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.
