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Post by puma on Feb 9, 2011 19:26:42 GMT 1
IT HAPPENED LAST NIGHT: MS. LAURYN HILL PLAYED SOUTH STREET The Axl Rose of hip-hop disappointed Philly fans You remember Lauryn Hill. The vibrant young woman came of age in the 1990s with The Fugees and with a rousing performance in Sister Act 2 before launching a solo career with 1998′s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. That album birthed hits like “Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You,” “Lost Ones,” and “To Zion” and righteously earned the North Jersey girl five Grammy awards, including Best New Artist and Album of the Year. The future seemed bright. Fans waited anxiously to see what would happen next. One such fan was Lenore from Darby. The pretty 35-year old spent two hours getting herself ready for Hill’s $75-a-head show at the TLA last night. She picked up her girlfriends and drove to South Street, bouncing and singing to Hill tunes all the way. They had dinner and margaritas at Copa and chatted about the old days, back when Hill and fellow Fugee Wyclef Jean were an item. They dished on Hill’s life since then, during which she married a Marley, had five kids – or is it seven? And is it true that one of them still doesn’t have a name? – and either lived in a mansion in the tropics or, according to some reports, with her mom in Jersey. They wondered why she never released another studio album and why she chose to reappear now. But mostly, they were just excited. But by 1 a.m. this morning, less than an hour after the perpetually late diva took the stage, Lenore and the girls stood in the foyer of the TLA, debating whether they should ask for a refund. In addition to her unforgivable tardiness (after all, it was a Tuesday night in February), Hill’s performance was, to put it mildly, underwhelming. The girl who used to be able to spit with laser-guided precision has lost that ability. There was once a subtle sultriness to her voice, but that is gone. Today, her vocals are thin, watery, and from the throat instead of from within. Hill’s stage presence is odd, her movements awkward. She seems a bit, well, off, as her former colleague and lover Jean has publicly suggested. And her tunes, which she has almost completely reconceptualized and rearranged, have suffered badly from those changes. It’s a noble pursuit to rethink your catalog, but the new versions had better be good, and for the most part, these were not. Or, as one of Lenore’s friends put it, “Why the hell are you messing up your old hits when you should be writing new songs?” Judging by the general crowd reaction throughout the show – the lackluster applause, the minimal singing along, and the many early departures – most of the folks who turned out were in agreement that they didn’t get their money’s worth out of Hill. And many were downright angry. But something tells me that Hill, a woman who demands to be called “Ms. Hill” because she says she deserves that respect and yet showed absolutely none of it for the nearly 1,000 fans who paid $75 to see her last night, just doesn’t give a damn. blogs.phillymag.com/the_philly_post/2011/02/09/it-happened-last-night-ms-lauryn-hill-played-south-street/
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Post by puma on Feb 8, 2011 20:22:35 GMT 1
Ms. Lauryn Hill Returns Home a Changed Woman ...but is that good or bad? Friday night (Feb. 4), Montclair, New Jersey – just a few towns away from Ms. Lauryn Hill’s stomping grounds – received the local stop on Hill’s tour. The concert took place at the Wellmont Theatre, and as expected a show time of 8pm was quickly rescheduled to 9pm a day before the event. Hill has become notorious for switching show times to super late arrivals and ending at ungodly hours. This evening was no exception. The show technically began “on time” at 9pm, with DJ Rich Medina spinning classic soul cuts and infamous hip-hop samples with old school hip-hop sprinkled in. His set was scheduled to end at 10:45, when Medina began saying his goodbyes to the crowd. A brief exit from the stage and Medina was ushered back on to spin for another half hour. By 11:15, Hill’s DJ Rampage began spinning very recent hip-hop for another hour. Four of Hill’s five children (the 5th is a toddler) were at the side of the stage dancing to songs like Lil Wayne’s “6’7” with immense energy, despite the fact that the show was flirting with midnight. Alas at 12:15, Ms. Lauryn Hill took the stage, flanked by three backup singers, two keyboardists, a drummer, a bass player and a guitarist. Clad in a black silk suit with a long red silk blouse and a well-maintained afro, Hill looked as good as ever. She greeted the crowd in home team fashion, shouting local cities to the audience amidst loud screams. “I’ve missed you,” Hill exclaimed. “I appreciate you.” Hill opened with the Bob Marley & the Wailers classic “Forever Loving Jah”. Her tone, her pitch, her