Lauryn Hill has spoken out about her recent headlining performance at Essence Festival, where she didn't take the stage until 2:30 AM as many fans had already left the venue. Taking to Instagram on Tuesday, she shared a statement addressing the incident as well as her reputation for being late to concerts. The post comes after the organizers for Essence put out a statement taking blame for the situation.
“Thank you to Essence Fest for clarifying that the delays were not my fault,” she wrote, as caught by AllHipHop. “Family, let me address a few things: I am involved in every aspect of what it takes to put on my shows, because it requires THAT much involvement to protect the integrity of my message and the quality of what I do.”
She continued: “While some get to focus on a single discipline or category, my role requires that I have eyes everywhere and contribute to most if not every department and more. I don’t show up late to shows because I don’t care. And I have nothing but love and respect for my fans. The challenge is aligning my energy with the time, taking something that isn’t easily classified or contained, and trying to make it available for others.”
“There seems to be a misconception out there that I am somewhere on the Riviera with my feet up, drink in hand, showing up to concerts whenever because I’m too important to care. That’s nonsense… and anyone who’s been a part of these productions knows that IN FACT the opposite is true," she added.
From there, she concluded by thanking the fans who stuck around for her performance as well as those who have defended her over the years.
Essence Festival Lineup
In the comments section of Hill's post, the account for Essence responded: "Always love and accountability live here. Thank you for blessing us." Prior to Hill, several other iconic artists performed at the event including Erykah Badu, Ari Lennox, Babyface, Patti LaBelle, and more.
Master P even put on what was billed as his final concert as retires from music. He intends to fully shift his focus to his role as the President of Basketball Operations at the University of New Orleans.
