Lauryn Hill Sentenced to Three Months in Jail for Tax Evasion

While we are still vibing to her latest tune, Ms. Lauryn Hill is facing tough times in the legal world. The Grammy-winning singer has been sentenced to three months in jail and three months of home confinement for evading tax on $1.8m of earnings between 2005-07. While in court, Hill described how she failed to pay taxes during a period when she’d dropped out of the music business to protect herself and her children. She also compared her experience in the music business to the slavery her ancestors endured.

“I am a child of former slaves who had a system imposed on them,” Hill said in court. “I had an economic system imposed on me.”

She said the treatment she received while she was in the entertainment business led her decision to leave it.

“There were veiled threats, there was blacklisting. I was told, ‘That’s how it goes, it comes with the territory.’ I came to be perceived as a cash cow and not a person. When people capitalize on a persona, they forget there is a person in there.”

L-Boogie started her career with Grammy-award winning hip-hop group The Fugees alongside Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel, before releasing her acclaimed solo debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, in 1998. She has six children, five of whom she had with Rohan Marley, the son of Bob Marley.