Fugees

This week’s tour announcements include UK dates from Sleaford Mods and Kings of Leon, and North American dates from Little Simz and Girl In Red. The Fugees meanwhile reunite for a series of shows in the UK, Europe and Africa. Plus, we have updates from Neighbourhood Weekender, Isle of Wight, Y Not and End of the Road Festival…

Girl in Red performing live, 2019 / Photo credit:  Richard Gray/EMPICS Entertainment/PA Images

Tour announcements

Continue reading: Live Latest: The Fugees Reunite, Girl In Red Hits The US And IOW Festival Confirmed For 2022

With the news that face masks are now becoming mandatory in shops and supermarkets in the UK (as in many countries), it's plain to see that the world is still divided on the issue. Most see it as an important step in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and any discomfort is worth it in the long run, while others are calling it a violation of their human rights.

Photo Credit: Pixabay

We're using music to tell you that it is your duty as a citizen to stop the spread of this pandemic by taking the responsibility to cover your face.

Continue reading: Wear A Mask! These Are The Songs Anti-maskers Need To Hear [Playlist]

Upon her release from a three month prison sentence, rapper Lauryn Hill has dropped a new single that blasts the world's social issues. Hill was imprisoned after failing to pay $2.3 million worth of taxes over the last five years, reports USA Today.

Lauryn Hill Releases Thought-Provoking New Music.

Hill did pay back $900,000 in an effort to save herself from jail but this was not enough to prevent her being locked up. Although 30-36 months is the length of jail time usually given to punish those who committed such crimes, Hill got off comparatively lightly with just three months behind bars.

Continue reading: An Ode To Bustin' Outta Jail: Lauryn Hill Releases 'Consumerism' [Listen]

Lauryn Hill, the Grammy-winners singer whose only solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill remains a classic of its generation, has begun a three month prison term for failing to pay taxes of around $1 million between the years 2005 and 2007, reports the Independent. 

The singer-songwriter will serve her time at a minimum security prison in Danbury, Connecticut where inmates live in dormitories and are expected to perform maintenance, landscape and serve food. Essentially, it's not really a prison.

The singer, who gained fame with The Fugees, always maintained that she was planning on paying the taxes but was unable when he dropped out of the music business. Before her sentencing, her lawyer said Lauryn had paid more than $970,000 of the owed cash. 

Continue reading: Lauryn Hill Begins Three Month Jail Term: Five Stars With Tax Problems

Rumors that Lauryn Hill has signed a new deal with Sony Music are true, the singer has confirmed. However, the former Fugees star released a statement on her Tumblr page to say that the reported figures involved were far from the truth, as well as clarifying that she will be launching a new record label with Sony, rather than simply signing a record deal with them.

In a statement (which, if you really want to get into the machinations of record deals, artistry and the need to pay ones taxes, is slightly self-contradictory), Lauryn revealed “It has been reported that I signed a new record deal, and that I did this to pay taxes. Yes, I have recently entered into an agreement with Sony Worldwide Entertainment, to launch a new label, on which my new music will be released. And yes, I am working on new music.” That’s all very good news of course, though the message started to get slightly muddled when Lauryn started to defend herself and explain the reasons why she ended up in so much debt in the first place (we’re talking $504,000 arrears here).

“Only a completely complicated set of traps, manipulations, and inequitable business arrangements could put someone who has accomplished the things that I have, financially in need of anything,” she writes. “I am one artist who finds value in openly discussing the dynamics within this industry that force artists to compromise or distort themselves and what they do, rather than allowing them to make the music that people need. There are volumes that could (and will) be said.” Make of that what you will, folks. Using ‘the man’ to pay back ‘the man.’ Or something. 

Continue reading: Lauryn Hill Defends Sony Deal On Tumblr Site

Wyclef Jean's new memoir Purpose: An Immigrant's Story gives a remarkable insight into the singers’ life, the break up of The Fugees, life post-earthquake and his run for presidency following the tragic natural disaster.

Speaking to MTV, the Haitian born rapper plans to write 7 books; his first one has only been in the shops for 24 hours! But it seems he has plenty of stories to tell. "I'm gonna write seven books, and the first one was a memoir because of one of the things I learned when I ran for president and got bamboozled," he explained. "The mass world, what they know about Wyclef is basically that he can sing, he can produce, he can write songs, but they don't know how smart musicians actually are and where they're from. The memoir, [it] was important to me that it's raw, it's honest, it's like my music and if you're reading it, you just feel like you're a one-on-one conversation opposed to reading something."

Jean’s surmise of The Fugees’ demise also leaves no room for questions; “In that moment something died between us. I was married and Lauryn and I were having an affair, but she led me to believe that the baby was mine, and I couldn’t forgive that,” he writes, according to an excerpt from the New York Post. “She could not longer be my muse. Our love spell was broken.”

Lauryn Hill finds herself at the centre of some pretty damning allegations, courtesy of a new book, written by her former band mate Wyclef Jean. Hill and Jean were both members of the successful ‘90s hip-hop trio The Fugees. In a new book, entitled Purpose, Wyclef has revealed that he and Lauryn had an affair, which resulted in the band’s demise. Controversially, The New York Post has learned from the book, Wyclef claims that Lauryn lied to him about the paternity of her first born son.

Wyclef was married at the time of his affair with Lauryn and he claims that she tricked him into believing her firstborn son was his. In fact, the father of the son was Rohan Marley, Bob Marley’s son. “In that moment something died between us,” Wyclef writes in the book. “I was married and Lauryn and I were having an affair, but she led me to believe that the baby was mine, and I couldn’t forgive that.” Haitian-born Wyclef added that the conflict eventually led to the breakup of The Fugees. “She could no longer be my muse,” writes Jean. “Our love spell was broken.” Jean performed on Friday (September 15, 2012) at the HK Lounge in Hell’s Kitchen, along with the guitarist Prince Charming. The book itself is published today (September 18, 2012).

Lauryn Hill has been in the news with her own dramas recently as well. She was faced with a court battle after it was alleged that she had an unpaid tax bill of around $400,000. In August 2012, it was reported that she turned down an interview with Oprah Winfrey. These latest allegations will do little to help the singer’s public image.