Lauryn Hill Does Not Care About Your Feelings—Or Time!
TheRoot.com, By Stephanie Holland, Posted November 13th 2023
The ‘Ex-Factor’ singer addresses her constant lateness by defiantly telling fans they’re ‘lucky’ she even shows up.
There’s no denying that Lauryn Hill is a legend. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is one of the most influential albums of all time. So when she announced she was going on a 25th anniversary tour to celebrate the Grammy-winning record, fans rejoiced. But they also had concerns. Hill has a well-known, well-deserved reputation for extreme tardiness. I’m not talking about 30-45 minutes late, I’m talking hours. If you buy tickets to one of her shows, you’re essentially guaranteed to be at the venue all night, because she’s absolutely not starting on time.—
On Saturday night, during a show at the Kia Forum in Los Angeles, Hill addressed the criticisms about her constant tardiness, and was defiantly unapologetic about it. She basically told the audience to just shut up and be happy she’s there.
“They say, ‘Oh, she’s late’ and ‘She’s late tonight. Yo, y’all are lucky I make it to this bloodclot stage every night. I leave my soul on this stage. And I don’t do it because they let me do it. I do it because I stand here in the name of God. And I know it. God is who allows me to do it,” Hill said. “He surrounded me with family and community when there was no support. When the album sold so many records and no one showed up and said, ‘Hey, would you like to make another one’…We’re survivors. Not just survivors, we’re thrivers.”
Um, OK, Ms. Lauryn. None of that explains why you’re late every single night. Listen, you’re a transcendent, special artist, but you’re not the center of the universe. The fans’ time is just as valuable as yours. They spent money on tickets, gas, food, parking, maybe a babysitter. They dropped hundreds of dollars of their very hard earned money to come see you perform songs that shaped their lives. The least you could do is show up on time. Apparently, I’m not the only one who found the “Everything is Everything” singer’s speech disrespectful, as people on social media had thoughts about the Fugees star’s behavior.
One person was not impressed with her speech, writing on X, “She said a whole lot just to say ‘you get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.’”
Another fan noted how Hill’s legacy doesn’t excuse her lateness, posting on X, “if you’re going to a Lauryn Hill concert and expecting anything to do with ‘timely’ you’re just playing your schedule and time at that point. this album changed lives, we know this, but nobody is above common courtesy.”
Someone else encouraged fans to get off this emotional roller coaster, writing on X, “Stop giving lauryn hill y’all’s money. She has no respect for y’all’s time money or y’all in general.”
One fan boiled the discussion down to a very simple point, writing on X, “This is literally your job, you’re not doing them a favor.”