Lauryn Hill's follow-up to The Miseducation Of... has suffered delays of Guns N' Roses-esque proportions. But now, thanks to R&B supremo, we have the first new material from the tiny soul diva since that disastrous Fugees comeback in 2005.

The Roots drummer posted a download of an eight-minute opus, World Is A Hustle, on his Twitter feed last night, which I suppose makes it a semi-official leak.

And it's really, really good - a funky Fender Rhodes Blaxpolitation groove about the depressing mediocrity of the modern world and the crippled careerist politicians who run it at the behest of the multinational corporations.

While this sounds dangerously close to the tedious sloganeering of Hill's MTV Unplugged album, World Is A Hustle is rescued by a magnificent melody and a strong, soulful vocal from the reclusive diva.

Apparently, there's more to come - Hill's partner, Rohan Marley, recently said: "She writes music in the bathroom, on toilet paper, on the wall. She writes it in the mirror if the mirror smokes up.

"She writes constantly. This woman does not sleep."

If it's all as good as this, then it'll have been worth the wait.

?uestlove's Twitter feed
Lauryn Hill - World Is A Hustle (MP3)

Labels: lauryn hill, MP3, Music, the roots