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Via Eurweb.com:

Lauryn Hill gave a rare interview to National Public Radio’s Zoe Chace following her performance in Santa Rosa, Calif. over the weekend.

The singer-rapper, known for her work with the Fugees and Grammy-winning solo album “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,” has been largely off the scene since 1999. She’s only released one album since 1998′s “Miseducation”: 2002′s “MTV Unplugged,” and some have wondered if the artist had suffered a nervous breakdown.

Why did she stop recording? “There were a number of different reasons,” she explains to Chace for NPR’s “50 Great Voices” segment of All Things Considered. “But partly, the support system that I needed was not necessarily in place. There were things about myself, personal-growth things, that I had to go through in order to feel like it was worth it.”

Hill also takes aim at the music industry, suggesting it didn’t nurture her with enough care or patience.

“Oftentimes, the machine can overlook the need to take care of the people who produce the sounds that have a lot to do with the health and well-being of society,” she said. “And it’s important that people be given the time that they need to go through, to grow, so that the consciousness level of the general public is properly affected.”

As for what’s she’s been doing for the past 11 years, Hill said: “I don’t know if you know this, but I have five children. Their father is Hill’s longtime love Rohan Marley, son of the late reggae legend Bob Marley.

“The youngest is 2 now, so she’s old enough that I can leave her for a period of time and know she’s going to be okay.”

“I think it’s just time,” to start performing again, she adds. “I’m starting to get excited again. Believe it or not, I think what people are attracted to about me, if anything, is my passion. People got exposed to my passion through music and song first…And I think that can be infectious.”