Tonight on Charlie Rose, Ms. Lauryn Hill — resplendent in a puffy-sleeved frock and backed by a tight band — performed a seven-minute, searing version of her newly rewritten song “Rebel” (formerly “I Find it Hard to Say [Rebel],” first released in 2002 on her MTV Unplugged record, as Pitchfork notes). The performance had all the hallmarks of classic Lauryn Hill: It was emotional, raw, and full of barely contained energy, and Ms. Hill was her fullest, fiercest, most-forceful self. Maybe it’s the recent love she’s been getting from the MLH Caravan tour she’s on with other “artists throughout the African Diaspora” or the Tidal-X crowd — regardless, it’s something to behold. Watch, and see for yourself why we “can’t go down” and must “stand up and live.”
