Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Cautionary Tale- Lauryn Hill


Lauryn Hill
Originally uploaded by
Lisa Liang
Well, YUPBs, sorry to get all depressing on your fabulous asses, but it can't be helped. I am tired of seeing so many women plunge themselves into utter ruin because they allowed some guy to eff with their priorities.

Case in point: Lauryn Hill. '
Memba her?

Between 1996 and 1998, you could scarcely turn on your radio without hearing Lauryn's voice. As one third of the
Fugees and an award- winning solo artist, she dominated the charts for the last half of the 1990s. I recall more than one lunch hour in high school spent driving around with my fave bitches, smoking DuMauriers and listening to "Killing me Softly". That voice. She was this beautiful, hip, strong, talented black woman with so much charisma.

Then, she simply disappeared.

What at first seemed to be a self-imposed hiatus based on her negative feelings about the trappings of celebrity soon turned into something more...bizarre. Her MTV unplugged session was called a "public breakdown" by Rolling Stone, she recorded albums and then refused to release them, dropped out of a major project backed by Oprah (oh no you didn't) and completely screwed the
Fugees reunion by refusing to come on stage until she was ready, which was sometimes a full 45 minutes into a show.

So, what happened?

Let me tell you what happened: Lauryn Hill let men come in and take away her power. That's right, I'm going there. First, she started listening to some "spiritual advisor" named Brother Anthony, who basically told her to renounce everything, calling it sin. Then, she got knocked up by Bob Marley's son,
Rohan. This douchebag neglected to tell her that he was already married and had two children with his wife. Like a dummy, she stayed with him and got knocked up four more times and began referring to Marley as her husband. He, on the other hand, told the media that they are only together "spiritually". I'm going to go out on a limb here and suggest that Rohan Marley keep his "spirituality" in his pants if he isn't going to recognise the legitimacy of his relationship. F*cker.

Now our girl Lauryn is raising five children by herself and has cut off most of the people who were close to her back in the day. Those who are still in touch with her say that she's pretty unbalanced. So sad.

There is an important lesson here. I've seen this happen more than once to very smart women who end up ruining their lives because they let some man who does not have their best interests at heart swoop in and lead them. These women lose their professional momentum, self-respect, financial security and common sense.

If it can happen to a mega-star with everything going for her, it can happen to you. Don't let it. Take care of yourself first, you are your own best resource. Next time some
sexay piece tries to get risky with your well-being, think of Lauryn and tell him to hit the road.

Use your head,
YUPBs. Don't wind up a cautionary tale.

And send out good vibes to L.H., she badly needs it.

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