Ready or not here I come! You know what this is, if you don't it's time to get familiar. The Fugees' sophomore album, The Score, made the group worldwide stars and helped launch the solo careers of Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill. After the relative non-success of their debut, Blunted On Reality, Christ Schwartz, head of Ruffhouse Records, decided to give the group another chance. In 1995 he gave the Fugees an advance which they used to set up a studio in Wyclef's uncle's basement. They spent the second half of the year recording the album, producing it mostly themselves. There are a few tracks that had some outside assists on production, most notably the Salaam Remi produced "Fu-Gee-La" and the title track which was produced by Diamond D (dig the Cymande sample on that one). The rest is pretty much history. There were three singles from that album that are probably permanently burned into everyone's mind who's old enough to remember the mid-90s. "Fu-Gee-La" kicked things off to be followed by "Killing Me Softly," which arguably helped Lauryn go off on her own. The final single was the Enya sampling "Ready Or Not," with it's equally-memorable over the top video. The sky was pretty much the limit for the Fugees. Unfortunately their relationships deteriorated over time and all that we're left with is their crowning achievement, The Score.

• black double vinyl pressing
• gatefold sleeve
• original release year: 1996
• music label: Columbia 2012

reviewed by Kool Moby 07/0214