  The Fugees reign from New York
City and consists of Lauryn
Hill, Wyclef Jean, and Pras Michel.
The band mixes styles of hip-hop, rap,
reggae, Caribbean, and R&B to create
their sound. Pras and Hill originally formed
a group together (while attending the same
high school in New Jersey), and Pras' cousin,
Clef, joined in. Originally known as the
Tranzlator Crew, the trio changed their name
to Fugees (short for Refugees, in reference
to their Caribbean roots).
 The Fugees' debut LP, Blunted
On Reality, was released (two years after
it was finished due to internal label
problems). The LP left little impact and is
not considered to be a great effort by the
trio. Even the band admits the LP was a
product of their youth, exuberance for having
a record deal, and over-zealous producers.
Remixes of a few tracks from the LP
("Nappy Heads" and
"Vocab") showed the Fugees'
potential for impressive music and vocals and
allowed the band to begin gaining a fan base.
Also, Clef said the LP was a stepping-stone
for hip hop music: "...this is what hip
hop needed for the music to go to the next
level where you could pick up a guitar, or
sing, and not feel like you've gotta
front."
The Fugees topped the Billboard
Hot Dance Music Maxi-Singles Sales chart for
2 weeks with "Nappy Heads."
The Fugees topped the Billboard
Hot Dance Music Maxi-Singles Sales chart for
3 weeks with "Fu-Gee-La."
 Fugees: # 6
Singles Artist of the Year
 The Fugees
second LP, The
Score, became one of the top LPs of
the year driven by the radio success of a
remake of Roberta Flack's
"Killing Me Softly." Although the
band had some success with the first single,
"Fu-Gee-La," their remake of
"Killing Me Softly" crossed over to
the pop charts and became a #1 hit on many
musical platforms. Follow-up tracks such as
"No Woman, No Cry" (a remake of Bob Marley's classic) and
"Ready Or Not" didn't maintain the
radio airplay saturation, but did continue
gaining fans with intriguing videos and by
showcasing the Fugee's ability to change
their musical styles.
Hill said of The
Score, "...it's like how radio
was back in the 40s... it tells a story and
there are cuts and breaks in the music...
it's almost like a hip hop version of Tommy
like what the Who did for rock &
roll."
The single "Fu-Gee-Le"
was certified gold.
The Fugees hit the Top 40 with
"Killing Me Softly."
 The
Score was certified 2x platinum.
The Fugees hit the Top 10 with "Killing Me Softly."
The
Score was certified 3x platinum.
The Fugees hit #1 with "Killing Me Softly."
The Fugees topped the Billboard
Hot R&B Singles Airplay chart for 5 weeks
with "Killing Me Softly." The
Score topped the Billboard Top 200
Albums chart for 4 weeks and the Top R&B
Albums chart for 8 weeks.
The
Score was certified 4x platinum.
The Fugees influence on music in
1996 and continuing into 1997 was more than
memorable tunes and snappy riffs. The
popularity of the Fugees was also a product
of their message. Through their music and
interviews, the trio's words questioned the
popularity of violence in hip-hop music and
inspired other artists, such as Nas, to succeed with
similar messages and change the direction of
hip-hop music.
Hill founded The Refugee Project
which is a non-profit organization that has
so far organized free concerts in New York
and Haiti.
The Fugees hit the Top 40 with
their cover of "No Woman, No Cry."
The Fugees topped the UK Singles
chart for 5 weeks with "Killing Me Softly."
The Fugees won
a MTV Video Music
Award for Best R&B Video ("Killing Me Softly").
The
Score was certified 5x platinum.
The Fugees topped the UK Singles
chart for 3 weeks with "Ready Or
Not."
 Bootleg
Versions was released - a collection of
remixes and the new track "Don't Cry,
Dry Your Eyes."
 Wyclef
Jean: # 163
Singles Artist of the Year
The Fugees were
nominated for 2 American Music
Awards for Favorite Pop/Rock
Band/Duo/Group and Favorite Soul/R&B
Band/Duo/Group.
