Killing Him Softly

Creatively, Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill gave birth to a stellar, albeit short, catalogue of mid-’90s hip-hop with the Fugees. Biologically, however, Hill’s baby is 50 percent Marley. And Wyclef had nothing to do with it. “Anyone who has seen the footage [of the 1997 Fugees concert in Haiti] might...

By Victor Gonzalez

September 27, 2012

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Creatively, Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill gave birth to a stellar, albeit short, catalogue of mid-’90s hip-hop with the Fugees. Biologically, however, Hill’s baby is 50 percent Marley. And Wyclef had nothing to do with it. “Anyone who has seen the footage [of the 1997 Fugees concert in Haiti] might notice that Lauryn Hill was pregnant at that time,” Jean writes in his new memoir, Purpose: An Immigrant’s Story. “While we played those songs, I believed that her child was mine.” At the time, Jean was married and having an extramarital affair with Hill. Meanwhile, she was dating Rohan Marley. “When Lauryn gave birth,” Jean writes, “I learned the truth: the child wasn’t mine.” The revelation destroyed Jean’s relationship with Hill and ultimately the Fugees. The group disbanded shortly thereafter, and both artists went on to have successful solo careers. And somewhere between juggling songwriting and political activism, Jean found time to write a book. From Haiti to multiplatinum record sales, Purpose: An Immigrant’s Story traces the evolution of one of the most prolific singer-songwriters of the past two decades.
Fri., Sept. 28, 7:30 p.m., 2012

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