One of the most successful Hip Hop/Rap groups of all time!
Formed just outside New York, in South Orange, New Jersey during the ‘90s, Fugees was a Hip Hop trio consisting of Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, and Pras Michael.
All three members would go on to have successful solo careers after the two albums they made together.
The first, Blunted On Reality (1994), did make an impact and is regarded as credible but had no big hits. The very cool tune Nappy Heads did best as it reached #1 on the U.S. Hot Dance charts.
Looking back, Blunted On Reality was an underground hit, hardly having any radio-friendly material. It provided the band with a great platform to launch their next, much more radio-friendly album, The Score (1996).
It is on this album we find all the famous Fugees tunes, all covers or samples of various tunes, the essence of Hip Hop.
The first single, Fu-Gee-La, uses If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don’t Wanna Be Right), Ooo La La, and Shakiyla (JRH). I’ve included all these in the playlist above so you can investigate.
Fu-Gee-La did well with 1 million copies sold in the U.S. but was modest compared to their second single.
A cover of Roberta Flack’s Killing Me Softly With His Song (shortened to Killing Me Softly) was a worldwide hit and made Fugees a household name.
Reaching #1 in over twenty countries, and selling so many copies it became the best-selling single of all time in several of those countries, or territories as they say in the business.
Killing Me Softly sold so well the record label removed it from shops to make way for their next single, Ready Or Not.
Again, a cover/sample mash-up, this time of the Enya tune Boadicea and the Delfonics Ready Or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide From Love).
This tune wasn’t as big as Killing Me Softly but it did climb high in the charts worldwide, further spreading the word about the Fugees who by now were world-famous.
The 4th and final single from The Score was another cover, of Bob Marley’s classic No Woman, No Cry.
This was the least successful single from the album with only 200,000 copies sold in the United Kingdom, although this was probably down to the fact that most people by now had the album!
The Score sold 22 million copies worldwide and is widely regarded as one of the greatest Hip Hop albums of all time.
Following the success, internal conflict got to the members so bad they split and pursued solo careers.
Lauryn did best with her 1998 The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill. Here we find another Soul classic, this time by another band hailing from Jersey, Franki Valli and the Four Seasons.
Lauryn used the same trick as with Killing Me Softly as she renamed the tune she covered to Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You – (I Love You Baby) and had yet another worldwide hit.
Fugees Tunes | Related Pages
Can’t Take My Eyes Off You
You can learn how to play Can’t Take My Eyes Off You by Frankie Valli using chords, lyrics, and the original recording.
| E | E | Emaj7 | Emaj7 |
You’re just too good to be true, can’t take my eyes off of you…
Killing Me Softly With His Song
You can learn how to play Killing Me Softly With His Song by Roberta Flack using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and the original recording.
| Fm7 | Bbm7 |
Strumming my pain with his fingers…
No Woman, No Cry
You can learn how to play No Woman, No Cry by Bob Marley using chords, lyrics, chord analysis, TAB, and the original recording.
| C G/B | Am7 F | C F C/E Dm C | C (G A B G) |
No, woman, no cry. No, woman, no cry…
Fugees on the web
Artists & Bands
Behind every single tune you learn, there’s an artist or band with an entire catalogue of music, waiting to be discovered.
Find out more about these great Artists & Bands, and let their tunes guide you to success.
About me | Dan Lundholm
This was an article about Fugees tunes, by Dan Lundholm. Discover more about him and learn guitar with Spytunes.
Most importantly, find out why you should learn guitar through playing tunes, not practising scales, and studying theory in isolation.
