The addicting lyrics and slow-paced rhythm of that one song, Listening to the MPC 3000 faintly in the background of your favorite Gen X track, and their impressive diversity of culture and their panoramic components of sounds.
The hip-hop trio, the Fugees, unleashed a new album called The Score on February 13, 1996. The album was signed to Ruff House, distributed through Columbia Records, and recorded in the Booga Basement in New Jersey. The creators of the well-known tune “Killing Me Softly with His Song ”, are Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, and Pras. This track retained the most alternative, hip-hop, and progressive rap. The sense behind this album is all about love, feminism, and protest that they spread with their rhythms and phrases. Refugee was a disapproval word from history for the Haitians-Americans which they desired to symbolize in their music, so they called themselves the “Fugees.”
The song “Zealot” talks about the importance of originality and creativity in the art of music that constantly cherishes imitation. The frustration they speak about music replicating with the same lyrics and beats but in different fonts. In the first verse, Wyclef Jean raps about being a musician and facing the challenges of creating something different in a world where there’s plagiarism. “Gaze into the Sky and Measure Planets by Parallax,” by Wyclef Jean, explains that he criticizes other rappers who copy other artists’ music and imitate their tracks and calls them out by wishing they had success like the original artists. Lauryn Hill follows up by saying, “Many styles, more powerful than gamma rays,” meaning that she also talks about the power and potential of her rhymes, stating that her words in music are more powerful than electromagnetic radiation. Though both Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean talk about Originality vs imitation, Pras talks about the problem of violence in society. “Violence ain’t necessary unless you provoke me”, Pras phrases that violence is not necessary unless someone provokes a threat and will not hesitate to respond. All three musicians are expressed as zealous people. A Zealot is defined as a person who has very strong beliefs and feelings about an issue, religion, or politics.
The greatest parts of the album, The Score, are the wide range of instrumentation and many aspects of alternative hip-hop. The Score was produced by a variety of different producers and incorporated with sampled melodies, live instruments, and DJing incorporated in the track. The album showcases agile lyrical techniques and intellectual lyrics that don’t compare to East Coast rap. The Fugees made their songs sound relaxed and casual with the live instrumentation, their important factor of bass beats, the freestyle, and the funky guitar loops that turn into an unforgettable groove. What made their songs unique and memorable is that they sampled other familiar songs like Tina Marie’s “Ooh La La La” single, and constructed it into their style.
What made the album, The Score, one of the biggest successful albums, is the dynamic between the two rappers: Wycliff Jeans and Pras. Their abilities and their lyrical talent made the album more valued and prominent. Lauryn Hill had a passionate memorable voice and a dexterous songwriter who made the songs unforgettable. Different genres were influenced by the three artists, they included Afro-Cuban, reggae, soul, and hip-hop which made a staggering crossover with a diversity of cultural music. All of their songs always had a deep meaning behind the addicting melody, and that’s one of the reasons why these artists were called real musicians.
There’s a big difference between a rapper and a lyricist. Anybody can be a rapper but not everybody can be a lyricist. This is why the Fugees were ahead of their time.
