LAURYN HILL

Although it's not yet December 31st, the countdown has already begun. The days are rapidly disappearing as you try to decide what to wear, where to go and who to celebrate with. We can't pick your clothes or your friends, but we can tell you where the hottest parties will be happening in Miami this New Year's Eve. (Click on venue name for more info and to reserve tickets + tables.)

Fontainebleau 4441 Collins Ave
Miami Beach, FL 33140-3227 The Fontainebleau is one of the most posh and popular party spots in Miami so naturally have booked some top talent for their NYE poolside bash. Swedish DJ Axwell, part of the Swedish House Mafia, will deliver an unforgettable, exclusive mix of house, electro and club music to welcome the New Year. The party lasts from 7PM to 2AM with premium open bar from 9-12. Tickets: general admission starts at $325 with private cabanas and stage-side tables costing five figures. Or, take the party inside to Fontainebleau's ulta-club LIV where Busta Rhymes and Sebastian Ingrosso will be helping you celebrate the new year. This is one of the most expensive and exclusive parties in Miami with general admission starting at $575 which includes admission and premium open bar from 9PM - midnight (the price drops to $375 after 1AM). There are tons of tables available both downstairs and on the mezzanine where you'll pop bottles of Belvedere and Dom Perignon for prices between 8 and 20 grand. The party will last until after the sun comes up again at 7AM. Tickets and tables can be booked here.

I woke up in a zombie-like state; starving, bloody, disorientated and seeking. Well, seeking Advil more than anything. I suppose attending a 9 hour "Rage Against the Machine", "Muse", Lauryn Hill, and "Rise Against" concert will do that to a person.

The "L.A. Rising" music festival, held at the USC Coliseum, was one to leave a mark in musical history. Each artist was at their best, giving awaited fans exceedingly more than they bargained for. Lauryn Hill devoted her time onstage to belting out remixes of her most successful songs, in a more mature version of the soulful rasp that is her voice.

Lollapalooza:: August 5-7, Chicago, IL

This year marks Lollapalooza’s 20th anniversary on August 5-7 at Grant Park in Chicago, Illinois. This music festival will be the granddaddy of all festivals this summer and the most extravagant birthday celebration to date. To help commemorate this phenomenal affair, acts such as Coldplay, Eminem, Damian Marley & Nas, The Foo Fighters, My Morning Jacket, and Deadmau5 top the Lolla lineup. Other top-tier artists include the Cars, Girl Talk, Kid Cudi, Crystal Castles, Ratatat, Collie Buddz, Deftones, and Pretty Lights. With over 130 performers, this is one birthday you won’t want to miss. Check out the full lineup here.

Creative Control incorporated the talented Nneka into their spoken word and poetry series "WORD" by documenting her live performance last month. Okayafrica, okayplayer's new cultural guide to the freshest music of the new African renaissance, invited Nneka to the stage at SOB's in New York City where she gave a live and unplugged performance.

This year's Rock The Bells 2011 lineup is absolutely ridiculous, in the best sense of the word. From seminal artists like Lauryn Hill, Nas, Raekwon, Cypress Hill, and Ghostface, to up-and-coming heads like Mac Miller, this epic lineup is inducing permanent goosebumps. This four-city run festival may just be the greatest hip-hop festival of the year.

Last summer Rock The Bells featured several headliner artists who performed their most legendary albums in their entirety for the first time in the history of hip-hop entertainment. Such artists included Snoop Dogg, A Tribe Called Quest, and the Wu-Tang Clan. This year the traditional will continue with Ms. Lauryn Hill performing her multi-platinum, multi-Grammy winning album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill and Nas performing his iconic debut album Illmatic with special guests AZ, Pete Rock, and DJ Premier. That act alone will be far and beyond mind blowing. Want more? You got it. Also set to perform full album sets are Cypress Hill, Mos Def & Talib Kweli (Black Star), and Raekwon & Ghostface. Summer madness has officially commenced.

Over 100,000 pairs of dusty feet trampled through the Californian desert this weekend for the twelfth annual Coachella Music and Arts festival at the Empire Polo Field in Indio, CA. The sun shone brightly on the event as the temperatures reached the high nineties, with excited attendees showing their dedication for the frivolities by braving the baking heat over the course of the weekend.

