Fugees Album: “Score”

The Fugees (Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill, Pras) sophomore album "The Score" (1996) is a first class album and deserves all the recognition it has recieved. Musically and lyrically the Fugees dropped a gem with this release, delivering an album to remember. What I appreciate most about this album is the variety of musical influences the Fugees use in there music whether it be Hip Hop, Soul, Reggae, Gospel or Blues. The Fugees do justice to the originals on there covers for "Killing Me Softly With His Song" (Roberta Flack) and "No Woman, No Cry" (Bob Marley), both of these songs are off the hook. I wont front either, I had never heard the original versions back in 96, but have since listened to and enjoyed them and become a Bob Marley fan, thanks to this album. Love the instrumentals, Fugees rhyming and Lauryn Hill's outstanding vocals on "Ready or Not" and "Fu-Gee-La". The Fugees rip "Zealots" warning other MCs not to mess around, and talk about police discrimination on "The Beast". The darkly deep "Family Business" with Omega and Forte is another sick track. Both the "Fu-Gee-La" mixes are good, I especially like the "Refugee Camp Remix". Individually and collectively the Fugees shine on the "The Score" an album for every Hip Hop collection.

God alone knows what the hell, 50 cent, g-unit, nelly(who by the way has absolutely no skills on the mic), lil' jon etc are doing.

Well for me this is the best Hip Hop album of all time. the year is 2006 (10 yr after its release)and i quite often am bumping fu-gee-la, ready or not and killing me softly, just to break away from the crap that dominates mainstream hip hop radio.

Sorry to be a young black male and say, 95% of the Hip Hip/rap music and even now R&B music these days are pure crap.

this album is one of music's gems.

Simply put, "The Score" is the definition of a perfect hip-hop album. The beats are funky ("Fu-Gee-La"), soulful ("Ready or Not"), hardcore ("Manifest"), and occasionally jazzy ("The Mask") and resemble production found on other hip-hop classics such as ATCQ's "Beats, Rhymes, and Life" or OutKast's "ATLiens". On the rhyme tip, Lauryn Hill boasts verses that rival hip-hop's top emcees (Gift of Gab or Common, for example) on "Zealots" and "Family Business," while Wyclef drops a distinctly cynical, afocentric steez ("No Woman, No Cry" and "The Beast"). Quite wisely, Pras's mic time is kept to a minimum, which, as the least-skilled emcee in the trio, allows him to stay on topic. Collectively the group tackle an array of social issues ranging from police brutality ("The Beast") to gun control ("Cowboys") to homelessness ("Mista, Mista") to mid-90's political staples such as the Oklahama Bombings and Newt Gingrich. The two re-makes on the LP, "Killing Me Softly" and "No Woman, No Cry" are beautiful masterpieces that only complement their originals and catapult "The Score" into greatness; with "Killing" in particular being one of the most magical songs ever covered. This one's a no-brainer: Cop "The Score" immediately, you won't be disappointed.

I have been a huge fan of the Fugees, I love Loren's voice, Wyclef rocks, and Pras is awesome. I have all the other CD's they have made, and of all of them, the best is this one. This is the one with the best hits, the most influencial songs they wrote as well as a great song from Bob Marley. If you ever become a fan, please, get this CD. I definately give this two thumbs up.

And one of my top thirty, maybe even twenty favorites of all-time. I used to be more of a fan of the subgenre until I started getting disappointed in some of it and I was getting into more alternative/rock stuff. Even with that it has not waned my interest of this album. While there's some rapping from all of them, you also hear some hints of reggae and soul, both done well and with some excellent production. I was so glad when I heard that they were reuniting. While I like Wyclef's solo stuff alright and enjoyed Lauryn's album, it would be nice to hear more from them. The covers of Roberta Flack and Bob Marley are nicely done, but you should also listen to the original songs that they do hear; all are presented well.

The skits are not really my favorites but seem to serve a purpose, and are usually just put at the end of most of the songs anyway. Discussed in most of these songs are social issues, and this record is kind of a commentary of that. It doesn't come off as pretentious in the least bit, which makes it nice. The two remixes of "Fu-Gee-La" are okay with me, particularly because that's my favorite song from the album. Then there's "Mista, Mista" which is mainly just Wyclef and the guitar. The instrumentation on this album is nice; I wish that was how it was more often (although the instrumentation of "Killing Me Softly" in parts is not all that different from what A Tribe Called Quest had several years back on the classic "Bonita Applebum"). Even the samples are nice, like the Enya one that others are also trying to sample in their songs. Pras has good rapping skills as well in spite of the fact that he doesn't generally stand out to the people as much as the other two. This album still is frequently repeated by me even today.