cadence, everything that previously seemed to fall by the wayside in recent years had returned with unbelievable fervor. Perhaps the continuous touring smoothed out her recent rough vocals, but this time Ms. Lauryn Hill sounded like…Lauryn. She was quite animated too, shuffling about in five-inch heels and ad-libbing with “oohs” and “owws” at any given moment. Then the warning came… Hill addressed the crowd, stating she was about to play some “classics” but the classics were “reworked,” yet the “message and content” were still the same. She started with a sing-songy rendition of “Lost Ones,” the punchy diss track that opened The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. After approximately eight or so minutes, it melded into a bass-heavy version of “When It Hurts So Bad.” By this point it was close to 1 a.m. and half of the balcony at the Wellmont already cleared out as well as a third of the General Admission pit. The remainder of the show included these redone arrangements of her tracks, sometimes twice over. “Ex-Factor” was sung twice in a row, both times sounding completely different, as was the Fugees’ The Score opener “How Many Mics.” The only song that sounded the closest to its original form was “Ready Or Not.” Another point to note was that Hill rhymed every Fugees’ members' lines as she performed them, an interesting albeit confusing phenomenon. Hill also made use of her backup singers and keyboardists as she performed extensive moments of “scatting” while she demanded more keys with her singers repeatedly switching octaves. Half of the crowd extremely enjoyed these ten-minute tantrums, while others were bewildered and exited in the middle of them. Ms. Lauryn Hill’s performance was marginally better than recent appearances, but it was better suited for a Las Vegas stage. Hill’s strongest fan base still appeared enamored with the chart-topping songstress, but that could be Stockholm Syndrome, considering recent performances were sad and underwhelming. L-Boogie’s Hip-Hop fan base couldn’t relate to this jam band arrangement of her classic Hip-Hop cuts, a far cry from the ferocious Femcee that set the precedent for all female rappers that followed. This could be Hill’s venturing into Adult Contemporary hip-hop as she gears for a new album, but on a happier note, at least her voice has returned. social.entertainment.msn.com/music/blogs/groove-blogpost.aspx?post=c240d11b-3feb-48b0-8dd0-ce71efa6039d>1=28102
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Post by puma on Feb 7, 2011 4:19:56 GMT 1
You know I was thinking the other day about all the blogs and comments that put down her new arrangements, put down her current stage presence, put down her stage costumes, and put down her vocal choices and instead of getting upset, I realized that I felt bad for them. I feel bad for them because they are so concerned with recreating a picture of a woman that used to be that they're blinding themselves to the brilliance that is her new arrangements. I'm sorry but I felt absolute joy when I first heard her "Lost Ones- Lisbon" "Lost Ones/ When It Hurts So Bad- Miami", "Final Hour- Charleston", "Zion- New Haven", "Forgive Them Father- Florianopolis", "Just Like the Water- Rwanda", "Ex-Factor- Miami". "Ex-Factor Part 2- Minneapolis", " "I Only Have Eyes For You/ Zealots- Minneapolis" "Fu-gee-La -Blue Note NYC"...
Those were inspired and amazing performances and it saddens me that people are so caught up with superficial and trivial excuses instead of opening up and listening to the amazing sounds. If you walk into any situation with a negative thought, then you will never hear the good. That's like someone walking into a movie that everyone says is amazing and you have the thought that it better be as good as everyone says. You already have put a negative front and therefore haven't truly opened yourself to a new experience. I understand that not every performance of Ms. Hill's has been a hit (Rock the Bells) but she has been doing some amazing shows and I wish that people could just open themselves up and truly listen. Now some of that resistance has to do with their wanting to bring down her arrogance because I'm sure they equate her to the female Kanye West. That is out of anyone's control. I don't know what she does to make her start her shows at 12 midnight but it still is kind of weird. She is worth the wait but I don't think she has to test her audience's patience that hard. Other than that, her performances has been amazing and her spirit on that stage has been so uplifting. I wish that everyone could see what I see and not try to chalk it up to calling us "STANS". What a dismissive term to discredit the opinion of someone who disagrees with others negative comments. Anyway, just felt the need to spit that out. I will tell you that people will catch up to her style because...THEY HAVE NO CHOICE! They will probably claim that she got better but really it was them who had to change.
