Lauryn Hill has a tendency to run a little behind at her live shows -- on the rare occasion that she performs, that is -- but she says that should be the least of her fans' concerns.

The enigmatic singer/rapper is currently on tour to celebrate the 25th anniversary of her iconic album,' The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill,' and she stopped off in L.A. Saturday night ... where she seems to have been a little tardy for her set, something she addressed head-on.

Check it out ... in the video, LH says she's aware of people who complain about her being late to gigs -- but fires back, saying fans should count themselves lucky she even shows up.

This isn't so much Lauryn lashing out as it is her getting what sounds like a major grievance off her chest -- namely, the fact that she only released one solo album ... and based on what she's saying here, it appears that might've not been her decision back in the day.

Instead of bowing out of the music scene -- which she kinda did for a long time -- Lauryn says she's embraced her one piece of great art (solo-wise, of course) and continued to perform it over and over again ... noting that the people love her album to this day.