Lauryn Hill

At 48 years old, Lauryn Hill has this physical status:

Lauryn Noelle Hill (born May 26, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter and rapper, known for being a member of Fugees, and for her solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which won many awards and broke several sales records.

Raised mostly in South Orange, New Jersey, Hill began singing with her music-oriented family during her childhood.

In high school, Hill was approached by Pras Michel for a band he started, which his friend, Wyclef Jean, soon joined.

They renamed themselves the Fugees and released the albums Blunted on Reality (1994), and the Grammy Award–winning The Score (1996), which sold six million copies in the U.S. Hill rose to prominence with her African-American and Caribbean music influences, her rapping and singing, and her rendition of the hit "Killing Me Softly".

Her tumultuous romantic relationship with Jean led to the split of the band in 1997, after which she began to focus on solo projects. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998) remains Hill's only solo studio album.

It received critical acclaim showcasing a representation of life and relationships and locating a contemporary voice within the neo soul genre.

The album debuted at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and has sold approximately eight million copies there.

This included the singles "Doo Wop (That Thing)" (also a number one), "Ex-Factor" (became her biggest solo hit in the UK), and "Everything Is Everything".

At the 41st Grammy Awards, the record earned her five awards, including Album of the Year and Best New Artist.

During this time, she won several other awards and became a common sight on the cover of magazines.Soon afterward, Hill dropped out of the public eye, dissatisfied with the music industry and suffering from the pressures of fame.

Her last full-length recording, the new-material live album MTV Unplugged No. 2.0 (2002), sharply divided critics and sold poorly compared to her first album and work with the Fugees.

Hill's subsequent activity, which includes the release of a few songs and occasional festival appearances, has been sporadic.

Her behavior has sometimes caused audience dissatisfaction; a reunion with her former group did not last long.

Her music and public statements have become critical of pop culture and societal institutions.

Hill has six children, five of them with Rohan Marley.

In 2012 she pleaded guilty to tax evasion and served a three-month prison sentence the following year.

Early life

Lauryn Noelle Hill was born on May 26, 1975, in Newark, New Jersey. Her mother, Valerie Hill, was an English teacher and her father, Mal Hill, a computer and management consultant. She has one older brother named Malaney who was born in 1972. Her Baptist family moved to New York for a short period before settling in South Orange, New Jersey.

Hill has said of her musically oriented family: "there were so many records, so much music constantly being played. My mother played the piano, my father sang, and we were always surrounded by music." Her father sang in local nightclubs and at weddings. While growing up, Hill frequently listened to Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, and Gladys Knight; years later she recalled playing Marvin Gaye's What's Going On repeatedly until she fell asleep to it.

In middle school, Lauryn Hill performed "The Star-Spangled Banner" before a basketball game. Due to its popularity, subsequent games featured a recording of her rendition. In 1988, Hill appeared as an Amateur Night contestant on It's Showtime at the Apollo. She sang her version of the Smokey Robinson track "Who's Lovin' You", garnering an initially harsh reaction from the crowd. She persevered through the performance.

Hill attended Columbia High School, where she was a member of the track team, cheerleading squad and was a classmate of actor Zach Braff. She also took violin lessons, went to dance class, and founded the school's gospel choir. Academically, she took advanced placement classes and received primarily 'A' grades. School officials recognized her as a leader among the student body. Later recalling her education, Hill commented, "I had a love for—I don't know if it was necessarily for academics, more than it just was for achieving, period. If it was academics, if it was sports, if it was music, if it was dance, whatever it was, I was always driven to do a lot in whatever field or whatever area I was focusing on at the moment."

Personal life

Hill has six children, five of them with Rohan Marley, the son of reggae musician Bob Marley.

In 2012, she pleaded guilty to tax evasion and served a three-month prison sentence the following year.

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Career

Prakazrel "Pras" Michel, a freshman in high school, approached Hill about a music group he was creating. The Translator Crew, who appeared on hill and Pras, began under the name Translator Crew. They came up with this name because they wanted to rhyme in different languages. Michel's cousin, multi-instrumentalist Wyclef Jean, was soon replaced by another female vocalist. The group debuted in local showcases and high school talent shows. Hill started as a singer, but then learned to rap; rather than focusing on female rappers like Salt-N-Pepa and MC Lyte, she preferred male rappers like Ice Cube and increased her flow from listening to them. "I remember doing my homework in the bathroom stalls of hip-hop clubs," Hill later said.

