I was here since 2003...

[thesesocialdrugs]

I remember the original Sony message board that got shut down.

I remember the Runboard.com message boards that were alive with rare audios and photos

I remember the the beginning of this message board starting as a Fugees resource and a haven for Lauryn Hill talk

I remember the rumors year after year of a new album

I remember getting pieces of new songs in live shows but no studio version (Since I Found A New Love, Guarding The Gates, One (Higher Soul), Fearless Vampire Killer... just to name a few)

I remember the hope year after year with the random press releases and comments alluding to a new studio effort

I remember the much hyped tours that resulted in little to no new music or studio effort

I remember being a diehard Lauryn Hill fan with hopes of more to come

Ms. Lauryn Hill is the single most influential person in my life and these message boards are like a community I grew up with

Now it seems like that time is officially coming to an end... and with nothing really to show for it but a few obscure sinlges with no commercial viability (Lose Myself, Neurotic Society, & Consumerism)

I'm not upset or mad at Ms. Hill; she has every right to live as she wishes...

But I do wish that, as a fan, I would has chosen to emotionally invest more into an artist that has just as much passion for releasing substantive music as they do creating it.

We know what Lauryn COULD do... and that's why I think most of us are still yet.

Yet, I look at the last 15 years of waiting and I'm just at a loss for words on how exactly I feel as a fan.

I'm definitely still a fan; but just a little jaded I guess. Selfish as it may be, I wanted more. I don't think it's that hard to get in the studio and record. If you can rehearse and perform for years, you can record.

I'm confused because all we ever get directly from her concerning a studio release is vagueness and non-answers...

Idk... But if you're an original member from the Sony boards like myself, I'm curious to how you feel

[Laurynlauryn lauryn]

I’ve been coming on since this site started, visiting most days, had some amazing downloads and links to unreleased songs.
But I totally agree it’s gone very stale recently.
I keep thinking she’s going to drop something new anytime soon but that’s been 10 years now.
She said in 2012 that the album is nearly ready and she was compiling all the unreleased material.
I kind of think the only way we’re gonna hear anything is if the figures get back together

[camdemille]

I came on board with the MLH fan community in 2005 on runboard. I wish i didn't, but I feel the exact same way. I could have written it myself but then I'd have to deal with the trolls because the moderators gave up years ago. (s/n Seriously!!!? Why not just make the few people that still regularly visit the board moderators? Why not?)

I hope she is enjoying being a mother and grandmother and wife, and I hope that she lives a long life.

I keep editing this as I'm writing, because what is coming out of me feels and sounds too much like a eulogy. I keep writing things like "she was a..." "she had a..." So much I want to say, but the love might get obscured by my own personal disappointments.

I hate it when I find out that I can't get what I wanted.

[Jena17]

You say we know what Lauryn can do, but we really don't. Maybe what we've already gotten is the best of what she has. Perhaps she just doesn't have what people think she has.

[camdemille]

Jena I don't believe that at all. Music aside, there's just so much that's gone unsaid, I'd be happy with a book. A book of essays or poetry, or unreleased song lyrics. Her mind is so interesting.

[sengunasguest]

thesesocialdrugs I have to say sadly I'm inclined to agree with you on this. I feel like she has chosen not to release music, but we will probably never know why. In my opinion 2005 would have been her biggest shot and the industry and fans were rooting for her and a new Fugees album, but after 2007 and the "disaster" tour her reputation hasn't recovered and although she has spent the last 7-8 years performing and doing some amazing shows and even recordings, I don't feel she would get the hype or back up she did before. But this is just my opinion.