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Post by puma on Feb 7, 2011 2:34:54 GMT 1
I had to see what this person said....that response was intense. Now, I understand.
olivewaves what the hell happens to this woman from the enormous talent as much as his ego? late to concerts, if they f**k everything and everyone, screaming like a mad woman ruining his songs and ruining your voice ... I think he has some very serious psychological problem. 'm in love with a woman that no longer exists, a voice that has no more desire to be heard, a person who does not want itself to be more afraid to go on a tour business that attracts most of the time ... lauryn, have them go!
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Post by puma on Feb 6, 2011 5:29:03 GMT 1
Since the first Gulf War, we have marvelled at the speed with which media can report the world’s latest developments back to us. Rounding out this experience has been the more recent development of receiving non-media reports or comments (e.g., civilian use of social media, the arts) on these same events. Egypt has been an unusual case because of the governmental shut-down of internet access, which has surely obstructed numerous voices.
So, hearing the “first song to come out of Egypt since the revolution” began is a rare nugget. Dangerous Minds (via Re-Volt Radio) spotted the appropriately titled track “Rebel” by Egyptian hip-hop group Arabian Knightz. Re-Volt Radio contextualizes the rough recording: "Rebel" was recorded right in the middle of the Revolution and subsequently is being released on the first day of restored internet services.
Due, to the uncertainty of the communications situation in Egypt right now, Arabian Knightz have opted to release the raw, unmixed track because they need the world to hear their message. As of right now, they are the voice for the people of Egypt.
Dangerous Minds credits the video above to "Gamermanni," not the group. The song's second verse is in English and its subject matter is what one would expect given the song’s title. The song also flips a sample of Lauryn Hill’s “I Find It Hard To Say (Rebel)” from her MTV Unplugged 2.0 album from 2002. However, I’m otherwise out of my waters on this one.
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Post by puma on Feb 6, 2011 3:46:47 GMT 1
The Lauryn Hill Experience South Orange star plays to a sold-out crowd at the Wellmont
Part of the Lauryn Hill experience is waiting. Waiting for Hill is a little like waiting for Godot, although your companions are better dressed, there's some good music playing, and you can get a beer if you want to. And eventually, she does show up.
The doors opened at 7 and DJ Rich Medina started spinning tunes at 9. Warm 70's grooves gave way to remakes of warm 70's grooves and then some disco and hip-hop. The DJ started to pack up around 9:45, lights started flashing and the crowd started to cheer. Then he went back to playing tunes. Finally, at 10, he gave up the spotlight to........another DJ. Lauryn Hill's man, DJ Rampage, played some harder beats, shouted out to "New Jersey," and got the fans to wave their hands. The atmosphere brightened as the air became......aromatic.
Around 11:30, a group of a dozen or so young kids gathered behind the amps and had their own little dance party. Then, the arrival of midnight was followed by the arrival of some band members. By 12:15 the band was jamming with the DJ and the sold-out house was more than ready.
Hill finally arrives to a roar of approval and tells the crowd how happy she is to be performing in her "backyard." She shouts out to Montclair, Maplewood, and South Orange, where she grew up and now resides. Then she tears into a frenetic version of "Forever Loving Jah," a bit like a hyperactive James Brown.
She's putting everything she's got into it and so is the band. And it's quite a band: Three keyboards, three backup singers, two guitars, two basses, a drummer and the aforementioned DJ. By the second song, the band threatened to overwhelm the singer, who was in fine voice.
By now it's getting close to 1 a.m. and some of the "less nocturnal" concertgoers are starting to leave. The rest are cheering and waiting to see which of their favorite Fugees songs will be rearranged and if she has anything new to share. How did it all turn out? Honestly, I just couldn't wait to find out.
