Hip-hop activist-rapper Talib Kweli recently took to Medium to defend Lauryn Hill's music and personal life after a writer named Stefan Schumacher posted an article suggesting the public should stop caring about Hill and her artistry.
In the piece, Kweli asserts that Lauryn and any other musical artists doesn't owe their fans anything and the material they choose to release is up to their discretion.
"True fans celebrate what they have already received, they don't whine like spoiled children about not receiving things they were never owed in the first place," Kweli wrote. "When (and if) an artist shares their art, it is a privilege not a right. Try to remove your personal feelings from that equation."
He also went on to defend her live performances, which fans have not been too pleased with.
"When you pay for a Lauryn Hill concert you are not paying for her to do what you want, you are paying for her to do what she wants. She is not an iPod nor is she a trained monkey. She doesn't have to do her hits and she doesn't have to do the songs the way you want to hear them. She doesn't owe you that. The world does not revolve around you, and you ain't gotta like it. Get over yourself. If you have a negative experience at her concert, go home, put on The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and the next time she does come through your town, don't go to her concert. Problem solved. Just because you had a negative experience at a Lauryn Hill show doesn't mean her contribution to the world is invalid or deserves to be disrespected."
In his post, Schumacher wrote, "It occurred to me that, as great as Miseducation and The Fugees' The Score are, they're part of a distant past. Lauryn Hill was a great artist. She's not anymore and it's time we stop holding her in that regard, waiting for her to pay off on a promise that's long since expired."
Read Talib Kweli's piece in its entirety here.
