RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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It’s been 30 years since The Fugees released their landmark album The Score . The no-skips hip-hip classic featuring such beloved tunes as “Killing Me Softy,” “Fu-Gee-La” and “Ready or Not” changed the game in its time and then … nothing.
Hill famously released her first, and so far only, full-length solo album in 1998, the Grammy-winning The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill , and has sporadically toured both solo and with former Fugees bandmate Wyclef Jean ever since. Meanwhile, Jean has released a series of nine solo albums, dozens of singles and recorded dozens more features for other artist’s songs and third member Pras Michel has faced legal hurdles and is currently serving a 14-year federal prison term after being found guilty of 10 counts tied to a foreign influence scheme.
Not the finest recipe for the trio reuniting in the studio to finally write the Fugees’ next chapter. Except it sounds like Hill and Jean are ready to go back in time and record the long-awaited follow-up to The Score . Speaking to the BBC ahead of Ms. Hill’s Diaspora Calling! concert on Friday night (Aug. 7) at the Milton Keynes National Bowl in Milton Keynes, U.K., Jean said he and Hill are in an “amazing place.”
Asked if there might be new music in the future, Hill was equally effusive, offering a succinct, “Absolutely.” Jean doubled-down, saying, “All I can tell you is, man, we’re in God’s hands,” then crooning, “I’m back with my bandmate!,” before adding, “So we’re in an amazing place. I think the energy is very important.”
After years of discord following the group’s demise, Hill said that there has been an “incredible healing process” between her and former secret paramour and musical foil Jean, one that seemingly could pave the way for a Fugees reboot. In March of this year, Jean stopped by the Jennifer Hudson Show and hinted at some unheard outtakes and freestyles from The Score sessions that were left on the cutting room floor.
“One of the things I think that’s cool is some of the unreleased Fugees material. We have a lot of outtakes and at times we went in and tried a few records and I think fans will enjoy some of the outtakes and some of the freestyles that happened,” he said. “I think celebrating it like that, we’ve been having conversations, I think it would be pretty amazing.”
The Score was released in February 1996 debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 and went on to win best rap album at the Grammy Awards in 1997.
Though they haven’t hit the studio to record a full LP in three decades, the Fugees have had a series of onstage reunions over the past 20-plus years, beginning in 2004 with a surprise get-back for the Dave Chappelle’s Block Party film, then again the next year when they did a 12-minute medley of their greatest hits to open that year’s BET Awards. They released the one-off single “Take It Easy” ahead of a 2005-2006 European tour that once again ended in acrimony and led to a 15-year lay-off until the trio were on stage once more in 2021 for Global Citizen Live .
Jean and Pras joined Hill on her 25h anniversary Miseducation of Lauryn Hill tour in 2023, though Pras has been absent from other performances since then due to his legal issues. Clef has continued to perform with Hill, including joining her during her son YG Marley’s Coachella performance in 2024 and for a tribute to Roberta Flack and D’Angelo at the 2026 Grammy Awards.
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