Lauryn Noelle Hill is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record producer. She is regarded as one of the greatest rappers of all time, as well as one of the most influential musicians of her generation. Hill is credited for breaking barriers for female rappers, popularizing melodic rapping and for bringing hip hop and neo soul to popular music. She was the frontwoman of The Fugees and her 1998 solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is one of the best-selling albums of all time. Hill has won many accolades, including eight Grammy Awards, the most for a female rapper to this day.
Fugees is an American hip hop group 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, along with The Roots.
The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is the debut solo album by American singer and rapper Lauryn Hill. It was released on August 25, 1998, by Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records. The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is a neo soul and R&B album with some songs based in hip hop soul and reggae. Its lyrics touch upon Hill's pregnancy and the turmoil within her former group the Fugees, along with themes of love and God. The album's title was inspired by the film and autobiographical novel The Education of Sonny Carson, and Carter G. Woodson's The Mis-Education of the Negro.
Nel Ust Wyclef Jean is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. 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".
Michael Thomas Mauldin is an American media proprietor and record executive. He is CEO of Mauldin Brand AC/VC and serves as Chairman for the Black American Music Association; a 501(c)(6) trade association. He is also the Managing Director for 2475 AtVille Entertainment. Mauldin is owner of Air Control Music publishing and he is a live event producer and CEO of Scream Nation, a concert tour joint venture for the world famous "Scream Tour".
The Score is the second and final studio album by the hip hop trio Fugees. The Score was released worldwide on February 13, 1996, on Columbia Records. The album features a wide range of samples and instrumentation, with many aspects of alternative hip hop that would come to dominate the hip-hop music scene in the mid- to late 1990s. Primarily, The Score's production was handled by the Fugees themselves, Jerry Duplessis and Warren Riker, with additional production from Salaam Remi, John Forté, Diamond D, and Shawn King. The album's guest verses are from Outsidaz members Rah Digga, Young Zee, and Pacewon, as well as Omega, John Forté, and Diamond D. Most versions of the album feature four bonus tracks, including three remixes of "Fu-Gee-La", and a short acoustic Wyclef Jean solo track entitled "Mista Mista".
RuffNation Records was a joint venture record label between Chris Schwartz and Warner Bros. Records. It was started in 1999 after Ruffhouse Records was dissolved and remained active until 2001 when AOL bought Time Warner. The label was reactivated in 2020 as RuffNation Entertainment. The label is currently distributed by MNRK Music Group.
Judgement Records is a record label, started by Joe Nicolo after Ruffhouse Records was dissolved.
Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival, also known simply as The Carnival, is the debut studio album released by Haitian hip hop musician Wyclef Jean. The album was released on 24 June 1997, Wyclef Jean also served as the album's executive producer. The album features guest appearances from Celia Cruz, The Neville Brothers and multiple appearances from Jean's former Fugees bandmates, Lauryn Hill and Pras.
Dwight Equan Grant, better known by his stage name Beanie Sigel, is an American rapper. He first became known for his association with Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella Records, releasing his debut studio album The Truth through Roc-A-Fella in February 2000 to critical and commercial success.
The Goats were an American alternative hip hop trio from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
The Butcher Bros. is an American music production team made up of brothers Phil and Joe Nicolo, originally based out of Philadelphia in the mid-to-late '80s. Together and individually, the brothers have produced albums for a wide variety of bands, including Urge Overkill, John Lennon, Bob Dylan, Amy Grant, Cypress Hill, Nine Inch Nails, Dog Eat Dog, Anthrax, Rett Smith and Luscious Jackson. While Joe Nicolo was the original "butcher" he later paired briefly with his brother as Butcher Bros. Joe continues today as Joe the Butcher. The brothers began their music careers as teenagers, fixing speakers and rewiring amplifiers at a local drive-in movie theater. After earning a B.S. in Science from Temple University, Phil returned to Philadelphia and the brothers founded the Studio 4 recording studio. Using the name "Butcher Bros.", a reference to their father's trade, they quickly established themselves in many genres of music production. Sometimes they would work together and other times, individually.
Totally Krossed Out is the debut studio album by American hip hop duo Kris Kross. It was produced and largely written by Jermaine Dupri and Joe "The Butcher" Nicolo and released on March 31, 1992, by Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records. After developing a musical concept for the duo, Dupri and Nicolo spent two years writing and producing the album.
Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis is a Haitian music producer, film score composer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. His first major success was as a producer for the Fugees' 1996 album The Score. He also played the bass guitar with the Fugees, and group member Wyclef Jean is his cousin.
Richard E. Chertoff is an American five-time Grammy-nominated producer responsible for such hits as Joan Osborne's "One of Us", Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" and "Time After Time" and Sophie B. Hawkins' "Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover". Both Cyndi Lauper's album She's So Unusual and Joan Osborne's album Relish were debut albums that garnered multi-platinum sales and multiple Grammy nominations. Chertoff was nominated twice for 'album of the year', twice for 'record of the year' and also for 'producer of the year.'
Rhyme & Reason is a 1997 documentary film about rap and hip hop. Documentary filmmaker Peter Spirer interviewed over 80 significant artists in rap and hip hop music. The film explores the history of hip hop culture, how rap evolved to become a major cultural voice, and what the artists have to say about the music's often controversial images and reputation. Interview subjects range from veteran old-school rappers, such as Kurtis Blow, KRS-One and Chuck D, to rap icons Ice-T, Dr. Dre, and MC Eiht, to several current rap hitmakers, including Wu-Tang Clan, Tupac Shakur, and The Notorious B.I.G., less than four days before he was murdered.
"Ex-Factor" is a song recorded by American recording artist Lauryn Hill for her debut solo studio album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill (1998). Written and produced by Hill herself, it incorporates elements of R&B, neo soul and hip hop soul. The song features a sample of "Can It Be All So Simple" by Wu-Tang Clan. It has been claimed to be about Hill's former Fugees groupmate Wyclef Jean. The song was released as the second single from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill on December 8, 1998, by Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records.
Demmette Guidry is an American music industry executive, talent manager and label owner, who helped launch the careers of many prominent recording artists including Beyoncé, Lauryn Hill, Maxwell, Cypress Hill, Mary Mary, Alicia Keys and several others.
Andy Kravitz is an American drummer and percussionist, audio engineer, record producer, and songwriter. He has been nominated for 14 Grammy Awards, winning several. He lives near Venice Beach in Los Angeles, California.
"Lost Ones" is a diss song by American rapper and singer-songwriter Lauryn Hill. It was released on August 25, 1998, through Ruffhouse and Columbia Records. The song was written by Hill and produced by Hill, alongside Vada Nobles and Che Pope. Despite never naming him in the song, the song is widely presumed to be about Hill's former Fugees Bandmate Wyclef Jean.
