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# Lauryn Hill Takes To Tumblr To Explain $1 Million Tax Troubles, New Sony Deal
- URL: https://www.hypebot.com/lauryn-hill-takes-to-tumblr-to-explain-1-million-tax-troubles-new-sony-deal/
- Published: 2013-04-26T08:20:00.000Z
- Updated: 2013-04-26T08:20:00.000Z
- Description: In an open letter to fans on her Tumblr blog, Lauryn Hill addressed her tax problems and the Sony deal that will solve then. Last year, Hill pleaded guilty to. Continue reading [https://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2013/04/lauryn-hill-takes-to-tumblr-to-explain-1-million-tax-troubles-new-sony-deal.html]
- Author: Bruce Houghton
- Tags: Music Business, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-01-21 10:43

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In an open letter to fans on her Tumblr blog, Lauryn Hill addressed her tax problems and the Sony deal that will solve then. Last year, Hill pleaded guilty to 3 charges of failing to file federal income tax returns. She faced a $968,000 tax bill and possible jail time until news surfaced of a $1 million deal with Sony that includes a $650,000 loan to begin repaying her debt. Last night, Hill turned to Tumblr to explain the mess to her fans. Here is the full text of the letter:

> I

t has been reported that I signed a new  
record deal, and that I did this to pay taxes. Yes, I have recently  
entered into an agreement with Sony Worldwide Entertainment, to launch a  
new label, on which my new music will be released. And yes, I am  
working on new music.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.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.The nature of my new business venture, as  
well as the dollar amount reported, was inaccurate, only a portion of  
the overall deal. 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.MLH