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Lauryn Hill Is Getting Out of Jail and Has a New Song Called ‘Consumerism’

October 4, 2013
Jennifer
Lauryn Hill, Music, slider
3 Comments

lauryn hill

Perhaps aptly titled – considering her prison tenure for not paying taxes – Lauryn Hill‘s release of a new track entitled ‘Consumerism’ the day before she was released really gives me a chuckle. Also, considering The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill was a massive part of a lot of our lives in the late ’90s, I had high hopes before pressing the play button.

After a few listens, I’m still not sure if this is artistic growth or the ramblings of someone with some mental health issues, which she’s definitely suffered from before. I’m feeling what she’s talking about – though you’ll have a job trying to decipher it since she seems to be in competition with Bone Thugs n Harmony to speed up her rhymes – but her repeated “egotism egotism egotism” inserts and the fact that she tries to insert every possible issue known to man and comes off rather frantic and undirected make it kind of a miss to me, I think.

Apparently ‘Consumerism’ is part of a project she’s working on called Letters From Exile that should be released through Sony Music at some point. Here’s what Lauryn had to say about it:

“‘Consumerism’ is part of some material I was trying to finish before I had to come in,” Hill said in a statement. “We did our best to eke out a mix via verbal and emailed direction, thanks to the crew of surrogate ears on the other side.

“Letters From Exile is material written from a certain space, in a certain place. I felt the need to discuss the underlying socio-political, cultural paradigm as I saw it.”

“I haven’t been able to watch the news too much recently, so I’m not hip on everything going on. But inspiration of this sort is a kind of news in and of itself, and often times contains an urgency that precedes what happens.

“I couldn’t imagine it not being relevant. Messages like these I imagine find their audience, or their audience finds them, like water seeking its level.”

Well, fair enough, I guess? She’s not the first rapper to do “higher consciousness” rhymes and I respect that. I also don’t want to undermine her views (which admittedly have been extreme/off the wall in recent years and have accompanied some pretty eccentric behaviour), but I just don’t understand.

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3 CommentsLeave a comment

  • “I’m still not sure if this is artistic growth or the ramblings of someone with some mental health issues”

    People like you are what’s wrong with the world.

  • sad. she looked & sounded SO good back in the fugees days. first solo album was fantastic too. voice now sounds terribly rough and that beat, whoa, bummer. the “self destruct” background singers, i can dig that part though… whatever the case, i wish this woman the best & am still listening to the old stuff. she was like buttah i tell you.