The Fugees "The Score" (25th Ann. Mix by DJ Filthy Rich)

Toronto's DJ Filthy Rich is a staple here on the site thanks to his tribute mixes, such as his latest offering paying homage to 1996's classic LP, The Score, by The Fugees. Filthy Rich celebrates 25 years of 'The Score' with a mix of rarities, remixes, blends and original samples. One of the reasons we like this album so much was the fusion of dancehall, reggae and island culture, so Filthy Rich took it a step further and added Cutty Ranks, Mad Lion, Buju Banton, Bounty Killer, Born Jamericans and Kulcha Don to the mix. As with past tributes, he promises that a volume 2 is in the works and coming soon. In the meantime, dig into his latest offering and then hit the archives for past tributes with Raekwon, Mobb Deep, Method Man, Ghostface Killah, A Tribe Called Quest, OutKast, and more...

The Fugees "The Score" (February 13, 1996)

You'd never know it from the hits--dark, sweeping, cinematic arias such as "Ready or Not" and "Fugee-La"--but The Score began with modest ambitions. "It was like, 'Yo, let's do this album like we want to do it,'" rapper/producer Wyclef Jean says. "Hopefully it'll go gold or something, so I can get some sneakers and L. can get a Honda." Well, it definitely went gold or something, selling 18 million copies worldwide and paving the way for changes both sublime (an open-minded inclusiveness) and crass (countless pop-song retreads) in rap music. But two years after stiffing with their spotty debut, Blunted on Reality, the Fugees weren't exactly industry powerhouses. So the Haitian-born Wyclef Jean, his cousin Prakazrel Michel, and their high-school pal Lauryn Hill met at Jean's New Jersey home studio and set about being themselves: well-read, mixed-culture, multi-instrumentalist fans of everything from Bob Marley to Gary Numan to Doug E. Fresh. They sampled the Delfonics, jammed on electric guitar, and covered Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly." They penned racist-cop diatribes and riffed on Jim Carrey and Guinness stout. What gave the results such power (besides criminal amounts of talent that led the threesome to successful solo careers) was the Fugees' deceptively simple contention that their soulful, melodic, genre-bending music is hip-hop because they are hip-hop--native speakers of a diverse, urban-based culture that needn't soften to uplift. "The Fugees created a poetic hybrid that has become hip-hop's universal amalgam," says Elektra Records CEO Syliva Rhone. "It's the new definition of pop." - Spin Magazine, 9/99. The Fugees created one of the most enduring crossover albums of all-time and, personally, one of the most important soundtracks to a season in my life. The nostalgia I feel while listening to this project is incredible, to this day -- it's truly a pleasure to click play and revisit this classic below. Do it, too...

As always, a copy of the full review in Spin Magazine is below...

 

The Fugees "Blunted On Reality" (Press Kit, 1993)

Defying all classifications, the Fugees (Pras, Clef, and Lauryn) are bringing a totally fresh perspective to hip-hop: one that's as intellectual as it is musical. Blunted On Reality, the Fugees' furious debut album, will undoubtedly get the group where they want to go, despite where they've come from. Chronicling the experiences of Pras and Clef - young Haitians in an America that set them as "refugees" - the Fugees use the 12 tracks of their album to give their side of the story in terms both specific and universal. Blunted On Reality is the story of anyone who's ever sought refuge. "We're all refugees," Pras points out. "We all seek refuge in our minds," philosophizes Clef. "We all want to escape somewhere, we're all really immigrants because we're trying to get somewhere and never end up there." These three drug-free MCs have discovered that music and life itself has the power to intoxicate and therein lies the meaning of the title, Blunted On Reality. Their self-produced LP vigorously combines elements of reggae, rock, funk, and a complex East Coast production ethic giving the Fugees sound the kind of depth that pushes East Coast rap into a whole other dimension. The Fugees cop to a surprising range of musical influences, citing Bob Marley, Phil Collins, Guns & Roses, the Doors, Jimi Hendrix, Thelonius Monk, Pink Floyd, and Elton John among the strains of sound that somehow seep into their complex musical mix. - via Press Kit.

The Fugees "A New Birth In Hip Hop" (1994)

I seen this OG sticker on an old notebook & had to post it up real quick. It's from back when the Fugees released their debut album in '94, 'Blunted on Reality.' Their lead single 'Boof Baf' didn't connect at all, so it's really thanks to Salaam Remi, who had the hand of God with his remixes to 'Vocab' and 'Nappy Heads' for really giving that album any life. Of course, they'd return with 'The Score,' which was commercially a grandslam. Sticking with 'Blunted On Reality,' I still get good vibes from 'Nappy Heads' and Lauryn Hill's targeted lyrics will forever resonate as social commentary: "Peace to Mr. Magic, things are getting tragic / Now we on some new stuff, I never feared the Ku Klux / My own clan is actin up, I blame it on the Phillie blunt / What you gonna do, kids are acting oooohhhh..." Ya know, I hope she's well, I can never quite tell. The last time I physically saw her perform, it was uninspired, but I've been in this industry long enough to see that to some of our most forward-thinking artists. Lauryn said, "I pay the toll fighting for my own soul," in Vocab below.

The Fugees "The Score" (Classic Material, XXL)

"The Fugees, who exploded out of the then-burgeoning North Jersey scene - around Newark and The Oranges - were a trio of artists with vastly different experience and talent. Wyclef, the eldest, was Haitian-born and Brooklyn-bred. South Orange's Lauryn Hill, the youngest, was perhaps the most stunningly and undeniably talented. Pras had Brooklyn roots and an ear for the streets... The group's Bayyan-produced 1994 debut, Blunted On Reality, was far from satisfying... Even with mediocre sales of 275,000, Ruffhouse gave them the advance they needed for a second album. "We had $135,000, took a little advance and bought studio equipment with the rest," Pras recalls. The results: a top-of-the-line home studio downstairs in Wyclef's uncle's home in East Orange - the Booga Basement..." Peep the video to the classic lead single, "Fu-Gee La" + more continued below...

"The Fugees' masterpiece was released in February 1996, eventually blown up by a song that wasn't even a single. Mixing Caribbean flavor with Hill's R&B power-pipes while beating about a hip-hop heart, the album appealed to music fans of all stripes, eventually selling nearly six million units in the US and, according to Pras, 18 million worldwide. "Clef brought the musicality, Lauryn brought the soulfulness and I brought the ruffneck," he explains. "And when it meshed together it was perfect." Enjoy Wyclef & Pras breakdown several classics from the album below. Peace to Brian Coleman.