Hill: I think everyone is in the same situation, at different levels and in different places. In relationships, we find it difficult to be blatantly honest, because we are afraid to hurt somebody's feelings. But that doesn't change the truth about things.

Let's say a man [has] a girl, and you rub her shoulder. That's annoying to her, but she wants her man to feel confident, so she doesn't say anything. Ultimately it turns into resentment. Don't let that happen. Be honest, brutally honest. That is what's going to maintain relationships. Every time truth comes we hate it, because it's coming against our ego. Are you going to let the ego come between you and this person you love?

After God caused me to reintroduce myself to my family members there were a lot of rocky moments, but I knew it was all for the best. I knew it was because I had been a repressed person for so long. Eventually, He showed me there are millions of people who are holding their breath waiting for this fantasy to return. ... It took a lot of time for me to work through.

Sway: At what point did you come to this new existence? What transition took place in you?

Hill: I met somebody. That person had an understanding of the Bible like no one else I ever met in my life. I just sat at their feet and ingested pure scripture for about a year. I started to see I was my worst enemy. I was the problem, my own self-image, who I thought I should be, as opposed to who I really was. I just ate it up. I started to see that my concept of spirituality was totally wrong. Real religion is no religion at all. Truth is the true covering, and when I started to see that, two things happened. My creativity came back in an overflowing abundance, and I got into direct confrontation with everybody I love. [RealVideo]

Sway: You mentioned this person who helped you. Is it a man? Who is he?

Hill: Yeah, it's a brother. I don't speak about him publicly, because he is a good friend of mine. He's not an ambitious person. He just shares, and people want truth. I believe God will make a way and He is going to identify [the man].

Sway: Does he share his wisdom with the rest of the people in your life, like your husband?

Hill: It's like the pulpit. We think that's the church, but that's the wrong concept. Each one is supposed to pull someone else outta the pit. This brother shared with me, and now I share with my husband and he can share with somebody. That is how it is supposed to work. ... I saw somebody living what he was saying. It wasn't a bunch of jargon. His life was a living testimony of faith and of passion and systematic rebellion. ... Kind of like a herd of animals. That strong mother doesn't tell her cub, "Son, stay weak so the wolves can get you." She says, "Toughen up, this is reality we are living in." I went from an emotional placating environment to "Toughen up, Lauryn, confront those fears." [RealVideo]

Sway: You made a comment during your performance that in life people want fantasies, but what they need is reality in their lives. In terms of the music business, what were some of your fantasies in the past?

Hill: I think I bought into the concept of needing to be a musician/entrepreneur/businesswoman. The only problem was the more business I became, the more it ate away at my creative side. ... It didn't make any sense. Here I am concerned with things that have nothing to do with the most important part, which is the creativity.

Sway: Things like what?

Hill: Appearances, social gatherings. I had a non-profit organization and I had to shut all that down. You know, smiling with big checks, obligatory things, not things coming from a place of passion. That's slavery. Everything we do should be a result of our gratitude for what God has done for us. It should be passionate. I am happy to sing these songs. There is no obligation here. After you are chasing that money, chasing that fame, you can't help it — it becomes obligation. Before you know it, what started off as your passion is a job. Then you say, "Wait a minute, God, you spared me from a slave job in an office, and now I have a slave job onstage." Now I am not on that clock no more. I threw that clock out.

Sway: Were you unhappy onstage or with yourself?

Hill: I was just unhappy with my life. I had acquired everything I thought I wanted only to find out, this is it. I ran very fast in the wrong direction. The less I have, the freer I am to do whatever I want to do. I am up there onstage alone with that guitar. I don't have to consider no one else and whether they are comfortable. I need very little. It seems like I always have these big entourages and I have to consider this person's needs. I am not saying there is anything wrong with that person having needs, but what does that have to do with me delivering my message to the people?

Sway: So have you cleaned that whole entourage up? There is not going to be a band?

Hill: I don't know if there is not going to be any more band. I know that I need to be surrounded by people as passionate and as dedicated as I am. This music is still not really recorded. Most artists would say that is insane. "What are you doing playing all this music?" But what was freely given to me I freely give. I have always been taken care of. I haven't come this far because of a logical decision. If anything, it has been a bunch of illogical decisions one after another, and it seemed the more logical the decision, the greater the response. So I am saying, "God, let me not agree with these text books. Let me agree with what you put in my heart to do. You work out the particulars."