It’s rare for anyone to get Lauryn Hill to come out and perform. She’s infamous for no-showing concerts, leaving fans irritable and frustrated. When she does perform, it’s electric, and it reminds you of the unparalleled artist she was and still is. Paying to see her perform is like buying lottery tickets. You lose more often than you win. But when you win, there’s no other feeling.
So if she barely shows up to her own shows, what makes Cee-Lo Green believe he’d get her to do a Verzuz battle? Appearing on Rickey Smiley’s On the Spot podcast, the Atlanta legend teased that Hill would be his ideal matchup in a Verzuz setting. “I would probably had to go up against Lauryn Hill, but she’s like my sister, and we were all together at the Kanye [West] show, too. So, shouts out to the queen, Ms. Hill.”
Not only do they share similar stylistic tendencies, but there’s also a history behind them performing together again. “But it would just be nothing but a love affair because we did our first tours together,” Cee-Lo added. “We’ve been friends for years, and she’s a Gemini twin just like me. So that’s my twin sister—but she does rap and sing at the same time, you know? I think I would have to be paired up with somebody who has somewhat of the same dynamic.”
Cee-Lo Wants Lauryn Hill to Come Out of Hiding and do a Verzuz Battle With Him
Whether Hill ever does that Verzuz with Cee-Lo Green will remain to be seen. What we know for certain is that we aren’t likely to get a new album from her anytime soon. It’s been nearly 30 years since her classic debut album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. What’s taken so long to follow up on such a monumental record?
In a May 2026 Instagram post, she cited some extreme burnout both creatively and personally. “The drain” has worn her out, and she never wanted or needed to make another record just to make money.
“Most see opportunity as dollars only and often exclude the ‘sense’. The Score nor Miseducation were made because we were ‘allowed’ to represent what we did; we fought for every inch,” Lauryn Hill said.
“Wild success can cause greed that begins to denigrate the art for the money. I was like a Harriet Tubman figure in some respects, running to speak difficult truths to power before certain forces tried to close those doors. If it was so easy to do, where is that expression now on the world stage? Systems fear what they can’t control. Creativity is most potent when it’s free,” Lauryn Hill continued.
The post Cee-Lo Green Just Challenged This 1990s Icon to a Verzuz Battle, but I Don’t Think He’s Going to Get It appeared first on VICE.
