http://www.foxnews.com/st...93,00.html

Tuesday, June 11, 2002
By Roger Friedman

Lauryn Hill: Brainwashed?

Has Grammy winner Lauryn Hill come under the influence of a cultish Svengali? People around her say she has, and that he accounts for her strange behavior and equally weird new album of songs.

The 27-year-old singer-songwriter, once part of the Fugees, surprised her fans this spring when she followed up her Grammy-winning debut album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill with a double album of morose acoustic songs, some of which sound unfinished and many of which are inexplicable.

The songs were recorded last summer for an episode of MTV Unplugged, and then released last month on CD. So far the album has not been much of a hit.

Hill’s friends point to someone whom they refer to as a "shaman," a self-appointed religious man who's invaded Hill’s life and become her adviser — as well as possibly her lover.

Hill, who lives in Miami and Jamaica with her two children and their father Rohan Marley, son of the late Bob Marley, has apparently become so enamored of this swami that she's doing everything he says — and then some.

Hill — who is mostly reclusive now — alluded to this fellow in an interview with MTV Online when she was promoting the Unplugged special.

She said: "I met somebody. That person had an understanding of the Bible like no one else I ever met in my life. I just sat at their feet and ingested pure Scripture for about a year. I started to see I was my worst enemy. I was the problem, my own self-image, who I thought I should be, as opposed to who I really was. I just ate it up.

"I started to see that my concept of spirituality was totally wrong," Hill continued. "Real religion is no religion at all. Truth is the true covering, and when I started to see that, two things happened. My creativity came back in an overflowing abundance, and I got into direct confrontation with everybody I love."

According to sources, Hill may have left Marley — who is still married to another woman — and is now possibly married to her "religious adviser."

"This started right after Miseducation came out, and it's only gotten worse," says my source.

With Wyclef Jean and Pras, Hill formed the Fugees several years ago. The group was a huge hit with the album The Score and the single "Killing Me Softly."

But Hill broke away from the group and went off to do her own album — and has never returned. Jean has parodied the situation on his own solo albums. Now there's at least some explanation of what's happened to Lauryn Hill.

"She's not in touch with her parents," says my source of Hill's New Jersey family. "This guy has separated her from everyone."

Hill told MTV Online, which did not pursue the line of questioning, about her Svengali: "I don't speak about him publicly, because he is a good friend of mine. He's not an ambitious person. He just shares, and people want truth. I believe God will make a way and he is going to identify [the man] ... I saw somebody living what he was saying. It wasn't a bunch of jargon. His life was a living testimony of faith and of passion and systematic rebellion ..."

What's really upsetting in all this is that Hill also told MTV Online that she has consequently shuttered her charity called The Refugee Project. The foundation started in 1996 was designed to help the underprivileged. Hill's mother Valerie was president, and the charity ran a summer camp for impoverished kids and donated money around the world.

Raquiba Sealy, Hill's friend, said in a 1999 interview with Umagazine.com: "Lauryn will tell you herself, 'Long after I'm done singing and rapping, the Refugee Project will be here making a difference.' The passion has always been there. She loves people, and she wants to see a better world."

Last month however Hill told MTV: "I had a nonprofit organization and I had to shut all that down. You know, smiling with big checks, obligatory things, not having things come from a place of passion. That's slavery. Everything we do should be a result of our gratitude for what God has done for us. It should be passionate."
[This message was edited Wed Jun 12 9:20:48 PDT 2002 by NuPwrSoul]

th' hell?

why do we always feel we need someone else to help us understand the bible? he sounds like a false idol to me

Haven't heard her new album, but it sounds like she's looking for answers. Hopefully she goes back to her friends and family when or if it feels right.

I went thru that in college...had a top 10 album and then released my sophomore/psychadelic followup "Armpit Farts". They said i was crazee, but i knew better...I'M UN-SANE.

Video at 11.

NuPwrSoul said:

Nice. I actually agree with the chronic.
Excuse my French, but these so-called prophets are really starting to piss me off. When are we going to stop following what man tells us is THE TRUTH and go by THE TRUTH (love, God, Allah, Jehovah, etc.) - that direct connection, no mediator - that guides us inside. I'm out. ONE

doesn't sound good! and she's so talented too.

aspera773 said:

Just for the record, Aspera773 was quoting the article's writer, not me

I think Lauryn Hill is growing up. I saw the Unplugged Show and it was great. Watching her struggle to play the guitar with tears streaming down her face as she sang was amazing. It is not often that an artist puts it all on the line like that, at least not publically. When they do, they usually get blasted by the media. Prince went through it, and still hasn't fully recovered.