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Post by puma on Feb 4, 2011 15:16:20 GMT 1
Here’s a quick/rough translation of the Arabic lyrics:
مصر تثور على طيور الظلام Egypt is revolting against the shadows of darkness
الشعب يريد إسقاط النظام The people want the regime down
قتلونا، ذبحونا، سجنونا، عذبونا، نهبونا، خوفونا، أرهبونا ، وتجاهلونا They killed us, slaughtered us, put us behind bars, tortured us, robbed us, scared us, terrorized us and ignored us
الشعب المصري لن يموت The Egyptian people won’t die
إرادة الشعب يجب أن تسود The people’s will will conquer
بلادي بلادك My country is your country
أموالي أموالك My money is your money
يجب إلغاء إستعبادي وإستعبادك Enslaving us must end
آلامي وآلامك إحنا اللي نداويها We heal our pains
أحلامنا سلمية، ولازم نصرخ بيها Our dreams are peaceful and we should call for them out loud
بروح عبد الناصر والناصر صلاح الدين طالبين الحرية كتف الكتف موحدين We call for freedom united with the spirit of Abelnasser and Salaheldine
مصريين ثائرين، ثابتين على اليقين We’re revolting Egyptian, and we’re sure of it
مقيّدين عن التعبير، مجندين، مدرعين Restrained from expressing our feelings, we’re soldiers
إزاي في يوم يا مصري تقف سد لأخوك المصري على حقوقك وحقوقك، دي مصرك ومصري How could you oh Egyptian stand as a barrier between your Egyptian brother and your rights and his? This is your Egypt and his!
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Post by puma on Feb 3, 2011 19:03:28 GMT 1
I wonder what that person said to her to make her wave her finger and react, lol. I bet you he/ she thought twice about that after that response. Those backups are SANGIN' on the "Where were you" section. I love it.
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Post by puma on Feb 3, 2011 16:37:50 GMT 1
Hallelujah!! I was waiting for her to address all the haters regarding her new arrangements!
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Post by puma on Feb 3, 2011 16:26:08 GMT 1
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Post by puma on Feb 3, 2011 7:10:13 GMT 1
With the crazy history-making revolution going on in Egypt, an Egyptian rap group called Arabian Knights took Ms. Hill's "Rebel" and did their own song. In my opinion, the cutting of the song was done poorly but I liked that they're using her message for their cause. Check it out. What do you guys think? The rap is in their native tongue, of course. www.the9elements.com/2011/02/arabian-knights-f-lauryn-hill-rebel.html
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Post by puma on Feb 3, 2011 7:04:13 GMT 1
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Post by puma on Feb 3, 2011 6:45:23 GMT 1
Iconic Lauryn Hill Takes Center Stage
Lauryn Hill arrived, as expected, close to the midnight hour to melt the remaining Atlanta ice during her live show at Center Stage. It was her first show in Atlanta in over a decade. “Atlanta, you’re so special, huh?” Hill asked as she graced the stage to cheers and hollers from the crowd with the DJ playing Mavado’s “I’m So Special.” To start the show, Hill, lead the crowd in a high-spirited rendition of Bob Marley’s “Forever Loving Jah.” Her voice would prove to be at it’s clearest during his moment, before it turned to its new raspy texture. Afterwards, she told the crowd that she would perform some classics, but warned that her and her band reworked them to make them more exciting. Everyone in the front nodded, cheered, and shouted in approval. “Atlanta, I say it’s funny how money changes situations,” Hill flowed rapidly to the new sped-up “Lost Ones.” It was a sharp contrast from Hill’s “Unplugged” session as she encouraged, to no one in particular, making the sound “bigger.” This reworking of her classics wasn’t for everyone, but a true Lauryn Hill fan would not be lost in the bigness of the band. Hill infused the Fugee’s hit “Manifest” into the “Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” track, “When It Hurts So Bad.” She led the sold-out show in a heart-wrenching chorus all singing to the sound of “Ex-Factor.” She even surprisingly reworked the track, “Final Hour,” but noticeably missing were Hill’s staples such as “To Zion,” and “Everything is Everything.” After a slew of “Miseducation” hits, Hill asked if there were any Fugees fans and if she could take it back to some of their hits. I responded, “How Many Mics!” She looked at me and said, “Oh, you know that one?” I nodded. She turned to her band, smiled, wiped her forehead, and said, “Maybe you can sing along with me,” before she launched into the song. Hill then attached together a string of Fugee’s hits, including “Zealots,” “Fu-Gee-La”, and “Ready or Not,” speeding through them, eating, chewing, and then spitting out, both Wyclef and