Fugees Score CD

Fugees (Refugee Camp): Lauryn Hill, Prakazrel "Pras," Wyclef.
Additional personnel: Garfield "Gus" Parkinson (vocals); Red Alert, Ras Baraka (spoken vocals); Handel Tucker (keyboards); Robbie Shakespeare (bass); Sly Dunbar (drums, programming); John Forte (programming); Backspin (scratches); Forte, Omega, Diamond D, Pace 1, Young Zee, Ra Digga.
Producers include: Wyclef, Shawn King, Lauryn Hill, Salaam Remi, John Forte.
Recorded at The Booga Basement Studio, East Orange, New Jersey; The Crib and Quad Studios, New York, New York; Anchor Recording Studios, Kingston, Jamaica.
THE SCORE won the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, and "Killing Me Softly" won a 1997 Grammy for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. The album was also nominated for Album Of The Year.
Fugees (Refugee Camp): Lauryn Hill, Prakazrel "Pras," Wyclef.
Additional personnel includes: Garfield "Gus" Parkinson , Rah Digga,
Forte, Omega, Red Alert, Ras Baraka (spoken vocals); Handel Tucker (keyboards); Robbie Shakespeare (bass); Sly Dunbar (drums, programming);
John Forte (programming); DJ Skribble, Backspin (vinyl scratches).
Producers include: Wyclef, Shawn King, Lauryn Hill, Salaam Remi, John Forte.
Engineers include: Warren Riker, Gary "Mon" Noble, Wyclef.
Recorded at Booga Basement, East Orange, New Jersey; The Crib, Quad, New York, New York; Anchor Studios, Kingston, Jamaica.
Samples include "Ready Or Not, Here I Come" (Hart/Bell), "Ooh La La La" (as performed by Teena Marie) and "I Only Have Eyes For You" (Warren Dubin).
THE SCORE won the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, and "Killing Me Softly" won a 1997 Grammy for Best R&B Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. The album was also nominated for Album Of The Year.
A breath of fresh air in the gangsta-dominated mid-'90s, the Fugees' breakthrough album, The Score, marked the beginning of a resurgence in alternative hip-hop. Its left-field, multi-platinum success proved there was a substantial untapped audience with an appreciation for rap music but little interest in thug life. The Score's eclecticism, social consciousness, and pop smarts drew millions of latent hip-hop listeners back into the fold, showing just how much the music had grown up. It not only catapulted the Fugees into stardom, but also launched the productive solo careers of Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill, the latter of whom already ranks as one of the top female MCs of all time based on her work here. Not just a collection of individual talents, the Fugees' three MCs all share a crackling chemistry and a wide-ranging taste in music. Their strong fondness for smooth soul and reggae is underscored by the two hit covers given slight hip-hop makeovers (Roberta Flack's "Killing Me Softly With His Song" and Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry"). Even when they're not relying on easily recognizable tunes, their original material is powered by a raft of indelible hooks, especially the great "Fu-Gee-La"; there are also touches of blues and gospel, and the recognizable samples range from doo wop to Enya. Their protest tracks are often biting, yet tempered with pathos and humanity, whether they're attacking racial profiling among police ("The Beast"), the insecurity behind violent posturing ("Cowboys"), or the inability of many black people in the Western Hemisphere to trace their familial roots ("Family Business"). Yeah, the Chinese restaurant skit is a little dicey, but on the whole, The Score balances intelligence and accessibility with an easy assurance, and ranks as one of the most distinctive hip-hop albums of its era. ~ Steve Huey
On their second album, the Fugees utilize a couple of the mid-'90s trends in hip-hop--cinematic construct and references to Asian fighting techniques. But THE SCORE transcends much of the genre's recent output, because it's as much about musicality as it is about beats. In fact, deep beats often take a back seat to tense, noir grooves. More importantly, all thrRolling Stone (5/13/99, p.74) - Included in Rolling Stone's "Essential Recordings of the 90's."
Rolling Stone (1/23/97, p.44) - Ranked #10 on Rolling Stone's list of the "Ten Best Albums" of 1996.
Rolling Stone (3/21/96, p.96) - 3 Stars (out of 5) - "The Fugees are a Neapolitan treat, sweet in three layers: rhyme, sample, and groove...the hip-hop threesome cops a grim veneer but escapes gangsta cliches by playing around with the formulas..."
Spin (9/99, p.126) - Ranked #17 in Spin Magazine's "90 Greatest Albums of the '90s."
Spin (1/97, p.58) - Ranked #2 on Spin's list of the "20 Best Albums Of '96."
Spin (3/96, p.113) - 9 (out of 10) - "...[A] sense of organic interaction is the hallmark of this album....the album's most important factor...is its beats--chest-shaking, obscure-texture-having, freestyle-friendly beats..."
Entertainment Weekly (2/16/96, p.62) - "...showcases their acrobatic lyrical technique and restless intelligence. And unlike much East Coast rap, THE SCORE feels warm and intimate--partly because the instruments are live but also because the Fugees sound so relaxed and casual." - Rating: A
Q (12/99, p.90) - Included in Q Magazine's "90 Best Albums Of The 1990s."
Q (4/96, p.109) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...an impressively panoramic soundscape, mixed into a 13-track seameless whole..."
Vibe (12/99, p.162) - Included in Vibe's 100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century
Rap Pages (3/96, p.31) - 8 (out of 10) - "...THE SCORE...effectively incorporates the energy of a hype stage show to wax....the Fugees have succeeded in creating one of the most innovative rap albums in recent memory. Don't sleep."
Village Voice (2/25/97) - Ranked #2 in the Village Voice's 1996 Pazz & Jop Critics' Poll.
NME (Magazine) (12/21-28/96, pp.66-67) - Ranked #22 in NME's 1996 critics' poll.