Lauryn Hill Releases Song From Long Awaited Forthcoming Album

6 May 2013 | 12:04 pm | Dan Condon

Fans have only been waiting 15 years for this record.

More Ms Lauryn Hill More Ms Lauryn Hill

Last week renowned R&B songstress Lauryn Hill confirmed that she was working on the follow up to her enormously successful 1998 album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, alluding to the fact that she was short of money thanks to what she has considered to be a less than fair past record deal.

Today, she has revealed a taste of it in the form of Neurotic Society (Compulsory Mix), the first new song we've heard from her since 2010's Repercussions and one of only a handful of new songs we've heard since the release of that 1998 album.

It's an intense song, Hill rapping at breakneck pace about injustices - both social and economical - that the modern, commerce driven world breeds. It's a very different sounding Hill to the one we heard on her last, woozy R&B/soul leaning, single.

Don't miss a beat with our FREE daily newsletter

She wanted to keep us waiting a bit longer as well, but says that she was forced to release the track now.

Hello All:

Here is a link to a piece that I was 'required' to release immediately, by virtue of the impending legal deadline. I love being able to reach people directly, but in an ideal scenario, I would not have to rush the release of new music… but the message is still there. In light of Wednesday's tragic loss (of former label mate Chris Kelly), I am even more pressed to YELL this to a multitude that may not understand the cost of allowing today's unhealthy paradigms to remain unchecked!

- MLH

Hill's full explanation as to her financial situation should have prepared us for the rather cutting tone of the song,

"I've remained silent, after an extensive healing process. This has been a 10+ year battle, for a long time played out behind closed doors, but now in front of the public eye. This is an old conflict between art and commerce… free minds, and minds that are perhaps overly tethered to structure. This is about inequity, and the resulting disenfranchisement caused by it. I've been fighting for existential and economic freedom, which means the freedom to create and live without someone threatening, controlling, and/or manipulating the art and the artist, by tying the purse strings.

In her post last week, she lamented the "parasitic" nature of past business dealings and reassured her fans that finances were only one part of the reason she wants to release more music. She maintains that having a creative outlet is just as important.

"It took years for me to get out of the 'parasitic' dynamic of my youth, and into a deal that better reflects my true contribution as an artist, and (purportedly) gives me the control necessary to create a paradigm suitable for my needs. I have been working towards this for a long time, not just because of my current legal situation, but because I am an artist, I love to create, and I need the proper platform to do so."

She's not holding back at the moment and, if the following is any sign, she has plenty more to say in the future.

"Keep in mind, my past recordings have sold over 50,000,000 units worldwide, earning the label a tremendous amount of money (a fraction of which actually came to me).

"Only a completely complicated set of traps, manipulations, and inequitable business arrangements could put someone who has accomplished the things that I have, financially in need of anything. I am one artist who finds value in openly discussing the dynamics within this industry that force artists to compromise or distort themselves and what they do, rather than allowing them to make the music that people need. There are volumes that could (and will) be said."