Recently receiving international acclaim from the press, Coachella was host to a vast array of nationalities and personalities. A large proportion of Brits and Aussies flew in, while Hollywood actors Danny DeVito, Lindsay Lohan, Leonardo DiCaprio and Ashley Greene were all caught dancing along at some point. Sightings of Kelly Osbourne, Katy Perry and Paris Hilton were also recorded. R&B star, Rihanna, was in attendance, accompanied by a huge entourage of bodyguards and was quoted saying Arcade Fire "blew my fucking mind" after she saw them headline on the second day of the event.

Capitalizing on her momentum from previous festival gigs and a successful run of her Moving Target: Extended Intimate Playdate Series, Lauryn Hill has added a second leg to the tour. This leg includes Hill's scheduled performance April 15th at The Coachella Music Festival.

March 10th, Lauryn Hill revealed the dates for the second part of the tour along with a statement, "One of the benefits of playing venues smaller than the ones I'm used to allows me the opportunity to not only reconnect with my supporters but to expose them to a portion of the musical journey I've been on which the world for the most part has not had access to," Hill said. "I've never shied away from being musically adventurous, nor am I known for being a lightweight when it comes to lyrical content or musical exploration."

Like a Phoenix raised from the ashes the Goddess of Soul infused Hip Hop has returned awakened from her slumber. Lauryn Hill is finally blazing the stage again, hopefully to wash away this artistic drought that has been brought on by an onslaught of flashy mundanely manufacured music, and triumph over these GaGa crazed drones. The Goddess is jumping on stage and giving us what we’ve all been waiting for. Though many of Hill's fans shunned her away when she decided to hide out in exile from the media’s deadly touch, I embrace the fact that she didn’t allow herself to fall victim to the illusory celebrity hyped world. The Goddess kept it divine and in tune with her SELF. This only means her music is that much more sincere and credible. We can only hope she has an album up her sleeve and hopefully a tour, but for now Lauryn Hill can be found with Donnis @the University of Miami's Homecoming Concert. Friday, November 5. University of Miami's Foote Green, Coral Gables. The show starts at 9:30 p.m. and admission is free for UM students, alumni, and faculty. Visit hurricaneproductions.org. I’ll see you all there.

It has been 12 years since Lauryn Hill put out her hit album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, not to mention a solo performance from the Grammy award winning Hip Hop artist. Her absence from the music scene questioned adoring fans, along with some of Rap/Hip Hop greats. Kanye West wrote in song "Champion": "Lauryn Hill say her heart was in Zion, I wish her heart still was in rhymin'. 'Cause who the kids gon' listen to huh? I guess me if it isn't you". Talib Kweli went as far as dedicating an entire song to Lauryn titled "Miss Hill" in which he raps, "Ms. Hill you got skills thats a gift, it's real. Get ill, what you spit got the power to uplift a hill". To say she's been missed would be quite an understatement. November 4th, 2008 Lauryn canceled her show at the Avo Session Basel, in Basel, due to personal reasons. That was the first of many cancelations Lauryn would make from 2008, including the Stokholm Jazz Festival and her European summer festival tour. So naturally when rumors spread that she would be performing at the 2010 Rock the Bells concert in San Bernardino, California, most fans quickly dismissed it like the boy who cried wolf. However for the fans who did hold onto a speck of hope, they were grandly rewarded when Lauryn took stage. Looking healthy and sounding great, Lauryn graced the mic with songs; "Lost Ones," "Doo-Wop," "Ready or Not," "Fugee La, and my personal favorite "Zion." As far as any albums in the works Lauryn simply stated,"Yeah. Possibly". Although a new album would be ideal for long awaited fans, for now the very return of the the great Lauryn Hill will surely suffice.

It’s 8:02pm, I’m walking into the grand and beautiful entrance of Salon Millesime as my phone starts to ring (I have an oldschool Jay-Z track as my ringer btw). I pick it up and it’s the manager at Millesime and he is wondering where I am. Hmm, I told him I was walking in as we speak. I’m a pretty punctual person and I was quite surprised that he was concerned about two minutes. It’s all good, however, because this manager happens to be very hot, and he can scold me for as long as he wants.