As a child, Hill took acting lessons in Manhattan. She began performing in 1991 in Jean's Club XIII, MC Lyte's Off-Broadway hip-hop adaptation of Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. Even though the play was not a success, an agent noticed her. Hill began appearing on As the World Turns in a recurring role as a troubled teenager Kira Johnson later this year. Rita Louise Watson, a survivor of an inner-city Catholic school student with a rebellious attitude, appeared in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit, a 1993 film starring Sheryl Jackson. "His Eye Is on the Sparrow" (a duet with Tanya Blount) and "Joyful, Joyful" were among her songs in it. Hill was credited by director Bill Duke with improvising a rap in a scene: "None of this was scripted." That was all Lauryn. "She was amazing." Critic Roger Ebert described her as "the girl with the big joyful voice," although he felt her ability was wasted, while Rolling Stone said she "performed marvelously against type [film]]. In a minor but pivotal role as a 1930s gum-popping elevator operator, Hill appears in Steven Soderbergh's 1993 motion picture King of the Hill. Jason Wood, a Soderbergh biographer, referred to her as having one of the film's warmest scenes. Hill graduated from Columbia High School in 1993.

Pras, Hill, and Jean renamed their group the Fugees, a diminutive of the word "refugee," which was a derogatory term for Haitian Americans. Hill began dating Jean, which culminated in a romantic relationship. The Fugees, who signed a 1993-1990 deal with Columbia/Ruffhouse Records, became known for their genre mixing, particularly of reggae, rock, and soul, which was first introduced on their debut album, Blunted on Reality. It's now No. 1 in the United States. The Billboard Top R&B/Hip Albums chart ranked 62, but overall, the Billboard Top R&B/Hip Albums chart fell, and poor critical feedback was met by poor customer feedback, despite their managers' insistence that they adopt gangsta rap beliefs. Although the album had no effect on others, Hill's rapping on "Some Seek Stardom" was a highlight. She was often referred to as "L. Boogie" within the organization. Hill's reputation and talent, as well as her full, rich, raspy alto voice, pushed her to the front of the band, with some fans urging her to begin a solo career.

The Score (1996), the Fugees' second album, debuted at No. 10. 1 on the United States is a newspaper published in the United States. Billboard 200 and remained in the top ten of the charts for more than a year. Around seven million copies in the United States and more than 20 million worldwide, with more than 20 million copies sold. The Score came in second in the 1996 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll, with three of its songs ranked second in the top 20 best singles and three others ranked second, second in the top 20 best albums. It received the Grammy Award for Best Rap Album and was later included on Rolling Stone's list of the Top 100 Best Albums of All Time. The Score earned raves for being a good alternative to the gangsta idiom, and Hill said, "We're trying to do something positive with the music because it seems that only the negative is rising to the top these days." To clear a cesspool, it takes just a drop of purity.

The Score's singles included "Fu-La" and "Read or Not," highlighting Hill's singing and rapping abilities, as well as his Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry." The group's breakout hit, "Killing Me Softly" was her version. The track was bolstered by Rolling Stone's "evocative" vocal line and her "amazing pipes," according to Rolling Stone's "amazing pipes," and it became omnipresent on pop, R&B, hip hop, and adult contemporary radio formats. It was named in the Grammy Award for Outstanding R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals. Hill's album included African-American music and Caribbean music influences as well as socially aware lyrics. Hill's "irresistibly cute looks" were praised and she proclaimed herself as the "most popular new voice in rap," according to Newsweek.

Hill, who was 21 years old at the time, was still living at home with her parents. She had been enrolled at Columbia University during this time and considered majoring in history as a sophomore, but she was forced to leave after about a year of total studies when The Score reached its millions. In 1996, she denied a false belief on The Howard Stern Show that she had made a racial remark on MTV, saying, "How can I possibly be a racist?" she said. My music is universal. And I believe in God. If I believe in God, I must love all of God's creations. There will be no segregation."

