Lauryn Hill's Courtroom Saga Continues

Lauryn Hill was back in the hot seat at the end of last week, giving a deposition in New York in the case of her former associates who are suing her for songwriting and production credit on the multi-platinum The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.

Since the depositions are closed to the public, her statements will remain within the courtroom. But her reappearance in court is a dubious sign, since she was called back after Columbia Records Group president Don Ienner was deposed. Next up? Sony honcho Tommy Mottola will be deposed on Nov. 7.

The suit began in Nov. 1998 when a fifty-page complaint was filed in U.S. District Court in Newark, N.J. In the document Vada Nobles, Rasheem Pugh, Tejumold and Johari Newton state that they worked on arranging and producing all the cuts on Hill's Grammy-winning solo effort, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. The plaintiffs have requested partial writing credit on thirteen of the fourteen original tracks on the album, with percentages specified in the complaint. Also named in the complaint are Suzette Williams and Jayson Jackson (who are part of Hill's management team), Ruff Nation Records, Columbia Records, Sony Music Entertainment and Sony/ATV Tunes.

Word has it that Jackson has since taken on management of Shine, the rapper who is best known for allegedly shooting up a New York night club in the company of Bad Boy prez Sean "Puffy" Combs and his significant other Jennifer Lopez. This isn't a good sign for Hill, whose label Covenant Records isn't picking up the phone or returning calls.

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Song Stories

“Youth Knows No Pain”

Lykke Li | 2011

“Like on 'Youth Knows No Pain' — we are the ones that should demonstrate, because we can take it,” Likke Li said. “We can pierce ourselves, take Ecstasy, dance all night and still go to work at our McDonald's jobs.” Despite the hedonistic sentiment in the song, the Swedish singer also admitted in hindsight her youth had repercussions. “I remember when I was 18-19 and feeling that I know it all,” Li said. “I always feel that I know it all. But that song is about realizing you don’t, and reflecting, ‘Boy, if I only knew what would follow.’”

More Song Stories entries »

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