Lauryn Hill Gets Real On Comeback, Extended Hiatus

If you have been holding out hope for Lauryn Hill's return, the "Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" artist might be close to granting your wish.

Granting an interview with NPR, something she has not done for some time, Hill broke her extended silence, baring a performance here and there, to get real on her reasons for pushing the music industry aside and the possibility of making a comeback.

"There were a number of different reasons," Hill tells NPR when asked why she left music after securing Grammys and numerous accolades for "The Miseducation..." . "But partly, the support system that I needed was not necessarily in place. There were things about myself, personal-growth things, that I had to go through in order to feel like it was worth it. In fact, as musicians and artists, it's important we have an environment — and I guess when I say environment, I really mean the [music] industry, that really nurtures these gifts. Oftentimes, the machine can overlook the need to take care of the people who produce the sounds that have a lot to do with the health and well-being of society, or at least some aspect of society. And it's important that people be given the time that they need to go through, to grow, so that the consciousness level of the general public is properly affected. Oftentimes, I think people are forced to make decisions prematurely. And then that sound radiates."

As for coming back to the music industry, Hill was less forthcoming but admits that she is sampling with new music and possibly expanding her sound beyond singing atop hip hop beats... in other words she wants to give us a little something else...

"I'm trying to open up my range and really sing more," she says. "With The Fugees initially, and even with Miseducation, it was very hip-hop — always a singing over beats. I don't think people have really heard me sing out. So if I do record again, perhaps it will have an expanded context. Where people can hear a bit more."

I wish this woman would just come back, she is the only artist I know who people are still craving to come back after all these years.