Fugees are coming together for their first tour in 25 years, celebrating the anniversary of their 1996 album “The Score.”
Released February 13, 1996 by Columbia Records, “The Score” is one of the finest albums ever made selling more than 18 million copies worldwide and winning two Grammys.
Lauryn Hill, Pras, and Wyclef Jean formed Fugees in 1990 using reggae, hiphop, R&B, and soul elements to create this unique sound for The Score (making it a commerical success). It topped the U.S Billboard 200 and the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums chart for 8 weeks. The most notable songs on the album include the singles “Killing Me Softly with His Song” “Fu-Gee-La” and “Ready or Not”.
The album includes 15 songs:
“Red Intro”, “How Many Mics”, “Ready or Not”, “Zealots”, “The Beast-includes Chinese restaurant skit”, “Fu-Gee-La”, “Family Business (feat John Forté)”, “Killing Me Softly with His Song”, “The Score (feat. Diamond D)” , “The Mask”, “Cowboys (feat. Outsidaz)”, “No Woman, No Cry”, “Manifest/Outro”, and 3 different versions of Fu-Gee-La (The Refugee Camp Remix, The Refugee Camp Global Mix and the Sly & Robbie Mix)
“Killing Me Softly with His Song” “Fu-Gee-La” and “Ready or Not” were singles released to promote The Score. “Fu-Gee-La” was produced by Salaam Remi and includes elements of ” Ooo La La La” as performed by Teena Marie. The chorus “Ooh la la la, It’s the way that we rock when we’re doing our thing, Ooh la la la, It’s the natural law that the refugees bring, Ooh la la la la la la lalala la lah, Sweet thing” is so iconic in the music industry which is to this day sampled in songs such as The Weekends “Sidewalks (featuring Kendrick Lamar)” and Trey Songz single “Na Na”. Killing me Softly with lead vocals from Lauryn Hill is proved to be the most successful song on the album. People loved Lauryns voice so much that in 1997 after Fugees nasty breakup she released The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. However, the song was to be titled “Killing Them Softly”, and though alluding to Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel’s “Killing Me Softly with His Song”, it was not intended to be a cover. “Ready or Not” interpolates “Ready or Not, Here I Come (Can’t Hide from Love)” by The Delfonics and samples Enya’s “Boadicea”.
Some underrated gems in this album include “The Mask” “Cowboys (feat Outsidaz)” “The Beast- includes Chinese restaurant skit” and “Zealots.” “The Mask” has a very chill flow to it where “The Mask” represents in the early 20th century African American were forced to conceal their true selves to appeal to the white society: “I walk the streets and camouflage my identity… yeah everybody wear the mask but how long will it last?”
“The Mask” has a nice fade into “Cowboys” which is more of a heavier flow. Wyclef has a unique yodel in the chorus which suprisingly goes well with the song. Its considered one of the best classic posse cuts. “The Beast” is a unique song because it includes a skit performed by the Fugees at the end. Although the skit is about a Chinese restaurant, the song itself is about the police force and how they treat Black Americans. “Zealots” opens up with a reggae chorus by Wyclef and flows into a chill rap. The classic single has no real meaning behind it other than sentimental value and a bunch of nerdy references (including Little Shop of Horrors, Phantom of the Opera, Carlos Santana’s “Black Magic Woman” and Mussolini) to show that “they know a lot of random stuff.”
However this is my favorite track off the album because of the fun reggae influenced chorus “Another MC lose his life tonight, Lord…” Lauryn’s second verse “Two MCs can’t occupy the same space at the same time, it’s against the laws of physics…” and Pras’s verse that adds a heavy bass to the song.
The overall flow of this album is insane and the Fugees effortless singing and rapping is unbeatable. Their album is incredibly diverse especially from their reggae roots and delivers political messages while bringing alternative hip hop into the mainstream.
Matthew Ismael Ruiz of Pitchfork Media said, “The Fugees managed to diversify the voice of the ghetto, one often depicted in a single dimension. They reclaimed pride for Haitians worldwide, a heritage maligned for its postcolonial poverty and strife but still remembered as the setting for the new world’s first successful revolt of enslaved people against their oppressors. Their sound was multifaceted because they were, too, their music diverse, just like the Black Experience.” Listeners can either sing along, bop their head, or rap along making this album a solid 9/10.
My Personal Ranking of Every Song (Expanded Version)
- Zealots
- The Mask
- Cowboys (feat. Outsidaz)
- The Beast- includes Chinese restaruant skit
- Killing Me Softly With His Song
- Fu-Gee-La
- How Many Mics
- Ready or Not
- Manifest/Outro
- Fu-Gee-La (feat. John Forte) – Refugee Camp Mix
- The Score (feat. Diamond D)
- No Woman, No cry
- Fu-Gee-La (feat. John Forte) – Refugee Camp Global Mix
- Family buisness (feat. John Forte)
- Mista Mista
- Fu-Gee-La (Sly & Robbie Mix)
- Red Intro