Hill founded the Refugee Project, a non-profit outreach group that sought to change the attitudes and behavior of urban youth who are at risk. Camp Hill, which offered stays in the Catskill Mountains to such children, was part of the scheme; another was the construction of a Halloween haunted house in East Orange. Hill also raised funds for Haitian refugees, funded clean water well-building projects in Kenya and Uganda, and staged a rap concert in Harlem to encourage voter registration. The Refugee Project's board of trustees was established at a 1997 benefit dinner for the refugees' Project, which included Sean Combs, Mariah Carey, Busta Rhymes, Spike Lee, and others as trustees.

The Fugees decided not to continue working on solo projects in 1997, which Jean later attributed to his tumultuous friendship with Hill and the fact that he married Claudinette while still attached to Hill. In addition, Hill had met Rohan Marley, the son of Bob Marley and a former University of Miami football player, in the summer of 1996. Hill began a friendship with him shortly after being closely affiliated with Jean. Hill became pregnant in late 1996 and Zion David, Marley and Hill's first child, was born on August 3, 1997. Since she bought her parents a new house down the street, the couple lived in Hill's childhood home in South Orange.

Hill appeared in the 1997 film Hav Plenty as a cameo. Hill played another small, but significant role in the film Restaurant in 1998; Entertainment Weekly praised her portrayal of the protagonist's pregnant mother as bringing a fresh sense of humor to the film.

Hill performed her solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill from late 1997 to June 1998 at Tuff Gong Studios in Jamaica. The title was influenced by Carter G. Woodson's book The Miseducation of the Negro (1933), a film and autobiographical book. The album featured contributions from D'Angelo, Carlos Santana, Mary J. Blige, and the then-unknown John Legend. Wyclef Jean initially did not like Hill's recording as a solo artist, but Hill eventually agreed to his production assistance; Hill turned him down. Several songs on the album concerned her with the Fugees; "I Used to Love Him" dealt with Hill and Wyclef Jean's breakup. Also though many at the time advised her to have an abortion in order not to interfere with her blossoming career, others, "To Zion," spoke about her decision to have her first baby. Hill's pregnancy, in fact, brought her from a period of writer's block.

Hill worked with Valianta Nobles, Rasheem Pugh, Tejumold Newton, and Johari Newton in terms of production. Hill later stated that she wanted to "write songs that lyrically move me and have the strength of reggae and the classic soul instrumentation" as a result of the album's production was intended to make the music sound raw and not computer assisted. Hill referred to the pressure from her label to imitate Prince, wherein all tracks will be credited as written and produced by the artist with no outside assistance. She wanted to be acknowledged as a auteur as well as Jean's within the Fugees. (She also saw a feminist cause) "But go ahead and try to control it, and there are questions.' This is a sexist occupation. ("They will never give the 'genius' name to a sibling." "We all love each other" when Hill was asked about giving contracts or paperwork to the musicians during recording the album. This isn't about papers. "This is blessing."

The album was released on August 25, 1998, and contemporary music critics applauded it. It was also the most influential album of 1998. Critics lauded the album's blend of R&B, doo-wop, hip-hop, hip-hop, and reggae styles as well as its honest depiction of a woman's life and relationships. "an album of often-astonishing power, vigor, and feeling," David Browne wrote in Entertainment Weekly, and the Hill was lauded for "easily transitioning from singing to rapping, eliciting the past while forging a future of her own." "This year's best show on record—songs soft, singing normal, raping expert, rhymes up and down, skits de trop, production subtle and spectacular,” Robert Christgau said. In 2017, NPR ranked the album as the second-best album of all time made by a woman.

In its first week, it sold nearly 423,000 copies (led by advance radio play of two non-label-sanctioned singles, "Lost Ones" and "Can't Take My Eyes Off You"), and it led the Billboard 200 for four weeks and the Billboard R&B Albums chart for six weeks. It went on to sell ten million copies in the United States and 20 million worldwide. Hill earned $25 million from record sales and touring between 1998 and 1999. Hill, as well as Blige, Missy Elliott, Meshell Ndegeocello, Erykah Badu, and others, found a voice with the neo soul style.

"Doo Wop (That Thing)," the album's first single, debuted at No. 10. Billboard Hot 100 chart no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Hill's appeal was exemplified by its combination of feelings of self-empowerment and self-defense. "Ex-Factor" was one of Drake and Cardi B's most popular singles from the album, "Everything Is Everything" and "To Zion" were among the album's charted singles. Miseducation came second in the best albums and "Doo Wop (That Thing)" second in best singles in the 1998 Pazz & Jop Critics Survey.