The Fugees won 2 Grammy
Awards for Best R&B Vocal
Performance by a Duo or Group ("Killing Me Softly") and Best Rap Album (The
Score) and were nominated for Album
of the Year.
 Wyclef Jean released The
Carnival - an eclectic mix of music and
artists. Clef found success with the tracks
"We Trying To Stay Alive" and
"Gone
Till November."
Wyclef's The
Carnival was certified gold.
The
Score was certified 6x platinum.
Wyclef's The
Carnival was certified platinum.
Wyclef won a Billboard Music
Video Award for Best Clip (Dance)
("We're Trying To Stay Alive").
 Wyclef
Jean: # 79
Singles Artist of the Year ~ Lauryn
Hill: # 22
Singles Artist of the Year ~ Pras: # 119
Singles Artist of the Year
Group members
followed Wycelf's lead by trying their hand
at solo LPs: Pras with Ghetto
Superstar and Hill with The
Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill. Lauryn's solo success
is detailed in Lauryn
Hill's Info Page.
Wyclef hit the
Top 40 with "Gone
Till November " - the single also topped
the Billboard Maxi-Singles Sales chart for a
week.
Wyclef was
nominated for 2 Grammy Awards for
Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group
("Guantanamera" with Celia
Cruz and Jeni Fujita)
and Best Rap Album (The
Carnival).
 Wyclef's "Gone
Till November" was certified platinum.
Pras hit the Top 40 with help
from Ol'
Dirty Bastard and Mya with "Ghetto Supastar (That
Is What You Are)" from the film Bullworth.
Wyclef released the cd
single
with the tracks "Chickenhead,"
"What's Clef," and "To All The
Girls."
 Pras had a summer hit with
"Ghetto Supastar (That
Is What You Are)" hitting the Top
10.
Wyclef Jean was accused of
pulling a gun on magazine editor (of Blaze)
who was reading a bad review of an LP Jean
had produced. Jean denied the allegations and
sang his response: "Look at all these
rumors... spreading me every day... I need
some time... some time to get away... Did you
hear the one about Wyclef?... Some said he
pulled a gun... That comes from Mr. Editor...
who wanna sell his magazines by the
millions."
Lauryn released her solo LP The
Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill.
Wyclef won a MTV Video Music
Award for Best R&B Video ("Gone
Till November") and was nominated for Best Direction ("Gone
Till November") and Best Choreography ("We're Tryin' To
Stay Alive").
Pras was nominated for a MTV Video Music
Award for Best Rap Video and Best Video from a Film ("Ghetto Supastar (That
Is What You Are)").
Wyclef got political during his
acceptance speech for Best R&B Video about the movie How
Stella Got Her Groove Back (for which he
contributed the track "Mastablasta
'98" with Stevie Wonder on the soundtrack):
"I was saddened and offended to see my
country (Haiti) used as a brunt of an AIDS
joke in the movie... AIDS is a crisis and not
a... comedy."
 Pras released his solo LP, Ghetto
Superstar. Pras said of his solo work:
"To be honest, despite the success of my
record right now, I feel sad and a little
bitter when I perform the record by myself,
cos when I perform with the Fugees, it's a
whole different thing, and I think Wyclef and
Lauren feel the same way too."
Wyclef's The
Carnival was certified 2x platinum.
Wyclef was nominated for a
Billboard Video Music Award for Best Clip
(R&B/Urban) ("Gone
Till November"), and Pras was nominated
for 3 Billboard Video Music Awards for Best
New Artist Clip (Pop), Best New Artist Clip
(Rap), and Best New Artist Clip
(R&B/Urban) ("Ghetto Supastar (That
Is What You Are)"), and nominated for a
Brit Award for Best International Male Solo
Artist.
 Lauryn
Hill: # 28
Singles Artist of the Year
 Wyclef was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance ("Gone
Till November") and Pras was nominated
for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group
("Ghetto Supastar (That
Is What You Are)").
Wyclef told SonicNet
that a future Fugees LP was being discussed
by the trio depending on schedules - but its
unlikely to happen by the end of the year.
