As reported here, former Fugees frontwoman Lauryn Hill was sentenced to three years in prison due to tax evasion on $1.8 million earned between 2005-2007.
But, in a last minute twist of fate, the ‘Joyful, Joyful’ songstress was given new reason to sing the tune as news of a lucrative multimillion dollar deal with Sony Music could yield enough return to cover the diva’s debts and evade jailtime.
While speculation mounted on the exact figures of the deal, Ms. Hill penned a letter to not only announce launching a new label, but also specifically address the deal’s details and her current financial woes. Read her lengthy statement below:
It has been reported that I signed a new record deal, and that I did this to pay taxes. Yes, I have recently entered into an agreement with Sony Worldwide Entertainment, to launch a new label, on which my new music will be released. And yes, I am working on new music.
I’ve remained silent, after an extensive healing process. This has been a 10+ year battle, for a long time played out behind closed doors, but now in front of the public eye. This is an old conflict between art and commerce… free minds, and minds that are perhaps overly tethered to structure. This is about inequity, and the resulting disenfranchisement caused by it. I’ve been fighting for existential and economic freedom, which means the freedom to create and live without someone threatening, controlling, and/or manipulating the art and the artist, by tying the purse strings.
It took years for me to get out of the ‘parasitic’ dynamic of my youth, and into a deal that better reflects my true contribution as an artist, and (purportedly) gives me the control necessary to create a paradigm suitable for my needs. I have been working towards this for a long time, not just because of my current legal situation, but because I am an artist, I love to create, and I need the proper platform to do so.
The nature of my new business venture, as well as the dollar amount reported, was inaccurate, only a portion of the overall deal. Keep in mind, my past recordings have sold over 50,000,000 units worldwide, earning the label a tremendous amount of money (a fraction of which actually came to me).
Only a completely complicated set of traps, manipulations, and inequitable business arrangements could put someone who has accomplished the things that I have, financially in need of anything. I am one artist who finds value in openly discussing the dynamics within this industry that force artists to compromise or distort themselves and what they do, rather than allowing them to make the music that people need. There are volumes that could (and will) be said.
MLH
Your thoughts?
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Oh i see she getting her writhing going…Letters from the pin
Stop dodging Samantha.
***SAMANTHA, YOUR GAY ASS BETTER POST THIS***
NEW YORK — PepsiCo is selling more its snacks and drinks around the world, even as the maker of Frito-Lay, Tropicana and Quaker Oats tries to figure out how to sell more soda in the United States.
For its beverage unit in the Americas, however, revenue was flat as price hikes offset a drop in volume. Soft drink volume in North America declined in the mid-single digits.
“The cola category continues to be a challenge,” CEO Indra Nooyi noted in a conference call with analysts.
Over the past year, PepsiCo has significantly stepped up marketing for its namesake drink, including an endorsement deal with the pop star Beyonce. But it’s struggling to win back market share from Coca-Cola Co. at a time when Americans are continuing to cut back on soda in favor of water, sports drinks and bottled teas.
PepsiCo, based in Purchase, N.Y., offers a variety of drinks in all those categories, including Aquafina, Gatorade and Lipton. But Nooyi noted that the company has to be careful about investing more heavily in one brand at the expense of another. Soda, for example, is generally more profitable than bottled water and still makes up the bulk of its beverage sales.
www . huffingtonpost . com /2013/04/18/pepsico_n_3109932 . html
LMAO I guess Beyonce was not worth the money was she PepsiCo lmao. Her biggest era yet huh?? Someone is getting fired lmao.
GURL have a f****** seat n get a life u basic h**
Go help your fav keep her job, go buy a case of Pepsi.
why do u hate beyonce so much
She a damn fraud why would she love her? * sips pepsi in hopes of saving the franchise….because a certain fraud couldn’t*
YOU OBVIOUSLY HAVE NO LIFE SPENDING YOUR TIME GOOGLING BEYONCE NAME EVERY 10 SECONDS HUH??? LIKE GET OFF HER N** SACK YOU F****** PSYCHO!!!
Oh man, why are you guys mad though, go buy a pack of Pepsi instead.
