If you have been keeping up with music-related news in the past day or two, you likely saw that Lauryn Hill was charged with three counts of failing to file tax returns for the years 2005-2007. As a result, she faces a maximum of one year in jail and $100,000 in fines for each count.
And before she heads to court on June 29 to deal with the matter, she took to her newly created Tumblr account to respond to the charges. You can read the lengthy and very indepth statement below her tweet, which verifies that it was indeed Ms. Hill behind this.
I have issued a statement in regards to the charges filed against me.I haven't spoken publicly in a long time, (cont) tl.gd/hom57m
“For the past several years, I have remained what others would consider underground. I did this in order to build a community of people, like-minded in their desire for freedom and the right to pursue their goals and lives without being manipulated and controlled by a media protected military industrial complex with a completely different agenda. Having put the lives and needs of other people before my own for multiple years, and having made hundreds of millions of dollars for certain institutions, under complex and sometimes severe circumstances, I began to require growth and more equitable treatment, but was met with resistance. I entered into my craft full of optimism (which I still possess), but immediately saw the suppressive force with which the system attempts to maintain it’s control over a given paradigm. I’ve seen people promote addiction, use sabotage, black listing, media bullying and any other coercion technique they could, to prevent artists from knowing their true value, or exercising their full power. These devices of control, no matter how well intentioned (or not), can have a devastating outcome on the lives of people, especially creative types who must grow and exist within a certain environment and according to a certain pace, in order to live and create optimally.
