Fugees are an American hip hop trio formed in 1990 in South Orange, New Jersey. Deriving its name from a shortening of the word "refugees", the group consists of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill. The group rose to prominence in the mid-1990s for their pioneering blend of reggae, R&B, funk and hip hop, which eschewed gangsta rap and made them one of the most significant alternative hip hop acts. They occasionally rapped in Haitian Creole, and were one of the first hip hop bands to incorporate live instrumentation during their performances, along with The Roots.
Nel Ust Wyclef Jean is a Haitian rapper and musician. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a founding member, co-producer and guitarist of the New Jersey hip hop trio The Fugees, alongside Lauryn Hill and Pras Michel. The group released the albums Blunted on Reality (1994) and The Score (1996), the latter becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time. Jean would follow this with the release of his first solo studio album, Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival (1997), which contains the top ten hit "Gone till November".
"No Woman, No Cry" is a reggae song by Bob Marley and the Wailers. The song was recorded in 1974 and released on the studio album Natty Dread.
"Killing Me Softly with His Song" is a song composed by Charles Fox with lyrics by Norman Gimbel. The lyrics were written in collaboration with Lori Lieberman after she was inspired by a Don McLean performance in late 1971. Denied writing credit by Fox and Gimbel, Lieberman released her version of the song in 1972, but it did not chart. The song has been covered by many other artists.
American singer Mariah Carey has released 88 official singles, 22 promotional singles, and has made 30 guest appearances. Her self-titled debut album in 1990 yielded four number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, the first being "Vision of Love", a song credited with revolutionizing the usage of distinguished vocal stylings, predominantly the practice of melisma, and effectively influencing virtually every female R&B performer since the 1990s. Subsequent singles "Emotions" (1991) and Carey's cover of the Jackson 5 track, "I'll Be There" (1992) continued the singer's streak of US number-one singles, with the latter becoming her fourth chart-topper in Canada and first in the Netherlands. With the release of Carey's third studio album, Music Box (1993), the singer's international popularity surged upon release of "Hero" and the album's third single, her cover of Harry Nilsson's "Without You", which became the singer's first number-one single in several countries across Europe.
"I'm Every Woman" is a song by American singer Chaka Khan, released in September 1978 by Warner Bros. as her debut solo single from her first album, Chaka (1978). It was Khan's first hit outside her recordings with the funk band Rufus. "I'm Every Woman" was produced by Arif Mardin and written by the successful songwriting team Nickolas Ashford and Valerie Simpson. The single established Chaka's career outside the group Rufus, whom she would leave after their eighth studio album, Masterjam, was released in late 1979.
Blunted on Reality is the debut studio album released by the American hip-hop group Fugees. The album was released in February 1994 through the Ruffhouse Records label. Three singles were released from the album, including ”Boof Baf”, ”Nappy Heads” and ”Vocab”.
Bootleg Versions is a remix album released by R&B and Reggae Fusion group The Fugees. The album was released on November 26, 1996. The album features only eight tracks, including seven remixes, and one new recording. The album along with their previous album, The Score, was later re-issued in 2001, as a double album, "The Complete Score" and in 2011, the two albums along with their first, Blunted on Reality was released as a 3-CD box set, "Original Album Classics". The album peaked at #127 on the Billboard 200 in the United States.
American singer Usher has released nine studio albums, ten compilation albums, eight extended plays, and 81 singles. His music has been released on the LaFace, Arista, Jive and RCA record labels. Usher has sold more than 33 million albums in the United States alone and over 65 million albums worldwide. With over 150 million total records sold worldwide, he is one of the best selling music artists of all time. He has nine Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles and 18 Hot 100 top-ten singles. In 1994, Usher released his self-titled debut album in North America, producing three singles that had moderate chart success, and the album sold more than 500,000 copies. His follow-up 1997 album My Way sold over 8 million copies worldwide, becoming his breakthrough album. It is certified seven-times platinum in the US, and spawned three successful singles, including his first UK number-one "You Make Me Wanna..." and first US Hot 100 number-one song "Nice & Slow". Usher's success continued in 2001 with his third studio album 8701. It debuted at number four on the Billboard 200. The album produced two number-one singles—"U Remind Me" and "U Got It Bad". In 2002, the album was certified five-times platinum in the US for sales of 5 million copies. As of 2010, its worldwide sales stand at over 8 million.