I do not condone Lauryn's breaking away from her family and friends. But it seems to me that Lauryn is being Amancipated. She is removing the word "SLAVE" from her cheek and finding a higher ground. "Can U Relate."

I don't think Prince will ever as much as he talks openly about being a JW have a breakdown on stage. It just doesn't become him. Even with the infamous name change and battle with WB it was like he was so in control he was the one who wrote SLAVE on his face and though the media tried to tear him apart, he remained so calm so cool cuz it's like he just knew he was right and no one could move him. With Lauryn Hill he cry seems more vulnerable than victorious.

Xcuse me her cry

This sounds so strange. It always seemed like she was very close to her family so for her to become disconnected from them, it's not the best sign. Perhaps this whole thing sounds worse than it actually is. We'll see...

The Svengali, could it be Larry Graham? :Þ

NuPwrSoul said:

Sorry, NPS. Got caught up in the heat of the moment.
Take care. ONE LOVE

dbrownaa said:

"Amancipated" ?[b] I'm sorry is this princespeak or a typo? I always found that "SLAVE" thing very comical.

Yeah,I was discussing this story on Lauryn's official site message board.It will be interesting to see where she goes from here and how it affects her music and her career.Her 'Unplugged' CD has just been certified platinum,btw.

Interestingly,this article mentions the word "Shaman".That just happens to be the title of Santana's upcoming CD:)

That is really sad. It seems like he's brainwashing her.

Its difficult to tell. Whenever anyone seems to get any spiritual insight that does not come from a mainstream christian denomination people start crying 'brainwashing' and 'cult'. Two words which are over-used and mis-apropriated.

Live and let live.

"Who in the Hell left the gate open???"

Antony7 said:[quote]Its difficult to tell. Whenever anyone seems to get any spiritual insight that does not come from a mainstream christian denomination people start crying 'brainwashing' and 'cult'. Two words which are over-used and mis-apropriated.[quote]

U'r absolutely rite, why use 'brainwashing' and 'cult' when u have words as 'dogma' and 'religion'. They mean the same anyweez.

"Real religion is no religion at all."

Did everyone miss that? Or did I imagine that? I happen to agree with that.

Why this would take a year of interpreting scriptures is a tad scary tho. Good luck to her.

Edit: I just noticed the source of the article. Make of that what you will. *cough*
[This message was edited Sat Jun 15 11:13:11 PDT 2002 by betra]

betra said:

I like the quote "Real religion is no religion at all" but would add believing in God and exercising faith in God is a "way of life". Hearing this story of Lauryn Hill is interesting, she doesn't seem to be the type of person to let some person run her life like that. It's good to study and have a deep appreciation of God's word, but it is another thing to let someone take the balance out of her life. I wonder too how this will affect her music and the rest of her life.

I'd like to hope that this isn't true, but I have seen it before. From my experience, real teachers don't invade your life, they throw you a bit of truth and leave it for you to figure out on your own. They have their own lessons to learn, true teachers don't want their students hanging off them, totally dependent upon them. Many of these so-called gurus and teachers have the "right" words to say, but your gut feeling will usually tell you that they have an ulterior motive. They feed off our desperate search for answers and our vulnerability and their ulterior motive usually is financial gain. People just can't realize that the answers are inside of you and that a true teacher only helps you realize what you already know.

LQ

thechronic said:

But aren't you the same guy who was talking about what his preacher says about gay people? It's the same thing...

oh yeah, shacking up with a (married?) man & having kids with him..
yeah, that's REAL religious & "spiritual"..

whatever, Lauren, whatever.


I just read an article about her in the latest Essence magazine-
she's on the cover. In the article, she did go on & on about some "spirituality" she's gotten herself (back) into, how it's made everything in her life better, yada yada..
I don't recall her mentioning a "spiritual advisor"
but maybe I don't remember reading that part of it.


In any event, Lauren's a legal adult, so she can let herself be "brainwashed" by anyone if she wants..
that's the mantra here in the US:

"I want it, so I'm ENTITLED to it!
Who dares to tell me I can't have it!"



but I digress..

AnotherLoverHoleinYoHead said:

right on!
now what you got to say chronic?