Thank god Taylors with coke hahaha f*** beyonce shes a FAIL
TAYLORS P**** IS A FAIL B**** THATS WHY SHE CAN’T KEEP A MAN OOOOP!
Beyonce doesn’t lose endorsement deals, you’re thinking of Rihanna. **snicker**
HAHAHA OKAAY
You have absolutely no knowledge of commerce or business if you think that the failure of Pepsi’s soda business ventures are entirely up to Beyonce’s endorsement. Yes putting a celebrities face on your product does help its distribution, that’s why its called an “endorsement”, however there are other factor that contribute to overall profit turnover.
It is spectacularly stupid of you to assume that a person who is guaranteed dividends of $50 000 000 (half a billion in MY country’s currency) in twelfth months would need any financial assistance, regardless of whether the endorsement is positive or negative.
GET OUT OF HERE WITH YOUR DAMN PEPSI NEWS. IT’S LAURYN SHINE.
S*** NO ONE CARES!!!! LET PEPSI AND BEY WORK THAT OUT!!!
She’s a mess and i dont have time for her ugly basic black ass.
Yes Beyonce is black & basic but she is not ugly….. lol
She is a beautiful black woman just like Lauryn Hill.
Shut the f*** up u stoooopid nobody! hope all ur negativity kills u in ur sleep u bitter unnecessary fool! God bless ur Ugly soul anyway!
To the point of the article, (for future reference) – if u r ever going to make comments, make it be about the f****** title or something regarding the subject on discussion.. not that she is black or in ur opinion ‘Ugly’.. We would much rather hear ur opinion on that than the tails of ur dis-functional upbringing.. remember ur place in this universe!
Besides that, Im glad she is back, I think whatever she has to offer is going to help educate the youth of today, if not her audience from the 90’s, its been long overdue and i cant wait to hear what she has to offer.
Do u ever have anything good to say u slimmy s***?
QUEEN LAURYN IS FAR FROM UGLY! SHE IS A BLACK QUEEN & U WILL DEAL! DEAD @ HER GETTING Y’ALL TOGETHER IN LESS THAN A PARAGRAPH!! REMINDS ME OF MYSELF! SHE CLOCKED T & TOLD U F****** SHE MADE WAYYYY MORE THAN 1.8MIL and sold over 50MIL WW off ONE SOLO ALBUM! KIIII!
Funny how she pens this letter now….Oh lauryn we believe you durrrling * sips Pepsi in order to save their dying franchise* ( because we all know a certain fraud couldn’t)….
“sips Pepsi in order to save their dying franchise* ( because we all know a certain fraud couldn’t)….”
DEAD!!!
& gurl you can stfu flip flopping f**
Lovebird aka Bird S*** can really stfu he’s so OBSESSED with king bey its kinda scarey worry about ya self basic F**
HUN SHES SUPER PRESSED LIKE SHE MAD RIHANNA LOSES ENDORSEMENTS WHILE BEYONCE GAINS THEM HAHAHA.
Lauryn you owe that money as simple as that! You are only cutting the album because of that! now that your ass might be facing jail all of sudden you feel liberated to cut a new LP? bish cut the ish you don’t want to do that time so don’t go sista souljah on us
i actually have to agree with you .. its funny how as soon as her as is going to jail she is fast to sign a deal and get her ass back in the studio to put out an album.. smh i bet you anything that the music is going to be some mediocre s*** that nobody can relate to!!
I love Ms. Hill but I didnt see any explanation or justification for her not paying taxes.
I understand the relationships between record labels can be controllingand they can take what many would consider an unfair amount of money. All at the same time…what makes you special from any other human being that keeps you from paying taxes.
I’m all about the art, but unless she didn’t take a penny for any personal enjoyment then I can’t get down with the excuses. Follow the law or be prepared to deal with the consequences, elegant letter or not.
I LOVE Lauryn Hill. best R&B alubm in last 15 years but….
She was the one that SIGNED the bad record deal and she wouldnt have sold that many records without Columbia/Sony Records.
ANYWAY, I hope she doesnt go to prison cause she is a mom of 6 and not a threat to society….