Pras’s lines. She ended the night with her encore songs, “Turn Your Lights Down Low,” “Killing Me Softly” and “Doo Wop (That Thing), which the audience sung in turns. If anyone was worried about Lauryn, then rest assured, they need not be. Hill was well worth the wait. Clad in high heels, long dazzling pants with a belted shirt, she bounced and punched in the air to an excited Atlanta crowd before graciously shaking hands, bowing, accepting gifts, and talking to the front row. During during a breakdown of “Ready or Not,” she embraced the crowd and said, “Atlanta, look at you. You found me. And I know I wasn’t around, but you still found me.” Yes, Ms. Hill, we still found you, and for a woman who taught us all about love on her debut solo album, she loved the Atlanta crowd like no other before. Joshua Moore Staff Writer j_moore20@yahoo.com
My favorite line in the article is : "It was a sharp contrast from Hill’s “Unplugged” session as she encouraged, to no one in particular, making the sound “bigger.” This reworking of her classics wasn’t for everyone, but a true Lauryn Hill fan would not be lost in the bigness of the band."
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Post by puma on Feb 2, 2011 23:10:40 GMT 1
She's actually been very careful with her voice. I think that we saw the worst of what she could do to her voice in 2007. I noticed that she actually pulls back the band and sings gently. She's definitely done a 180. She has already booked more dates up till the Florida gig in March. I think that she had built up a nice endurance and even with a cold has been taking good care of her voice. I'm not in the least bit discouraged. Let's not forget everything that goes into performing and also touring. It's not easy at all. Trust me. You try to make sure you bring your "A" game but also have a "B" and "C" game ready just in case you're feeling a little tired, stuffy, lethargic, or the air on the stage is dry and no amount of water can give relief. The monitors on stage/ ear pieces make it hard to hear yourself or hear others on stage. The voice doesn't remain pristine all the time and she's not playing controlled environments. These small venues are harder to work than the huge arenas, believe it or not. So, I'm not worried. We'll see what happens when she gets to the March festivals.
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Post by puma on Jan 31, 2011 7:55:01 GMT 1
Ya know, I remember when I was younger and I wanted to break free from my mother's hold on me-- I had to be a little tough with her. When she would ask where I was going, I would tell her "I'm going out" and then just leave. The first five times I did it, she was upset and struggled but by the sixth time she became wised up and started to let me go and I felt free and no longer needed to take the time to explain things or even address it. It struck me the other day that Ms. Hill needs to be completely tough with her "fans" because they won't shake the false image that they hold so dear. She's not the woman who will show up and give an "entertainer's" show. She's the woman who will show up and you will see the work of a living artist. Just like this woman here:
Do you see what I mean? The same directing the band on the spot. The feeling of being free with improvisation at your fingertips. It's a completely different type of concert. Many people will not be able to understand just like they didn't understand Nina. Nina was absolutely brilliant but she was eccentric and some people wouldn't take the time to go deeper and understand her. P.S. Ms. Hill even looks like her more and more.
As we've heard, she's not late to shows if she doesn't post a start time. It's the venue's responsibility to post a reasonable time that works with her schedule. Interesting enough, many venues want to open early to make more money at the bars. The media is twisting the stories so that she will respond but Ms. Hill won't respond or retaliate using the media because that would invite trouble back into her space. The media will once again try to dictate every bit of her life. That's how the industry works. Remember how the industry made Michael Jackson appear to be anything but human. Yes, he was eccentric and he changed his appearance and other crazy things BUT he was human. If Ms. Hill jumps back in and let these people into her life like that again, then they will surely cause her demise. I would be so heartbroken if we lost her because of this crazy industry. She has to be strong and unwilling to bend because "the others" will eventually catch up. She's a genius that is ahead of her time.
Sorry for the crazy rant but I had a random epiphany.
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