Where do I begin?

After serving three months in a minimum security prison for tax evasion in Danbury CT, Lauryn Hill was released today. The femcee decided, in celebration of her new found freedom, to drop a new single “Consumerism” and this statement.

Consumerism is part of some material I was trying to finish before I had to come in. We did our best to eek out a mix via verbal and emailed direction, thanks to the crew of surrogate ears on the other side. Letters From Exile is material written from a certain space, in a certain place. I felt the need to discuss the underlying socio-political, cultural paradigm as I saw it. I haven’t been able to watch the news too much recently, so I’m not hip on everything going on. But inspiration of this sort is a kind of news in and of itself, and often times contains an urgency that precedes what happens. I couldn’t imagine it not being relevant. Messages like these I imagine find their audience, or their audience finds them, like water seeking it’s level.

Remember, this is Lauryn Hill, one third of The Fugees and the genius behind The Miseducation of Lauryn Hil, so be kind.