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 Lauren 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 with His Song," which arguably helped Lauren Hill go off on her own. The final single was the Enya sampling "Ready Or Not," the least successful of the three despite the over the top video that the group released for it. 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. Double vinyl pressing housed in a gatefold sleeve.

• music label: Columbia / Ruffhouse Records 1996 / 2012

reviewed by Kool Moby 07/0214