One Take, One Classic

By the mid-1990s, socially conscious hip-hop was little more than an afterthought in a genre dominated by gangsta rap — until the Fugees arrived and changed everything. Dropping the thugg style that never quite gelled on their 1994 debut, the trio of Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, and Prakazrel Michel adopted a sunnier, more soulful disposition on The Score, momentarily making positivity, hope, and respect seem cooler than anything else on the street. Balancing old-school hip-hop with smooth R&B, it is an album brimming with great individual performances and an electric chemistry between its three MCs that crackles on every track.

The highlights are plentiful — Hill’s stunning remake of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly With His Song” provided a career-defining breakthrough, Jean’s cover of Bob Marley’s “No Woman, No Cry” is equally devastating, and the irresistible interplay between Hill and Jean on “How Many Mics” and “Fu-Gee-La” is absolutely electric. The Score topped the pop charts, sold six million copies, and earned the group two Grammys — before launching three extraordinary solo careers, with Hill’s The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill even eclipsing its brilliance. One sweet, unrepeatable lightning strike of a record.

Fugees – The Score (1996)

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