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The

International African Arts Festival celebrated its 30th

Anniversary with a performance from Lauryn

Hill on the 4th

of July. With only an acoustic guitar, Lauryn sang and

rapped for an attentive crowd that filled the outdoor

baseball field in Brooklyn.

"I used to try and look cute but now all I offer

is reality," Lauryn said, "Don’t worry about

my hair and my big belly." The multicultural crowd

paid a mere $7 for the performance while the ex-Fugee

usually charges about $50 per ticket.

Singing for

the crowd, Lauryn was often overcome with emotion and

cried as she played, causing the crowd to cheer. Also,

when Lauryn rhymed a bevy of politically charged rhymes

(still while playing the guitar), she clearly demonstrated

that her skills on the mic had not deteriorated one bit.

Only when boyfriend and father of her 2 children Rohan

Marley entered the stage due to sound difficulties, did

a massive quiet come over the crowd. Marley allegedly

cheated on Lauryn with her hairstylist and, because of

it, she cut her dreadlocks off.

Before leaving,

the crowd cheered for the Hill to perform additional songs

so as a treat, she performed a work in progress, pulling

out a torn sheet of paper. No released date has been set

for her next album.