I wish her the best with her ‘health” issues. She is in denial about her health.
F*** this c*** its all about Taylor Swift
it feels like one of those nights *Plays 22 by Taylor*
Smh, lord the stans on this site have the attention span of a damn fruit fly.
Lauryn honey, once you get to paying those taxes, make sure if you’ll have some change left over, you buy a pack of Pepsi to help the franchise because clearly Beyonce cannot.
WAIST OF S**** RIGHT HERE^^^^^^
It’s “waste” honey, “waste”.
**Sips Pepsi to save franchise**
Damn talk about low ass IQ….Studies don’t lie! @ BEY BEAUTIFUL
I don’t understand how the hood hive couldn’t save their fav…..Most of t hem live off of the government so why couldn’t they reserve some food stamps, and haul their fat ass down to the nearest Wal-Mart and support pepsi???
Nicki Minaj is a better investment for PepsiCo than Beyonce lol, and Beyonce is supposed to be the “KING” right?? lmao.
**Opens another can of Pepsi to save franchise because Beyonce clearly cannot**
But in the past year rihanna has been dropped by multiple brands so????
I don’t understand how the hood hive couldn’t save their fav…..Most of t hem live off of the government so why couldn’t they reserve some food stamps, and haul their fat ass down to the nearest Wal-Mart and support pepsi???
LMAO, I KNOW RIGHT.
ISNT THIS ABOUT LAUREN WORRY ABOUT HER BROKE ASS AND NOT KING BEY THANKS
@HONEYCHILDPLEASE & @LOVEBIRD ARE TO JEALOUS RIHTARDS MAD BECAUSE BEYONCE WILL FOREVER BE BETTER THAN THEIR FAVS….. BIG FOREHEADED H** CAN’T EVEN KEEP AN ENDORSEMENT SHE’S A LAME H** FASHO
KING BEY>>>>>>>>> LAP DOG RIHANNA
Hood hive are no good! it’s either the hood hive are not that big of a fan base, or they too damn cheap to support their fave…I mean obviously they don’t support her albums…FLOP<FLOP<FLOP<FLOP<and More FLOP. They don't even support her endorsements smh…I mean most of you get food stamps, and have low IQ i would think the retarded @ss hive would buy a damn pepsi, but no their broke asses up their buying 50 cent sodas instead, and waiting for the next ghetto cook out to eat damn hog mogs, and fried chicken…
TALKING BOUT CHEAP WHEN R****** NAVY CAN’T EVEN GET THAT B**** TO SELL 300K FIRST WEEK HAVE A SEAT T*****
Hunty don’t worry about what i’m typing worry about saving your fav from getting dropped from PEPSI….* throws you a can of pepsi* for your thirsty ass!
BEYONCE>>>>>>> RIHANNA
#AFACT
#DEAL.
PEPSI & H&M
I think she need Psychiatric Help. She is not serious about making music. She is gonna end up owing them as well.
F*** LAUREN THIS ABOUT BEYONCE NOW THE F** NAVY F*** TRIED IT UP IN HERE
THANKS FOR MAKING THIS POST ABOUT KING BEY B******…. BEYONCE MAKES THE WORLD GO ROUND SHE GET H*** O SO PRESSED KIII
Honey you’re still here? Shouldn’t you be rushing to the nearest Wal-Mart to purchase yourself some Pepsi??
Bahahahahahahahahaha guuuuuurrrrrr right!!!!!!!!
BAHAHWHAHAHWAHAHAHWHAHA weak ass hive!!!
They weak as f*** dog actually more like pathetic tbh..
TRUTH!!!
No one wants to buy beyonce face on a Pepsi can awww
I’m literally LOL-ing watching these Navy b****** go in on Beyonce like their fave hasn’t f***** up/flopped/ undersold/ underrated every endorsement,magazine,movie, t.v show, dvd ects. that’s she’s ever been apart of.
S***, idk how factual that article is about Beyonce, but if a product isn’t selling, it’s because the masses don’t like it. This is especially true with foods and beverages: Nobody can make you like something you don’t, period. Pepsi’s products were on the decline way before they signed a deal with Beyonce. It was kind of naive of them to think any celebrity in 2013 could have changed that.
