India Arie is not happy with Essence Fest after Lauryn Hill performed to a nearly empty stadium at no fault of her own.
According to reports, Hill took the stage at 2:31 a.m. and closed out the first night of the festival at 3:37 a.m. Arie, who has performed at Essence Fest in the past and has been vocal about the event, commented on an Instagram post of Hill’s performance.
“Essence is losing its essence. I told y’all this, but everybody twisted my words and told me I was making non-feminist statements,” the singer said. Arie added, “And OUR LAURYN deserves SO much better. She deserves everything, in fact. Essence was ALWAYS really, really, a beautiful time.”
Other fans stood in agreement with Arie about Hill’s performance. One user wrote, “I was there and did not feel like Lauryn Hill was the issue. All performances started an hour late and then got more and more off track as the night went on.”
Another user said, “They had way too many artists booked for starters. The breaks in between each act were longer than needed.” Despite the mishap, fans still praised the Grammy award winner for still performing.
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