Fugees

Fugees (/ˈfuːdʒiːz/; sometimes The Fugees) was an American hip hop group who rose to fame in the mid-1990s. Their repertoire included elements of hip hop, soul and Caribbean music, particularly reggae. The members of the group were Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill, and Pras Michel. Deriving their name from a shortening of the word "refugees", Jean and Michel are Haitian while Hill is American.

Fugees
Background information
Also known as
  • The Rap Translatorz (later known as Tranzlator Crew)
  • Refugee Camp
OriginSouth Orange, New Jersey, United States
Genres
Years active
  • 1992–97
  • 2004–06
Labels
Websitewww.thefugees.com
Past membersLauryn Hill
Wyclef Jean
Pras Michel

Before disbanding in 1997, the group recorded two albums, one of which, The Score (1996), was a multi-Platinum and Grammy-winning success and contains their hit single "Killing Me Softly". Hill and Jean each went on to successful solo recording careers; Michel focused on soundtrack recordings and acting, though he found commercial success with his song "Ghetto Supastar". In 2007, MTV ranked them the ninth greatest hip-hop group of all time.[1]

Career

Formation and beginnings

Lauryn Hill and Pras first met at Columbia High School, in Maplewood, New Jersey. Pras, Lauryn, and a mutual friend Marcy Harriell formed a musical trio called Tyme; Pras' cousin, Wyclef Jean, joined the trio and Marcy left soon after in 1990.[2] The moniker Tranzlator Crew refers to the name of their band at the time, which included Johnny Wise on drums, Ti Bass (Jerry) on bass guitar, and Leon (DJ).[3] In 1993, after some gigs and recorded demos, the trio signed to Ruffhouse, distributed through Columbia Records.[4] The trio's name was later changed to Fugees, which was purposely taken from a word often used derogatorily to refer to Haitian-Americans (refugee).[5] Refugee Camp, while a name sometimes credited to the trio, also refers to a number of artists affiliated with them, and particularly Jean.

The trio soon changed musical direction, and released their first hip-hop LP, Blunted on Reality, in 1994 under the guidance of Kool and the Gang's producer Ronald Bell. Although the album did not contain as many lyrics with overtly political messages as songs from The Score, there were still political intentions.[3] The album spawned the singles "Boof Baf", "Nappy Heads" and "Vocab", but gained little mainstream attention, despite earning plaudits for its artistic quality and innovative use of samples.[6]

The Score

The musical qualities of their first record would be revisited with their second album The Score which was released in February 1996.

The Score became one of the biggest hits of 1996 and one of the best-selling hip-hop albums of all time. The Fugees first gained attention for their cover versions of old favorites, with the group's reinterpretations of "No Woman No Cry" by Bob Marley & the Wailers and "Killing Me Softly with His Song" (first recorded by Lori Lieberman in 1971, remade by Roberta Flack in 1973), the latter being their biggest hit.

The album also included a re-interpretation of The Delfonics' "Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide From Love)" in their hit single, "Ready or Not", which featured a prominent sample of Enya's "Boadicea" without the singer's permission. This prompted a lawsuit resulting in a settlement where Enya was given credit and royalties for her sample.[7] The Fugees have continuously thanked and praised Enya for her deep understanding of the situation, for example in the liner notes for The Score.

The Fugees won two 1997 Grammy Awards with The Score (Best Rap Album) and "Killing Me Softly" (Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group).

Later career

In 1997, the Fugees all began solo projects: Hill started work on her critically acclaimed The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill; Jean began producing for a number of artists (including Canibus, Destiny's Child and Carlos Santana) and recorded his debut album Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival; Pras, with Mýa and Ol' Dirty Bastard, recorded the single "Ghetto Supastar (That Is What You Are)" for the soundtrack to the Warren Beatty/Halle Berry film Bulworth. In early 1998, they reunited to shoot a music video for the song "Just Happy to Be Me" which appeared in the Sesame Street special Elmopalooza, and also on the Grammy Award-winning soundtrack album.

The three Fugees reunited and performed on September 18, 2004 at the concert in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn featured in the film Dave Chappelle's Block Party (2004), headlining a star-studded bill that included Kanye West, Mos Def, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, The Roots, Talib Kweli, Common, Big Daddy Kane, Dead Prez, Cody ChesnuTT and John Legend. Their performance received several positive reviews, many of which praised Hill's near a cappella rendition of "Killing Me Softly".

The Fugees would make their first televised appearance in almost ten years at BET's 2005 Music Awards on June 28, opening the show with a twelve-minute set. With a new album announced to be in the works, one track, "Take It Easy", was leaked online and eventually released as an Internet single on September 27, 2005. It peaked at number 40 on the Billboard R&B Chart but was met with poor reviews, noting its radical departure from the Fugees' sound.