Selah Louise, Marley and Hill's second child, was born in November 1998. Hill said, "It's not an easy situation at all." To be honest with yourself and pray, you must first pray and be honest with yourself."

This is hip-hop!"

Hill was given four awards at the 30th Annual NAACP Image Awards in February 1999. She became one of the 100 Most Influential Black Americans' list in May 1999; in November of that year, the same publication named her as one of "10 For Tomorrow" in the "Ebony 2000: Special Millennium Issue" column. She was named one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in People magazine's Top 50 Most Beautiful People in May 1999. The publication, which has dubbed her "model-gorgeous," lauded Hill's idiosyncratic sense of personal style. She was given an Essence Award in June 1999, but her acceptance address, in which she stated there is no contradiction in religious love and servitude, and "being] who you are, as fly and as hot as hell," drew criticism from those in the public, who thought she was not a good role model for a young, unwed mother of two. This was a repeat of abuse she had received since the birth of her first child, and she had expected that she and Marley would soon be married. Hill, one of the first 2000 Grammy Award for Album of the Year, a nomination for Santana's 1999 multi-million-selling Supernatural, whereon she had conceived, produced, and rapped on the track "Do You Like the Way" (a rumination of the world's course, which also featured CeeLo Green's singing and Carlos Santana's signature guitar runs). She had also been named for Best R&B Song for "All That I Can Say," a book that she had written and produced for Mary J. Blige. Also, she co-coordinated duet with Bob Marley on "Turn Your Lights Down Low" for the 1999 remix tribute album Chant Down Babylon appeared in the 1999 film The Best Man and later received a Grammy Award for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals.

In November 1998, New Ark, her owner, and record label, filed a fifty-page lawsuit alleging that Hill "used their music and production abilities but did not properly acknowledge them for the work" on Miseducation. The musicians claimed to be the primary songwriters on two tracks and major contributors on several others, but Gordon Williams, a prominent recorder, engineer, and mixer on Miseducation, referred to the album as a "powerfully personal effort by Hill" and said, "It was definitely her vision." Hill said that New Ark had been appropriately credited and that she now sought to profit from her success. On the album's majority of the tracks, New Ark demanded partial writing credit as well as monetary reimbursement. Depositions took place during the second half of 2000 after many delays. In particular, the situation displayed the ambiguous boundaries between songwriting and all other aspects that followed in modern arranging, sampling, and recording. The lawsuit was eventually settled out of court in February 2001, with Hill paying New Ark a reported $5 million. "It was the start of a chain reaction that would make everything a bit crazy," a Hill friend said later.

In the film in which she planned to play his wife Rita, Hill began writing a screenplay about Bob Marley's life. She began making a romantic comedy about soul food with the working name Sauce, and she later accepted a leading role in Toni Morrison's book Beloved's film adaptation; she later dropped out of both projects due to pregnancy. She also turned down acting roles in A Star Is Born's sequel (the part of Deena was later revealed to Beyoncé), Charlie's Angels (the part that went to Lucy Liu), The Matrix Reloaded, and The Matrix Revolutions were among the actresses who appeared in the film.

Hill dropped out of the public eye during 2000. Fame had begun to overwhelm her. She disliked not being able to go outside of her house to do basic errands without worrying about her physical appearance. She fired her leadership staff and started Bible study classes five days a week; she also stopped doing interviews, watching television, and listening to music; Brother Anthony, a "spiritual advisor" who started collaborating with her, became involved. Anthony more resembled a cult leader than a spiritual advisor, according to some who were aware of Hill's more controversial public behavior.

"People need to know that the Lauryn Hill they were exposed to in the beginning was all that was allowed in the arena at the time," she later referred to Essence. I had to step away when I realized that for the sake of the machine, I was being way too late. When I didn't like them or even knew them well enough to like them, I became uncomfortable with it. "I was away from all social interaction for two or three years," she said of her mental disorder. It was a difficult time for me to confront my doubts and master any demonic belief about inferiority, vulnerability, or the fear of being black, young and gifted in this western society." She went on to say that she had to fight to protect her identity and was compelled to deal with people who weren't happy about it."