Since beyonce became the face of Pepsi it started declining even more i heard nicki was bringing sells up until she got replaced for fraudyonce
Beyonce broke fans cant spend 6.99 on a box of soda for they girl wtf her flop fat ass bout to lose her deal they never shoulda got rid of Queen Nicki for that washed up h**
Beyfraud poor dat!
lmao omg that pic name n comment is f****** HILARIOUS
Navy>>>>>>> Hive
We keep our fav RELEVANT!
Say my name say my name 3 times in the mirror, and i will appear with some pepsi….*saving pepsi one day at a time*
Fatyonce Obeseyonce Hippoyonce we want more Pepsi so we can become a fatass like u
New album? Ill believe it when i see it.
Atleast Lauryn has INTEGRITY and wont sell her p**** for money like your faves have.
Amen Amen Amen New music by Lauryn Hill i feel like crying. I know that she has no choice but to release new music right now but am a selfish Fan who has been waiting 10 years lol and I really don’t care. At least she is not going to jail and she is going to create some serious competition when she comes out with new music.
How did a post about lauryn hill turn into a post about Beyonce and Rihanna. You lot need to get a life. How can you sit here laughing at a woman that is a multi-millionaire, she is winning! How delusional can you be????
On the flip side rihanna is a 25 year old performing in front of millions, and in between living that private beach house life.
What are you arguing about??!!!!
people dont want to see real artists and hear real lyrics no more. All they wanna see and hear is gimmicks and auto tune.
The issue here is very simple: PAY YOUR TAX!!!!!!!!
PLEASE STICK TO THE ABOVE TOPIC. LAURYN HILL WE LOVE YOU. I KNOW THAT ALBUM IS GOING TO BE BANGING AND DEEP! ENJOY THIS CUT FROM HER 2002 MTV UNPLUGGED SET…ONE OF MY FAVE!
http://youtu.be/phgIJuujAKE
THIS IS SOOO TURNING OFF; I THOUGHT PEOPLE SHOULD BE COMMENTING ON THE ABOVE POST INSTEAD PEOPLE ARE ARGUING ABOUT RIHANNA AND BEYONCE. I HATE THIS ERA OF MUSIC PERIOD. IT ANNOYS ME!!! ALL OF THESE AUTO TONE, WEAK LYRICS, STUDIO GIMMICKS AND SELF CENTERED ARTISTS I CAN DO WITHOUT THEM. THE FAKE ARTISTRY AND HYPROCRITCAL COMRADERY NEVER EXISTED TO THIS LEVEL. LET PEOPLE SHINE AND STOP SHADING OTHER ARTISTS WITH YOUR CONDESCENDING REMARKS TO MAKE YOUR ARTIST LOOKS GOOD. I REALLY MISS THE 90’S THERE WERE SOOO MANY TALENT OUT; IT WASN’T ABOUT 1,2 OR 3 PERSONS. EVERYONE BROUGHT SOMETHING DIFFERENT TO THE TABLE. YOU NEVER HEARD NO XSCAPE VS TLC VS SWV VS TOTAL VS BROWSTONE VS JADE BEEF OR 112 VS BOYZ II MEN VS AZ YET VS H-TOWN VS SHAI VS SILK VS HI-FIVE VS INTRO BEEF. I COULD GO ON AND NAME OTHER ARTISTS. AALIYAH, BRANDY, MONICA, USHER, TEVIN, USHER AND SHANICE IN THEIR HEYDAYS, ALL BROUGHT SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE TO ENJOY. TIRED OF THIS SILLY MUSIC ERA…THIS ERA OF MUSIC NEEDS TO BE SAVED BEFORE IT’S TOO LATE…VERY MONOTONOUS AND BORING IF YOU ASK ME. LOVE THIS LAURYN
http://youtu.be/ObTYOqVp96s
So in other words she’s saying “B******, I am NOT broke. I just decided to do this new deal to pretend like I am broke so that the IRS will not come after my bank”.