Grammy-award winning R&B artist Lauryn Hill broke her silence Monday explaining her nearly 11 year absence from the music scene after the success of her "Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" album in 1998.

"The support system that I needed was not necessarily in place," Hill told NPR. "The machine can overlook the need to take care of the people who produce the sounds."

Rumors swirled that Hill, now 35, had a nervous breakdown after her 1998 album success when she all but disappeared from public life. She has performed but rarely in the past 11 years and seldom grants interviews with the press.

Hill explained that "there were things about myself, personal-growth things, that I had to go through in order to feel like it was worth it."

She also pointed to family demands - she has five children with longtime partner Rohan Marley, son of raggae singer Bob Marley.

"I don't know if you know this, but I have five children," she told NPR. "The youngest is 2 now, so she's old enough that I can leave her for a period of time and know she's going to be okay."

Hill sounded optimistic about her future career, saying "it's time" to start performing again after her hiatus.

"I'm starting to get excited again," she said.