Hill unveiled her latest music in July 2001, when pregnant with her third child, to a small audience at a taping of an MTV Unplugged special. MTV Unplugged No. 1 is the concert's live album. 2.0 was released in May 2002 and featured only her performing and playing an acoustic guitar. Unlike Miseducation's near-unanimous praise, 2.0 sharply divided opponents. According to AllMusic, the album earned the highest rating out of five stars, meaning that "the unfinished, unflinching presentation of ideas and of a person." It may not be a good follow-up to her first album, but it is certainly enthralling." Rolling Stone called the album "a public breakdown," and Los Angeles Times founder Robert Hilburn said the album's title had opened Hill up for rumors that she had become unhinged. "Unplugged 2.0 is a sparse and often grueling listener," NME said, but there is plenty of imagination shading these rough sketches to suggest that no one should be lost." 2.0 debuted at No. 1 in the UK with mixed reviews and no significant radio airplay. Billboard 200 has a 3rd rank. The album was later rated Platinum in the United States by the RIAA, and music critics have lauded it retrospectively.

Kanye West's album "Mester of Iniquity" received a Grammy Award for Best Female Rap Solo Performance, and she was used as an interpolation, resulting in Hill being credited as a songwriter on the track.

Joshua Omaru, Marley and Hill's third child, was born in 2001; he was followed by John Nesta a year later. Although Hill often mentioned Marley as her husband, the pair never married, and along the way, she was told that Marley had been married at a young age. Moreover, according to a 2003 Rolling Stone article, he never obtained a divorce; but Marley later denied this and revealed publicly that a 1996 divorce document from Haiti was published on a blog. Both had been staying in a high-end Miami hotel but she had to leave the city around 2003 and move into a new one. Hill later said that she and Marley "have had lengthy periods of separation over the years." Hill gradually worked on a new album, and Columbia Records had invested more than $2.5 million on the project by 2003, including the addition of a recording studio in the singer's Miami apartment and touring different artists around the country.

Hill's non-profit Refugee Program had closed down by 2002. "I had a nonprofit group and I had to shut it down," she said. You'll remember, smiling with large checks and obligatory stuff, not knowing that these things came from a place of passion. That's slavery. Every action we do should be a result of our gratitude for God's sacrifice for us. It should be passionate."

Hill, a Catholic priest in Vatican City in December 2003, discussed "corruption, exploitation, and abuses" in relation to the molestation of boys by Catholic priests in the United States and Catholic Church authorities' cover-up of crimes. While high-ranking church officials were present, Pope John Paul II was not present. Hill's career was "in decline," according to the Catholic League, and she said her faith was "pathologically poor." Several journalists speculated that Hill's remarks at the Vatican may have been influenced by her spiritual advisor, Brother Anthony, the following day.

In 2004, Hill performed "The Passion" in the Passion of the Christ: Songs. With Vocals, a remix version of John Legend of his "So High" received a Grammy Award nomination for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group. Hill began selling a pay-per-view music video of the song "Social Drugs" on her website about this time. Many who buy the $60 video will only be able to view it three times before it expired. Hill began selling autographed posters and Polaroids on her website, with some items selling for more than $500.

The Fugees appeared at Dave Chappelle's Block Party in Brooklyn's Bedford–Stuyvesant neighborhood in September 2004, for the first time since 1997. Hill's nearly cappella version of "Killing Me Softly" was on display at the festival. The event was shot by director Michel Gondry and broadcast on March 3, 2006, to universal acclaim. The Fugees also appeared at BET Awards 2005, where they opened the show with a 12-minute set. One track, "Take It Simple," was leaked online and was later released as an Internet single in late September. It topped at No. 9 in the top of the charts. On the Billboard R&B Chart, there are 40 people on the Billboard R&B Chart. "If I make music now, it will only be to inform my own children," she told USA Today in 2005. If others profit from it, then so be it. When asked how she now feels about the songs on 2.0, she said, "A majority of the songs were transitional." Even though I was chronicling my agony as well as my bursts of joy, the music was about how I was feeling at the time.

In late 2005, the Fugees began traveling around Europe. The old tensions between Hill and the other members of the organization resurfaced shortly, and the reunion took place before an album could be released; Jean and Michel blamed Hill for the break. Hill reportedly begged to be addressed by everyone, including her bandmates, as "Ms. Hill"; she also considered changing her moniker to "Empress." Hill's tardiness was also cited as a contributing factor.

