Despite having paid for past due taxes totaling about $1 million, Grammy-winning singer Lauryn Hill on Monday was sentenced to three months in prison for having not paid them over the past decade.

“I am a child of former slaves who had a system imposed on them,” Hill told U.S. Magistrate Madeline Cox Arleo. “I had an economic system imposed on me.” She continued, comparing the struggles of her ancestors to her battle within the music industry: “There were veiled threats, there was blacklisting ... I was told, ‘That’s how it goes, it comes with the territory.’ I came to be perceived as a cash cow and not a person. When people capitalize on a persona, they forget there is a person in there.”

Regardless of her 11th hour payment, the U.S. attorney's office said Hill still owes interest and penalties.

As we previously reported, the former Fugees frontwoman recently signed a hefty deal with Sony to release music and create her own label. Although she released a new single over the weekend as part of that new deal, it appears it wasn't enough to save her from jail time.

Listen to her new track, "Neurotic Society (Compulsory Mix)," here.