“The Score” At 30

Trios in hip-hop are very commonplace, even ones with all 3 members as MC’s: The Beastie Boys, Migos, The LOX. These trios have a variety of skilled MC’s on the mic, but there is no trio in hip-hop like the Fugees. Formed in New Jersey, the same state where all 3 members are from, the Fugges (short for “Refugees”) came together based on a love for comic books and Hip-Hop; specifically groups from the more conscious, Native Tongues movement, like De La Soul, A Tribe Called Quest, and the Jungle Brothers. The trio consists of 3 very different people: Wyclef Jean, the spokesperson/ringleader of the group, Lauryn Hill, the most talented artist of  the triad (she can sing beautifully and rap her a** off), and Pras, the one who was there to just rap (and definitely the most forgettable one of the threesome). 

The group released their first record Blunted On Reality in February of 1994, with which they found minimal success. The record was rooted in this acoustic/hip-hop fusion vibe, and it didn’t resonate with either the casual music listeners or the hip-hop heads of the day. So, the group decided to remix the tracks “Vocab” and “Nappy Heads”, and add a more hip-hop flavor to them. These remixes skyrocketed the Fugees into notoriety, as more hip-hop heads respected them and couldn’t wait for their next record. 

Probably because of the two remixes, Ruffhouse (their record label) gave the group a $135k advance for their next album: named The Score. And, once the record was released, it peaked at number one atop the Billboard Hot 200 and was a critical and commercial smash. And, safe to say, there was a reason why the album did so well.

The Score pioneered a way of making music that crossbread two particularly different styles of sampling. The first type of sampling is used in MC Hammer’s smash hit, “U Can’t Touch This”. The track samples Rick James’s “Super Freak”, a defining song for funk music that peaked at number 16 on the Billboard Hot 100 and was on the charts for 24 weeks. Back then, this type of sampling was called “lazy” – nowadays, we call it “nostalgia bait” sampling: sampling a song that people know from 10+ years ago in order to get them to listen to yours (take “First Class” by Jack Harlow). The second type of sampling is used in A Tribe Called Quest’s “Excursions”. Tip and Ali sampled “A Chant For Blu” by Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers. That track was a deep cut from an album by a group way past their commercial peak, and Tribe managed to find the sample, then chop it into one of the most iconic upright bass parts in hip-hop. Wyclef and Sallam Remi managed to combine these two styles in a way that has never been executed as well as when the Fugees did it on The Score. Jean and Remi would take an obscure sample, but then had Lauyrn interpolate a more popular song on top of it. Take the lead single, “Fu-Gee-La” – a song all about the dangers of 90s New Jersey. The track samples the opening bars “If Loving You Is Wrong, I Don’t Wanna Be Right”, but then the hook is a sample of “Ohh La La La” by Tina Marie that is interpolated by Lauryn to fit the context of the song. This type of sampling appears everywhere on the album: “Ready Or Not” has a sample from Enya’s “Boadicea”, and a vocal interpolation of “Ready or Not Here I Come” by the Delfonics – once again sung by Lauryn.

The best example of a true hip-hop cut on the album is the title track, produced by and featuring Diamond D. The song’s chorus is a variety of vocal snippets throughout the album scratched in by Diamond D to make the hook. All 4 rappers do well, but, as usual, Lauryn murders everyone. Some other pure hip-hop cuts include “How Many Mics” and a fan favorite, “Zealots”.

Lauryn Hill is 2016 Stephen Curry on this record: surrounded by great talent on the roster, but is still, quite easily the unanimous MVP. Her ability to rap and sing almost flawlessly makes her an unparalleled artist: a vocal specimen that I don’t think the music world will ever see, or at least not see for a long a** time. And, even though she and the other 2 MCs kill it on the verses, her, and the album’s magnum opus includes no rapping. 

“Killing Me Softly With His Song”, or known my most as just “Killing Me Softly”, is the commercial and artistic peak of the album. “Killing Me Softly” perfects the style of production that I mentioned in the previous paragraphs. The song is a cover of the Lori Liberman original, but also the Roberta Flack version. And, the reason why it is so good is because it is essentially a microcosm of the whole record. While Lauryn covers/samples one song, the instrumental samples a different song: in this case, the last few bars of “Bonita Appelbum” by A Tribe Called Quest. This whole idea of a sample being interpolated over another sample reaches its peak in “Killing Me Softly“, as not only does L Boogie interpolate the original, she full-on covers it. The other part is that there are almost no other instruments, just the sampled drums, some keys in the intro, and a bass. And yet, this song is so good! Not to mention, that that bridge is f**king fantastic. Lastly, I would have to recommend the live version, as there’s a live band and a beat switch to Wu-Tang’s “Can It Be All So Simple” (which Lauryn later sampled on “Ex Factor”) on the 2nd verse. 

Overall, The Score is an instant classic that cemented Jersey as a force to be reckoned with in the hip-hop world, and was a breakout for two legendary pop culture icons. Lauryn Hill went on to drop one of the greatest albums to ever exist in Miseducation…, and Wyclef continued to be a hitmaker, creating huge songs like “We Trying To Say Alive” and “911”, but also by collaborating with artists like Shakira for “Hips Don’t Lie” and Santana for “Maria Maria”. Wyclef even ran for president of Haiti, but lost in 2010. Pras also tried to have a solo career, having a big hit with “Ghetto Superstar”, but doing nothing else after that – besides being sent to jail for human trafficking, where he currently resides. I honestly think that an album like this will never be made again. There will never be a time where 3 people decide to invent a whole new style of producing music and execute it so well.