Everything is still everything

These days, she's not Lauryn or L-Boogie, she's Ms. Hill (even if you're not nasty). And she's back — at least tentatively. After a dozen-year hiatus and a few false-start comebacks (a 2008 appearance in Switzerland called off "for personal reasons," one 2009 show ended early after she collapsed on stage and subsequent performances canceled, according to Rolling Stone), Hill returned to the stage in January 2010 and appeared publicly nearly every month throughout the year.

Append an Asheville date to Hill’s 2011 roster (which includes just a few Southern dates): “Everything she’s added except for this is all in the Northeast,” says the Peel’s special events director Liz Whalen. “I’m not sure why she chose the Orange Peel, but we’re thrilled that she did!”

So, she's back, and like any return of a prodigal, not without some drama. A review of Hill's December show at Higher Ground in Burlington, Vt., reported that the concert started nearly three hours late and "the songs were sped up to the point of rendering them almost unrecognizable. It took me half the opening song to realize it was 'Lost Ones.' There was no groove; it was so fast you couldn’t even dance to it."

However, a review of Hill's August performance at Rock the Bells Festival in San Bernardino, Calif. was more positive. "Backed by a six-piece band and three back-up singers, crowds erupted as Hill began her set with album favorites 'Lost One' and 'Doo-Wop (That Thing)' … Her set was passionate, emotional and moved many to tears." The only complaint was that Hill struggled with a few falsetto notes, though listening to rich, soulful offerings like "I Find It Hard To Say" off this year's informally released, unofficial album Khulami Phase, rumored to be partially populated by tracks from an unreleased 2004 studio album, it's hard to care if Hill can hit the high notes. It's the silken anguish and earthy warmth of her lower register that defines her voice.

In a rare interview with NPR in June she said, "I think one of the things I'm trying to do is just open up my range, really sing more. With [’90s-era hip-hop group] The Fugees, initially, and even [solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill], it was still very hip-hop oriented … most people never really heard me sing."

And most musicians would kill for a polished album that carries the emotional heft and substance of what, on Khulami, appears to be partially culled from live takes, rehearsals, and Hill's own philosophical musings.

Really, besides these songs and a handful of singles released since 1999, all we have of Hill is her two-disc catalog with The Fugees and her Grammy-winning/chart-topping-but-nonetheless-singular solo album, Miseducation. According to MTV News, in 2007, Hill was looking to get back in the studio. "She theoretically has a library of unreleased material in the vault, since she has consistently recorded over the past decade (we just haven't heard anything yet)," MTV reported. "But the hip-hop star's camp says Hill has cooked up a batch of fresh new material and there will probably be some collaborations once the project is finally released."

Similar rumors have surfaced recently, confirmed (to some extent) by Hill herself who, to NPR, said about a potential next record, "I think it's just time, and I'm starting to get excited again.”

It's hard not to hear that and get excited, too. Even though it's been said before. Even though Hill's been gone for so long. Even though, in her "Killing Me Softly" prime, with her rough-diamond beauty and her enviable wardrobe, she appeared uncomfortable in the spotlight. The anger she channeled into her scowling role on Sister Act 2 seemed like she might have been playing herself. And then, as quick as she appeared, she was gone from view. She raised five kids, her oldest (namesake of the song "To Zion") now 13. She needed time, she’s said in interviews, to live a normal life. And — this to NPR — "There were things about myself, things I needed to go through and experience in order for me to feel like it was worth it."

Hopefully is was worth it; hopefully it is worth it. Welcome back, Ms. Hill.

— Alli Marshall can be reached at amarshall@mountainx.com.