{"id":29415,"date":"2026-08-06T04:54:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T23:54:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=29415"},"modified":"2026-08-06T04:54:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T23:54:02","slug":"ms-lauryn-hill-on-the-diaspora-calling-festival-in-the-u-k-the-fugees-legacy-and-dangelo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=29415","title":{"rendered":"Ms. Lauryn Hill on the Diaspora Calling! festival in the U.K., the Fugees\u2019 legacy and D\u2019Angelo"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2026\/08\/05\/Music-Lauryn_Hill_6671__s1440x960.jpg?f72536d07237fdd262042ae8f5e6e6de3b865f3c\" \/><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Moments before Ms. Lauryn Hill hopped on a call with The Associated Press, she and Fugees\u2019 bandmate Wyclef Jean stood in the center of London\u2019s Piccadilly Circus, surrounded by fans. Broadcast above them, on the bright LED screen of Piccadilly Lights, was a short film curated by Hill and created by Los Angeles artist Lauren Halsey: an animated, colorful collage depicting the heroes and symbols of the global African diaspora.<\/p>\n<p>The message was clear: This is a a celebration of community, culture, music and art.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe crowd was captivated,\u201d Hill said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was surreal,\u201d Jean jumped in. \u201cThe love was felt. It was amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It was a tease of what\u2019s to come. On Friday, Hill will bring her Diaspora Calling! festival to the U.K. for the first time, marking 10 years since its inaugural edition in Brooklyn.<\/p>\n<p>The event, hosted by Dave Chappelle and featuring performances by Erykah Badu, YG Marley, Zion Marley, Giggs, Fireboy DML and other artists, will be held at The National Bowl in nearby Milton Keynes. And its center: Hill and Jean, two-thirds of the Fugees, will perform their landmark album \u201cThe Score\u201d in its entirety.<\/p>\n<p>Below, Hill &#8211; joined briefly by Jean &#8211; discuss their festival, the 30th anniversary of \u201cThe Score\u201d and the legacy of the late D\u2019Angelo. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.<\/p>\n<aside>\n<\/aside>\n<h3>AP: Why bring Diaspora Calling! to the UK?<\/h3>\n<p>HILL: We were given an opportunity by the promoters &#8211; the same promoters that do Reggae Land.<\/p>\n<p>He gave me the venue. And I said, \u2018This is what I want to do.\u2019 We\u2019re basically blessed to have the opportunity. And, you know, \u2019tis the season to bring people together in the name of growth, healing and pushing forward.<\/p>\n<h3>AP: The African diaspora is everywhere &#8211; are you hoping to do other international editions?<\/h3>\n<p>HILL: Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely.<\/p>\n<h3>AP: How has the concept evolved since the first event in 2016?<\/h3>\n<p>HILL: First of all, it started when I did a show in Ghana. There was a gentleman who brought me out to Ghana. And as I was talking to him, I realized that our conversation was not just about the immediate subject matter. I knew that we made a connection for a reason. And I know myself and Wyclef have community over the years &#8211; even when we weren\u2019t necessarily doing the Fugees thing anymore, we built community all over the diaspora. And now it\u2019s the time to bring them together.<\/p>\n<h3>AP: The lineup is dynamic. How do you go about selecting artists?<\/h3>\n<p>HILL: We put a call out to the people that we know, love and respect. And I\u2019ve gotten so much positivity &#8211; an abundance of responses, in terms of the creative community out here wanting to participate. So that\u2019s huge.<\/p>\n<h3>AP: You and Wyclef Jean will perform all of \u201cThe Score\u201d on Friday, in celebration of its 30th anniversary. Has your relationship to that album changed in that time?<\/h3>\n<p>HILL: Absolutely. Absolutely. That\u2019s a timeless piece of work for us as well. Timeless. How do you feel about it, Wyclef?<\/p>\n<p>JEAN: You hit it on the dot. You know, I remember when I was coming up, listening to like Bob Marley\u2019s \u201cExodus\u201d; a lot of the early Dylan, Bob Dylan records; Pink Floyd\u2019s \u201cThe Wall\u201d; The Police\u2019s \u201cSynchronicity\u201d and we got \u201cThe Score.\u201d So that\u2019s forever.<\/p>\n<h3>AP: It is interesting to hear that you have been transformed by it the way your listeners have.<\/h3>\n<p>HILL: I think what is powerful about the album was that, you know, I\u2019m a big fan of what Wyclef does. And I think he\u2019s appreciative of what I do. So, we engage with each other\u2019s art. And every time we perform it, even though (it\u2019s) singing older lyrics, there\u2019s a new energy, a new spirit. There\u2019s a timelessness. I almost feel like we\u2019re reclaiming timelines, healing timelines, so to speak, every time we\u2019re performing.<\/p>\n<p>JEAN: A hundred percent. Every time I perform \u201cThe Score\u201d now, I feel like it\u2019s the first time.<\/p>\n<p>HILL: Yeah. It doesn\u2019t feel old.<\/p>\n<h3>AP: How does performing that at Diaspora Calling! differ from another kind of concert?<\/h3>\n<p>HILL: It\u2019s kind of the pinnacle of what the Fugees were all about. Our makeup is diaspora calls. I think we were a call to a particular unity, a particular kind of reflection and a particular kind of resistance to certain ideas that we knew better than. And we wanted to channel that outside and have other people feel what we were certain about, which is that there was being and resourcefulness and incredible brilliance throughout diaspora. And that division was not really an option.<\/p>\n<h3>AP: That is beautifully put. That spirit reminds me of your performance at the Grammys earlier this year, where you paid tribute to the late Roberta Flack and D\u2019Angelo. We\u2019re approaching the one-year anniversary of D\u2019Angelo\u2019s passing. How do you hope he continues to be remembered?<\/h3>\n<p>HILL: We lost another timeless soul who made timeless music. We obviously want to protect his family and just keep holding up that brilliance.<\/p>\n<p>                        <a name=\"pagebreak\"\/><\/p>\n<p>He was good &#8211; without question.<\/p>\n<div class=\"permission\" style=\"padding-top: 25px;\">\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2026 The Washington Times, LLC.\n                        <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Moments before Ms. Lauryn Hill hopped on a call with The Associated Press, she and Fugees\u2019 bandmate Wyclef Jean stood in the center of London\u2019s Piccadilly Circus, surrounded by fans. Broadcast above them, on the bright LED screen of Piccadilly Lights, was a short film curated by Hill and created by Los Angeles artist Lauren&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29416,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2026\/08\/05\/Music-Lauryn_Hill_942_3_c0-262-6300-3937_s1200x700.jpg?a34edc5208ceb1c355cd5f0f9ed71b9f9f96e73a","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-hub"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}