You toured with the Fugees during the 1990s as a promotions executive and actually encouraged Lauryn Hill to take the next step. How did that situation unfold?
We were on tour with the Fugees, and she wasn’t being treated well at the time. She and I went to get food, and she expressed all of the things she was dealing with as an artist. I told her, “Look you just need to go solo.” She asked me, “Do you think I can go solo?” I told her that the only reason why we were in the group was because of Lauryn Hill. We went about the process of shopping a deal for her at Jive Records. I called her and [the label executives] at Jive pulled out a blank check and told her to write whatever number she wants on it. But she couldn’t sign with Jive because she was signed to Columbia [Records] as a group member and a solo artist. After 15 million albums sold, history was made.
