Lauryn Hill Explains Updating Her Classics At Rock The Bells [Video Inside]

Of her four Rock the Bells Tour stops, Lauryn Hill hasn't had one show exactly like any of the others.

On Saturday in New York, she brought a host of celebs onstage — including Jay-Z and Beyoncé — and on Sunday, at the closer in Washington, D.C., Nas was her guest. The two performed Esco's classic "If I Ruled the World."

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As for Hill's own classics from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and the Fugees' The Score, she constantly changed up the arrangements for the records. The legendary songstress said she needed to be free.
"There's been such a long period of time where I haven't been able to communicate where my mind is, where my consciousness is, where my ideas are," she told MTV News on Saturday. "I have to upgrade them a bit so that they're still exciting and fresh and they're new. There's something almost jazz-like the way I approach performances. I'm not sure if the audience really understands. We need, or at least I need, a certain amount of spontaneity, a certain amount of improvisation every show. I might have gotten spoiled from the Fugee days. We used to improvise a lot. It kept it so fresh and exciting. I need that. I need that improvisational, almost jazz-like improvisational dynamic when I'm onstage. It keeps it so exciting. It's that unknown, that literal X factor that makes every show something different — something unique and something I want to continue to do."

Hill said that's just where she is as an artist right now. "That's the type of mind that I have, the type of spirit I have," she said. "I need that new energy."

For the outing, Hill said it was incredible to find musicians who are fearless.

"This is an athletic discipline," she described. "You gotta be in shape to do it mentally, emotionally, spiritually, physically. But it's time. We're excited about what the future holds."

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Comment by yvettte ellman on September 11, 2010 at 7:28pm: You go girl you should always want to be unique and yourself at all times if you are not true to your self then who are you true too,still got mad mad mad love for you ,keep rising to the top .

Comment by Elizabeth McCurdy on September 7, 2010 at 4:14pm: what's with the table cloth lauryn.

Comment by Keane Halley on September 3, 2010 at 8:27pm: Yep yep do your thing!

Comment by DERRICK on September 3, 2010 at 12:45am: y so long

Comment by Celly Tha Great on September 2, 2010 at 5:06pm: OH-MY-GOD!!! I swear i will have died and gone to musical heaven if L drop a new album... all these other chicks aint got s*** on her...

Comment by JANO on September 2, 2010 at 11:47am: Yes we ready

Comment by Kufunya Ife on September 1, 2010 at 6:59pm: Welcome My Sista Lauryn your Being Voice and Message is so wanted Thank you for stepping on the Stage again

Comment by www.jaxsprats.com on September 1, 2010 at 4:41pm: Its so refreshing to see Lauryn Hill again, can't wait to see more of her and hear her quality soulful music www.jaxsprats.com