Hill began touring on her own, but to mixed reviews; often arriving late to concerts (sometimes by more than two hours), giving unpopular reconfigurations of her songs and sporting an exaggerated appearance. Fans have booed her and left early on some occasions. Hill had been recording through the past decade, had accumulated a lot of unreleased material, and had re-entered the studio with the intention of creating a new album in June 2007. Ms. Hill, an album that featured cuts from Miseducation, several soundtracks contributions, and other "unreleased" songs, was released later this year. It features guest appearances from D'Angelo, Rah Digga, and John Forté. Hill also released "Lose Myself," a new song on the soundtrack to the film Surf's Up in June 2007.

Sara, Marley and Hill's fifth child, was born in early 2008. They weren't married together, but Marley called them "spiritually together" even when describing himself as single on social media. Hill continued that she and Marley "have [had] a long and complex history about which many fake allegations have been announced since the beginning," and that both respect their privacy. Hill was living with her mother and children in South Orange, New Jersey, by August 2008.

According to reports in mid-2008, Columbia Records must now suspect Hill to be on hiatus. Hill denied these allegations in an interview: "She writes music in the bathroom, on toilet paper, on the wall." If the mirror smokes up, she writes it in the mirror. She writes often. This woman does not sleep. Martha Stewart book-signing in New Jersey was one of Hill's few public appearances in 2008, perplexing some in the news. Hill will be participating in a 10-day tour of European summer festivals in April 2009, the first year. She appeared on stage for two shows on the tour but then dropped out on stage during her second appearance and left the stage. She has refused to give refunds to angry customers. Hill's leadership told the promoters of the Stockholm Jazz Festival, who was supposed to headline, that she would not be performing due to unspecified "health reasons." The remainder of the tour was cancelled shortly afterward.

Hill returned to the live stage in January 2010 and appeared on several New Zealand and Australia stops during the Raggamuffin Music Festival. On an unofficial compilation album titled Khulami Phase in April 2010, many of Hill's songs over the past six years were included on the first six years. In addition, the album includes a sample of other Ms. Hill stuff. In June 2010, Hill's first live American appearance in many years appeared at the Harmony Festival in Santa Rosa, California. In late July 2010, an unreleased song called "Repercussions" was leaked via the internet, debuting at No. 9 and debuting at No. 1. 94 on Billboard's Hot R&B/Hip Hop Songs (and peaked at No. 94). The following week, 83, making it her first Billboard chart appearance as a lead artist since 1999.

Hill performed The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill in its entirety for the first time in the United States in August 2010. She boosted the energy and passion from her debut album, but she had trouble coordinating with her band at times. Hill continued touring, with a set at the 6th Annual Jazz in the Gardens in Miami Gardens, Florida, in December. Hill appeared at the Coachella Valley Jazz Festival in New Orleans, New Orleans, Jazz Fest, and the Cosmopolitan of Las Vegas in spring 2011. Hill gave birth to Micah, her first not with Rohan Marley, in July 2011.

During a sold-out performance at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C., Hill performed a new song titled "Fearless Vampire Killer" in February 2012. Hill toured with rapper Nas in late 2012; her portion of the tour, titled Black Rage, was released on October 30. Hill has characterized the song as being "about the derivation of racial injustice and violence" and "a counter-input: Hill's argument is that life is good" but that can only be true and resolved when these long-running problems are addressed and resolved."

Hill was charged with three counts of tax fraud or failure to file taxes in June 2012 (Title 26 USC 7202 Willful failure to collect or pay taxes over tax was not tax evasion on $1.8 million in income earned between 2005 and 2007. During this period, she had toured as a musician, received royalties from both her albums and films she had appeared in, and she had owned and been in charge of numerous businesses. Hill wrote a long letter to her Tumblr, saying she had gone "underground" and had discarded pop culture's "climate of hostility, false identification, manipulation, racial profiling, misogyny, mistrust, mistrust, mistrust, mistrust, mistrust, sexism, and ageism." "I was working safely without being affected by the interferences listed above," she continued, "I filed and paid my taxes." "It's only when it was necessary to separate from society in order to ensure the safety and well-being of myself and my family members." Hill pleaded guilty to the charges on June 29, 2012 in Newark, New Jersey; her counsel announced restitution for the back taxes she owes. Hill owed just $50,000 of the $554,000 she owed by April 22, 2013, but U.S. Magistrate Judge Madeline Cox Arleo chastised Hill, saying, "This is not someone who stands before the court penniless." This is a criminal investigation. Actions speak louder than words, and there has been no attempt to collect these taxes here." Hill was also subjected to potential expulsion from her rented house in South Orange, as well as a municipal lawsuit for operating a business out of a house without a zoning permit.