Disbanding

In 2005, the Fugees embarked on a European tour – their first together since 1997 – from November 30 to December 20, playing in Finland, Austria, Norway, Germany, Italy, France, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and Slovakia. They had been scheduled to play at the Hammersmith Apollo on November 25, 2005; however, they were forced to move the gig to December due to production issues.[8] The tour received mixed reviews. On February 6, 2006, the group reunited for a free show in Hollywood, with tickets given away to about 8,000 fans by local radio stations. Later that month, a new track called "Foxy" was leaked, a song dubbed the "REAL return of the Fugees" by several online MP3 blogs.

However, following the reunion tour, the album that was said to be in the works did not materialize and was postponed indefinitely, as relationships between band members apparently deteriorated. In August 2007, Pras stated, "Before I work with Lauryn Hill again, you will have a better chance of seeing Osama Bin Laden and [George W.] Bush in Starbucks having a latte, discussing foreign policies, before there will be a Fugees reunion".[9] Meanwhile, in September 2007, an equally outspoken Wyclef told Blues & Soul: "I feel the first issue that needs to be addressed is that Lauryn needs help... In my personal opinion, those Fugees reunion shows shouldn't have been done, because we wasn't ready. I really felt we shoulda first all gone into a room with Lauryn and a psychiatrist... But, you know, I do believe Lauryn can get help. And, once she does work things out. Hopefully a proper and enduring Fugees reunion will happen."[10] On July 15, 2017, an old song by the Fugees was leaked on Hot 97 radio leading to reports that the group was reforming. This was later denied by group members on Twitter.

Fugees turned their recording studio, The Booga Basement, into a transitional house for young Haitian refugees immigrating to the United States.[5]

Legacy

After the group split, Wyclef Jean co-founded and headed the Yele Haiti Foundation, a non-profit organization "focusing on emergency relief, employment, youth development and education, and tree planting and agriculture" in Haiti.[11] Pras Michel starred in a documentary about homelessness in Los Angeles and remained outspoken about Haitian politics.[12][13][14] Lauryn Hill continued recording and performing socially conscious music and went on to advocate for female empowerment especially within the music industry.[15][16]

Scholarship

Alexander Weyheliye's "Sounding Diasporic Citizenship" looks to the Fugees to consider the possibility for the term "refugee" to be a liberating call that builds international community as an empowering form of 'diasporic citizenship'. He writes that the Fugees "address the prejudices against Haitians in the States and also reclaim the figure of the Haitian refugee not as an instantiation of the abject but as a point of solidarity."[17]

Discography
Main article: Fugees discography
Compilations

References
  1. "MTV News: The Greatest Hip-Hop Groups of All Time". MTV. February 1, 2007. Archived from the original on April 30, 2015. Retrieved February 1, 2007.
  2. "How Life Changed". XXL. March 2011.
  3. "The Fugees". Lorna's Corner. 1990. Hartford Public Access TV.
  4. Lazerine, Devin; Lazerine, Cameron (February 29, 2008). Rap-Up: The Ultimate Guide to Hip-Hop and R&B. Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 9780446511629. Retrieved August 7, 2018 – via Google Books.
  5. Foege, Alec. "Fugees (cover story)." Rolling Stone. September 5, 1996: p. 40-47
  6. Weheliye, Alexander G. Phonographies:Grooves in Sonic Afro-Modernity, Duke University Press, 2005.
  7. Battles, Jan (March 28, 2004). "Rap takes Enya's 12 notes up chart". Sunday Times. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  8. "The Fugees Forced To Reschedule Tour Date". Gigwise.com. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  9. Hamilton, Tiffany (2007). "Pras: It Will Take An Act of God To Change Lauryn". AllHipHop.com. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  10. Stephen Clark. "WYCLEF JEAN: Perfect Gentleman". Bluesandsoul.com. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  11. "Who We Are." YeleHaiti. Web. October 11, 2011. <"About Us". Archived from the original on October 17, 2011. Retrieved October 12, 2011.>
  12. Pras (cast), Ross Clarke, Niva Dorell, and Marshall Tyler (directors) (2007). Skid Row (DVD).
  13. "Ex-Fugee Pras Michel: Haiti earthquake aid not arriving fast enough – NY Daily News". Daily News. New York. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  14. "Fugees' Pras Defends Endorsing Wyclef Jean's Haiti Presidential Rival, "We Need A Real Leader" [Video]". Sohh.com. August 7, 2010. Retrieved August 7, 2018.
  15. Lewis, Andrea (1999). "The Missed Message of Lauryn Hill – artist ushers hip-hop into the mainstream". The Progressive. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  16. Brubaker, Ben. "Lauryn Hill: Post-modern Prophetic Hip-Hop Queen." Archived October 6, 2011, at the Wayback Machine nolahope. May 11, 2007. Web. October 11, 2011.
  17. Alexander G Weheliye. "Sounding Diasporic Citizenship" in Phonographies: Grooves in Sonic Afro-Modernity. (Durham: Duke University Press, 2005), 150.
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