Week 15 - The Score - The Fugees - The trio with a Revolutionary Sound.

Genre defining and critically acclaimed, for good reason that too, The Score is the second album by Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill and Pras Michel; The Fugees. It’s a deceptively dark album; released nearly 25 yrs ago it is a bold exploration of racism, violence and poverty. Lyrically political and yet so amazingly subtle, you get lost in the sound without realizing that it’s a call to revolution. Even though it speaks of a reality I am both physically as well as generationally removed from, the lyrics are hard hitting and brutally honest. The album has a little bit of everything to captivate every kind of listener; it has smooth vocals, slick rhymes, reggae and soul. It’s an album that packages radical, revolutionary ideas in a palatable package; an album for the listener to sink into.

This entire album is a piece of human history and a masterclass in mobilizing the masses through your art. The standout tracks on this album for me are.

1. Ready or Not - Wrapped in the neo-soul silky vocals of Lauryn Hill and provocative rhymes of the trio, this is a standout track from a stellar album. It’s so unbelievably smooth and disguises its more macabre lyrics in this soulful form; musical trickery at its greatest, it makes sure the listener sits up and takes notice of the lyrics.
   

2. Killing Me Softly - Just as heartbreaking and beautiful as the Roberta Flack original. I don’t think there is much that needs to be said about this song. Anyone who listens to this song, even once, is better for it.
   

3. No Woman, No Cry - Peace, Love and Positivity. All we need to make life a little better. The Fugees recontextualize a Bob Marley classic as a reaffirmation that indeed ‘everything is gonna be alright’