AND his soon to be ex-wife, Anna Gordy. The raw, unchecked but
channeled emotions of divorce and its effects on someone laced
that album. While it was a commercial flop at first, over time it
has been critically acclaimed as a landmark in Gaye’s career. Given
that Lauryn has a deal with Sony to have her own label to produce
music, the stage is set for a similar outcome for her once she serves
her time beginning July 8th. One can only hope that her commitment
to giving people her introspective messages through her music will
be the focal point rather than the constant ego battles and societal
politics. Ms. Hill has already seen that everything isn’t everything.
We await her chance to fully tell us all her views as to why in song.