Ms. Lauryn Hill took to Instagram last night to share a statement in support of the FAIR act, a California bill that would repeal an amendment to the state’s “Seven-Year Statute” that allows record labels to sue artists for damages if they leave after seven years before fulfilling the required number of albums in their contract.
“Artists can easily fall prey to the internal politics of business, someone inside simply not liking them, or bullying and intimidation and the attacks that come when someone resists that coercion,” Hill writes. “Music is a most powerful medium. Often people want to influence the influencers and will stop at nothing less than treachery to accomplish their goal. Greed often perverts the creative intentions of young dreamers who don’t realize they’re up against a system with a history of using and crushing people who don’t comply with their agenda.”
Hill continues, “No institution should be allowed the opportunity to control the market by controlling the output of a creative being for some ridiculous, indefinite period of time. This is not only unjust, it’s dangerous, and at its core a violation of the principles of free expression. Artists’ expressions are their voices, and an extension of their free speech and should not be contained, caught-up or controlled beyond a reasonable amount of time by an institution with the money and power to obstruct and deny someone’s output indefinitely.”
It’s no secret that record labels have been treating artists unfairly for a while — just look at Megan Thee Stallion’s situation or Rowdy Rebel’s. Hopefully more artists will follow in Hill’s steps and share their support.
Some artists covered here are Warner Music artists. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.
