Fugees!

                           The FUGEES

                                                        The Fugees - History

The trio released their first LP, Blunted on Reality, after a long period of performing, but the album failed to live up the expectations of fans who attended their concerts. Despite the relative failure of their first album, The Score became one of the biggest hits of 1996 . The Fugees were known for their unusual choice of covers and sampling sources on both albums; The Score, for example, included covers of "No Woman No Cry" (Bob Marley & the Wailers) and "Killing Me Softly (With His Song)" (Roberta Flack), which was their biggest pop hit. The album also included a re-interpretation of The Delfonics' "Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide From Love)" in their hit single "Ready or Not" which used a sample from Boadicea by Enya without her permission. This prompted a lawsuit resulting in a settlement where Enya was given credit and royalties for her sample. The Fugees won two 1997 Grammy Awards: The Score won for Best Rap Album, and "Killing Me Softly With His Song" won for Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.The group also recorded a cover of the rock band Queen's hit Bohemian Rhapsody,although it garnered much criticism.

After 1997, the Fugees all began solo projects. Hill started work on her critically acclaimed The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Jean began producing for a number of artists (including Destiny's Child and Carlos Santana) and recorded his debut album The Carnival. Michel, with Mya and Ol' Dirty Bastard, recorded the single "Ghetto Supastar" for the soundtrack to the Warren Beatty/Halle Berry film Bulworth. After each member found success in other ventures, the Fugees failed to reform. Though the Fugees remained tight-lipped about the exact reasons, most fans believed that a serious personality conflict between Hill and Jean contributed to the breakup following The Score.

In 2003, Jean acknowledged that indeed a turbulent affair (which turned adulterous when it continued even after Jean married) between himself and Hill, and its acrimonious ending, were the primary cause of the group's demise. That revelation shed new light on the lyrical content in Hill's The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill album, much of which can now clearly be understood to be about her relationship and break-up with Jean.
                            
                                                       

                                                INTRODUCING 

              Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill was one of two children to Valerie Hill, an English teacher, and Mal Hill, a computer consultant. She has an older brother, Melaney. At the age of thirteen she appeared on "Amateur Night" on Showtime at the Apollo. She lost the competition, but her ambition remained fierce. In high school she formed the band, the Fugees, with childhood friends, Wyclef Jean and Prakazrel Michel. Hill's solo debut, THE MISEDUCATION OF LAURYN HILL, 

had the highest first week sales of any album by a female artist in history. She won four NAACP Image Awards and received 10 Grammy nominations for the album. She went home from the Grammys with five awards, the most received by a female artist. The album was also the first hip-hop release in history to win Album of the Year.

                            WYCLEF

                                 

Born in Haiti, the son of a Nazarene pastor, Wyclef briefly attended Eastern Nazarene College, where his younger brother Sam graduated with a degree in history.

Wyclef moved with his family to Brooklyn, New York, before moving again to northern New Jersey. He worked briefly as a Burger King crew employee as a teenager, before he was fired. Jean has been a resident of Saddle River and South Orange, New Jersey. Jean, who regrets dropping out of college, has announced plans to attend Boston's Berklee College of Music.

In 1994 he married Fusha designer Marie Claudinette. In 2005 they adopted their daughter, Angelina Claudinelle Jean. 

Jean's musical breakthrough was as part of The Refugee Camp (The Fugees), a three-member group that included Lauryn Hill and Prakazrel "Pras" Michel. Jean is Pras's cousin and a fellow Haitian immigrant. The Fugees signed to Ruffhouse Records, which released the group's debut album, Blunted on Reality It sold fairly well, peaking at #49 on the U.S. Hot 100 and selling over 2 million copies worldwide. The follow-up album The Score sold over 18 million copies worldwide, eventually becoming a multi-platinum, Grammy-winning album.

Jean announced plans to begin a solo career with 1997's Wyclef Jean Presents the Carnival feautring the Refugee Featuring the Rufugee All-Stars (generally called The Carnival). The album's guests included Lauryn Hill and Pras along with Jean's siblings. The album was a hit, as were two singles: "We Tryna Stay Alive" and "Gone Till November".

                                                         PRAS

                                                       

Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. When he was fifteen, Pras met Lauryn Hill. In 1988, Pras introduced Lauryn to his cousin, Wyclef Jean. Pras Michel, Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill began to rehearse under the kindly guidance of Kool and the Gang's producer, Ronald Khalis Bell, and subsequently they formed a musical group called The Rap Translators in 1989 (also known as Tranzlator Crew). Pras made his feature film debut in the 1999 Ben Stiller superhero comedy Mystery Men, playing a supporting villain. He then set to work oN Turn It Up, Turn It Up hit theaters in the summer of 2000 (two years after Pras' initial hit single), and it too performed disappointingly. Still, Pras was slated to appear in the films Higher Ed and Full Contact, and began work on a new album in late 2000, which wasn't released until August 2005.