The first album I want to cover is "The Score" by The Fugees.
The Score was released in 1996 by my personal favorite rap trio, The Fugees, which consisted of three New Jersey residents; Pras, Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean. It came two years after their first album "Blunted on Reality", which did not receive nearly as much praise as The Score. The Score has sold almost 19 million copies world wide since its release over thirteen years ago.
The Fugees, alongside Wyclef's cousin, Jerry Duplessis, handled the majority of the albums production and direction. The style of The Score is much more unique than the standard hip-hop album in the mid 90's. The beats contain a more "jazzy" and "reggaeish" flow with soft drumlines and a wide variety of samples from artists like Enya to the Moody Blues. The album also contains two cover songs. One being "Killing Me Softly With His Song" performed by Lauryn Hill and the second being "No Woman, No Cry" by Wyclef. Putting two cover songs on a studio album seems like a pretty bold action, none-the-less, both versions are amazing, especially Hill's performance.
From a lyrical perspective the album ventures into storytelling, politics and social struggle. All three "Fugees" have their high points on the album, but as many of you would expect me to say, Pras does not deliver as consistently as Hill and Jean - it is no surprise that he gets the least amount of words in on the album.Wyclef Jean uses several different approaches on the album when it comes to flow and lyricism, just listen to his part(s) in "Family Business" and find out for yourself. And of course there is Lauryn Hill. She raps, she sings both so well. The album also features the likes of Omega, John Forte (who served 14 years jail time), Diamond D, Rah Diggah, Young Zee and Pacewon - all New Jersey and New York City natives.
The Score was a commercial success and was well received by critics. Unfortunately the success of the album could not keep the group in tact. They eventually split up and pursued solo careers (Lauryn Hill and Wyclef's was much more successful then Pras'). The success of The Score could easily be attributed to the wide array of samples used to create an incredibly unique sound complimented by three rappers that simply knew how to rip mics on the daily (catch the track reference there). In short, The Score is amazing. Its album sales speak for itself. The thirteen tracks and three bonus tracks make this album well worth the ten dollars it will cost you at HMV (or your local record shop).
The three singles that you might have heard or saw on TV:
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