"You Make Me Sick" is a song by American singer Pink for her debut studio album Can't Take Me Home (2000). It was written by Brainz Dimilo, Anthony President, and Mark Tabb, while production was helmed by Dimilo, President and Babyface. It was released as the third and final single from Can't Take Me Home on November 27, 2000, by LaFace Records and Arista Records.
"The Jump Off" is a song by American rapper Lil' Kim, released as the first single on February 10 in 2003 from her third studio album La Bella Mafia. It was produced by Timbaland and features Mr. Cheeks. The single debuted at number 95 and climbed into the Top 20 at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100.
"Fu-Gee-La" is a song by American hip-hop trio, Fugees, released on December 13, 1995, as the lead single from their second and final album, The Score (1996). Produced by Salaam Remi, it contains a sample of "If Loving You Is Wrong " by Ramsey Lewis, while its chorus contains an interpolation of "Ooo La La La" by Teena Marie. Immediately following this is a sample of "Shakiyla (JRH)" by the Poor Righteous Teachers.
"Rockafella" is a hip hop song written and performed by American rapper Redman. It was released in 1994 via Rush Associated Labels as the lead single from the artist's second studio album Dare Iz a Darkside. Produced by Redman himself, it contains samples from Leon Haywood's "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You" and Parliament's "Flashlight". The official remix version was done by Erick Sermon.
"This D.J." is the title of a song by American hip hop artist Warren G. It was released in July 1994 by Def Jam as the second single from his debut album, Regulate...G Funk Era (1994). Released as the follow-up to his smash hit, "Regulate", "This D.J." was another success for Warren G, becoming his second consecutive top 10 single in the US, peaking at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was certified gold by the RIAA and sold 600,000 copies.
"The Rhyme" is a song by American rapper Keith Murray. It was released on October 21, 1996 through Jive Records as the only single from Murray's second studio album Enigma. The original version was again produced by Erick Sermon, who utilized samples from Maze's "Before I Let Go" and Run-DMC's "Sucker M.C.'s", with the remix produced by Jay Dee. The official music video for the song was directed by Brian Luvar.
"Movin' On" is a song by American musician CeCe Peniston, released on July 23, 1996, as the lead single from her third studio album, I'm Movin' On (1996). The track is produced by Dave Hall and charted at number twenty-nine on the US Billboard R&B chart. It also reached number 83 on the Billboard Hot 100. A remixed version of the song peaked at number ten on the Billboard Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales chart and entered the top 30 in Japan.
"I'm Not Over You" is a song by American singer-songwriter and former beauty queen CeCe Peniston, originally recorded for her second album, Thought 'Ya Knew (1994), which was released on A&M Records. The single achieved number two on the Billboard Dance Club Songs chart, and number ten on the Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. On the Billboard Hot 100, the song charted at number forty-one. The B-side of the single included "Searchin'", which was previously released only for promotional purposes.
The discography of the Fugees, an American hip hop trio consisting of rapper/singer Lauryn Hill and rappers Pras Michel and Wyclef Jean, consists of two studio albums, three compilation albums, one remix album and nine singles and nine music videos. After the group formed in the 1980s under the name Tranzlator Crew, they signed to Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records in 1993; they then changed their name to Fugees – an abbreviation of "refugees", also a reference to Haitian immigrants.
"Crew Deep" is a single by American rapper Skillz. The song features guest vocals by rapper–singer Missy "Misdemeanor" Elliott and former Xscape member Kandi. It was released as the lead single from Skillz's unreleased album, I Ain't Mad No More (2002).
"Vocab" is a song written and performed by the hip-hop group, Fugees. "Vocab" was issued as the third single from the group's debut album, Blunted on Reality. The song was co-produced by Pras and Wyclef Jean. Similar to the group's previous single, Nappy Heads, "Vocab" is best-known for its remixes, which were both co-produced by Salaam Remi and the Fugees. The song peaked at number 22 on the Billboard rap chart in 1995.
