Lauryn Hill has posted a lengthy and thorough response to Robert Glasper's claims that she stole music for her debut album and arbitrarily cut the pay of band members.
"She took the credit for making the classic album. Those songs were written by other people, and they did not get their credit," Glasper said on Houston'sKBXX The Madd Hatta Morning Show. "She likes to take credit so she can become this super person. If you’re a super person and you’re that talented... do it!"
On the subject of Hill's treatment of her band members, Glasper remarked, "Every day she comes in and changes the show, changes what she wants to do. Completely. The last rehearsal, she doesn’t show up. Her manager comes in and says, 'Lauryn’s not really feeling the way you guys have been learning the music, so we’re gonna cut your pay in half.' The last rehearsal. The day before the show. 'We’re gonna cut your pay in half.' First of all, we weren’t getting paid that much anyway, but understand she’s getting half-a-million dollars. So, seriously? You’re gonna take these five musicians and cut their pay in half?"
Titled Addressing Robert Glasper and other common misconceptions about me (in no particular order), Hill addressed the allegations, writing, "I’m confused as to why such a principled musician, who thought I ‘stole’ from his friends, would show up to work for me anyway. If that was hypocrisy or opportunism instead of genuine interest, it would further explain why an artist would feel the need to put his or her guard up."
Addressing her debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, she wrote, "The Miseducation was the first time I worked with musicians outside of the Fugees who’s report and working relationship was clear. In an effort to create the same level of comfort, I may not have established the necessary boundaries and may have been more inviting than I should have been. In hindsight, I would have handled it differently for the removal of any confusion. And I have handled it differently since, I’m clear and I make clear before someone walks in the door what I am and am not looking for. I may have been inclusive, but these are my songs."
On the allegations she cut the pay of people in her band: "Don’t have the details or recollection of cutting the band’s pay in half. If fees had been negotiated and confirmed without my knowledge, I may have asked for them to be adjusted. But I would never just cut a musician’s pay arbitrarily unless I had a legitimate reason. There are artists who do cut pay though, James Brown was notorious for docking musicians if they did something he didn’t like, I’m sure there are others."
Elsewhere in the piece, Hill touches on race, oppression, Harriet Tubman, her work with the Fugees, and much more.
