Lauryn Hill hits back at claims she stole music

28 August 2018

Lauryn Hill has defended herself against claims she stole music for her album 'The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

Lauryn Hill

The 43-year-old star took to Medium to pen a lengthy essay defending herself after jazz musician Robert Glasper claimed earlier this month that Lauryn had "stolen all of [his] friends' music" during the making of the 1998 record.

In 2001, Lauryn settled a lawsuit with four musicians from the album who claimed they had been denied writing credits.

In her essay, she wrote: "I apologise for the delay in getting this posted, I was late in hearing about it. I understand this is long, but my last interview was over a decade ago.

"The Miseducation was the first time I worked with musicians outside of the Fugees [whose] report and working relationship was clear. In an effort to create the same level of comfort, I may not have established the necessary boundaries and may have been more inviting than I should have been.

"In hindsight, I would have handled it differently for the removal of any confusion. And I have handled it differently since, I'm clear and I make clear before someone walks in the door what I am and am not looking for. I may have been inclusive, but these are my songs."

She also refuted Glasper's allegations that she was difficult to work with and she cut musicians' pay when she was displeased with them.

Lauryn wrote: "Don't have the details or recollection of cutting the band's pay in half. If fees had been negotiated and confirmed without my knowledge, I may have asked for them to be adjusted. But I would never just cut a musician's pay arbitrarily unless I had a legitimate reason. There are artists who do cut pay though, James Brown was notorious for docking musicians if they did something he didn't like, I'm sure there are others.

"Men often can say 'I want it done like this' and not be challenged. The same rules don't always apply for women who may be met with resistance. When this happens you replace that player with someone who respects you and the office you hold."