"Neurotic Society (Compulsory Mix)," Hill's first official single in over a decade, was released on May 4, 2013. She later sent a letter detailing how she was "impressed to release [it] immediately, in light of the pending legal deadline." Some people were outraged over lyrics that seemed to connect societal decay to particular LGBT groups. Hill denied that the song was targeted at any particular group, but that it was instead aimed at anyone hiding behind neurotic activity. Hill was supposed to debut her first album in fifteen years during 2013 following a merger with Sony Music that requires Hill to create a new record label within the company.

Hill was sentenced by Judge Arleo to three months in jail for refusing to report taxes/tax evasion, as well as three months in jail following a year of supervised probation. She faced a potential prison term of up to 36 months, but the judge considered her inability of a criminal record and her six minor children. Hill had mainly paid back $970,000 in back taxes and fines by this time, not to mention an additional $500,000 in unreported income for 2008 and 2009. Hill said in the courtroom that she had lived "very modestly" considering how much money she had earned for others and that "I am a slave slave" with a system in force. "I had an economic system that imposed on me." Hill reported to the minimum-security Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury on July 8, 2013 to begin serving her sentence.

Hill was released from jail on October 4, 2013, a few days early for good conduct, and she began her home confinement and probationary periods. She gave out a single titled "Conserverism" that she had completed while imprisoned, verbal and e-mailed instructions. Judge Arleo allowed her to postpone a portion of her confinement in order to travel in late 2013 under stringent conditions.

Hill was narrator of Concerning Violence, an award-winning Swedish documentary about the liberation struggles of the 1960s and 1970s African liberation struggles. She also gained media interest for her erratic behavior, despite arriving late twice in the same day for sets at Voodoo Fest in November 2014.

Following a social media movement by campaigning for the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign, Hill postponed her planned concert outside Tel Aviv, Israel, in May 2015. She said she wanted to do a show in Ramallah, West Bank, but logistical challenges were too demanding. "It's really important to me" that my presence or message not be misconstrued, or a point of alienation to either my Israeli or Palestinian supporters."

Hill played a role in What Happened, Miss Simone?, a 2015 film about Nina Simone, an American singer, pianist, and civil rights activist. Hill had planned to only have two songs on the record but wound up recording six. She appeared on the compilation with Robert Glasper. "I was on this music at the time" Hill related to Simone: "Because I was fed on this music...... I've always had the right to have a voice. Her example is clearly a sign of sustenance for a generation that is still searching for their own. What a gift. Hill's performance on the soundtrack was praised by NPR, who said, "This album primarily showcases Lauryn Hill's breadth and dexterity." This is not officially released as Hill's comeback album, but her six tracks here make this her most complete collection of studio recordings since Lauryn Hill's Miseducation in 1998."

In April 2016, Hill hosted and announced what was billed as the inaugural Diaspora Calling! The Kings Theatre in Brooklyn is a performance venue. The festival's aim was to showcase the talents of musicians and artists from around Africa, such as Brooklyn Haitian Rara's Brother High Full Speed. Hill was about two hours and 20 minutes late for her appearance at the Chastain Park Amphitheatre in Atlanta, but Hill's staff said it was just an hour after the scheduled start time. Hill said her chauffeur had lost moments after the less than 40-minute show concluded due to the venue's strict 11:00 p.m. closing time, and she couldn't help it. Less than 48 hours after a storm of her followers on Twitter, she took to her Facebook page and said she was late for the concert due to a series of things, including the desire to "align her energy with the time."

Hill produced a live version of her song "Guarding the Gates" for the film Queen & Slim, which was released on November 27, 2019. She had been performing this song live for several years before she was filmed for the film. This song appears on Queen & Slim: The Soundtrack.

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