web analytics

Pop Rock Nation

Tag: The Fugees

  • The Sunday Shuffle is Back: Still Here

    So I finally did the smart thing and bought an external hard drive to store my music, figuring that keeping 70MB of music on a laptop’s hard drive probably wasn’t a good idea. Hopefully, this one doesn’t poop out on me the way my previous one did, after only five months. Damn you, Windows Vista!!

    I was gonna let the new “Genius” feature on iTunes take over for me, but I’ll save that for another time, plus we’ll have a feature on Genius at some point this week. No point in doubling up, right?

    Anyway, we’re off:

    Track 1: “Fast Car (Fugee Remix)”-Wyclef Jean feat. Lupe Fiasco

    Wyclef Jean’s “Carnival II” will surprise the few of you who’ve actually stuck with ‘Clef’s last few (phenomenally shitty) albums. On the album, this song is a moody piece with vocals by Paul Simon (yes, THAT Paul Simon). On this remix, Wyclef gets a quick verse from rap phenom Lupe Fiasco and also takes it back to ’96 by virtue of the Tribe Called Quest “Bonita Applebum” sample, which broke Wyclef’s old band (The Fugees, ‘memba them?) worldwide via its’ use on their version of “Killing Me Softly”. This remix is decent, the album version is better.

    (more…)

  • “Lost One” Lauryn Hill: 10 Years Since “Miseducation”…Where’s The Follow-Up?

    A decade ago (has it really been that long?), Lauryn Hill was on top of the world. Blessed with the rare double talent of being able to sing beautifully and rap skillfully-I dare you to name a better female MC EVER-she had superstar juice all over her. After initially gaining notoriety as an actress (“Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit” and “As the World Turns”), Lauryn broke through for real as the most talented third of the Fugees, a group that smashed together hip-hop, R&B and Caribbean flavors and scored the most left-field hit of 1996 with “The Score”. This album turned out to be the biggest hip-hop seller of the year, not a small feat during the year in which we lost Tupac.

    Lauryn Hill performing live. Photo by Lisa Liang.
    Lauryn Hill performing live. Photo by Lisa Liang.

    There had been some internal drama within the group for some time. The rumor mill had Lauryn and bandmate Wyclef Jean dating (something that’s been confirmed by Wyclef’s wife, although both Wyclef himself and Lauryn have more or less stayed mum on the topic), while Lauryn was immediately singled out for her beauty and talent, which led to some discontent on the behalf of Wyclef and third member Pras, the Andrew Ridgeley of the group. ‘Clef struck first, reaching Platinum status with his album “The Carnival”, but Lauryn struck best, releasing her stunning record “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” on 8/25/98. Despite A-list support from the likes of D’Angelo and Mary J. Blige, “Miseducation” was all about Lauryn. The album sold 7 million copies, registered the highest first week totals for a female artist at the time, became the first hip-hop record to win the Grammy for Album of the Year, and was arguably the best R&B record of the entire decade. Lauryn was the entire music world’s “it” girl. Gorgeous, brainy, talented, and seemingly grounded. (more…)