Wyclef was busy working on the soundtrack for
the film Life and planning on
another solo LP. While Pras was working in a
few films including Mystery Man and Ghetto
Supastar, Hill toured throughout the
summer and into the fall.
Wyclef
performed at Woodstock '99 in Rome, New York.
 Wyclef Jean and
Bono teamed up in New
Jersey and recorded "New
Day"
with profits going to charity (NetAid).
Wyclef took part in NetAid and won a "Do
Something" Award for his efforts working
with under-privileged children through the
Wyclef Jean Foundation.
MTV: 100
Greatest Videos Ever Made includes
Wyclef's "Gone
Till November" at # 94.
 Wyclef Jean: # 175
Singles Artist of the Year
Wyclef cancelled a show in South
Carolina in protest to the flying of the
Confederate flag over the state capitol. He
stated that he made his decision due to the
NAACP's call for economic sanctions against
tourism in the state, "as much as I hate
to cancel a show, I cannot in good conscience
perform in a state that has an emblem of
racism and division flying over its
capitol."
 Wyclef released his next solo LP
- The
Ecleftic: 2 Side II A Book with the
first single "It Doesn't Matter."
He told Billboard: "The body of the
album is more hip-hop. At the same time, I'm
still surrounded by a lot of crazy
fusions." The LP featured contributions
by Whitney
Houston, Kenny Rogers, the Product
G&B, and wrestler "The
Rock" and also features a cover of Pink
Floyd's "Wish You Were
Here."
Wyclef's The
Ecleftic: 2 Sides II A Book was certified gold.
 Rolling Stone
& MTV: 100 Greatest Pop Songs includes Wyclef's
"Gone Till November" at # 88.
Wyclef hit the Top 40 with
"911" with Mary
J. Blige.
 Wyclef
Jean: # 124
Singles Artist of the Year
Wyclef was
nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal
Performance by a Duo or Group ("911" with Mary
J. Blige).
Wyclef hit the
Top 40 with "Perfect Gentlemen."
Wyclef's The
Ecleftic: 2 Sides II A Book was certified
platinum.
 Wyclef performed
"Redemption Song" for a landmark
fundraiser (America:
A Tribute To Heroes) aired by all the
major networks to raise money for families of
the victims of recent terrorist attacks.
Wyclef was nominated for a MTV
Europe Music Award for Best R&B Act.
Lauryn released
MTV
Unplugged No. 2.0.
 Wyclef released
Masquerade.
Wyclef along
with Claudette Ortiz topped
the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Sales chart for
3 weeks and the R&B/Hip-Hop Singles Sales
chart for 5 weeks with "Two
Wrongs."
Wyclef commented on the future
of the Fugees: "The Fugees still didn't
break up. We are still trying to make stuff
and work stuff out...But an album is very
important. You can't just throw a garbage
album out there. That is not good for The
Fugees... I want to do a Fugees record. You
have to talk to Lauryn Hill. You have to talk
to the girl. The girl is the problem - not
me."
 VH1: 50
Greatest Hip Hop Artists includes the Fugees at
# 17.
The Fugees' Greatest
Hits was released.
Wyclef was hospitalized for
exhaustion, dehydration, and food poisoning.
 Wyclef released Preacher's
Son.
Wyclef could be heard on Timbaland &
Magoo's LP Under
Construction, Pt. II on the track
"Hold On."
Rolling Stone:
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time: # 477:
The
Score.
Wyclef with Eve could
be heard on the soundtrack for 50
First Dates with "Your Love."
Wyclef with Claudette
Ortiz could be heard on the
soundtrack for Dirty
Dancing: Havana Nights with
"Dance Like This."
 Wyclef released Welcome
To Haiti: Creole 101.
Fugees came in at # 400
on the Top Pop Artists
of the Past 25 Years chart.
 Pras: # 122
Singles Artist of the Year
Wyclef was nominated for a
Golden Globe for Best Original Song
("Million Voices" from Hotel
Rwanda).
Pras hit the Top 40 with help
from Sharli McQueen with
"Haven't Found" from his LP Win,
Lose Or Draw.
 Wyclef could be heard on the
compilation LP So
Amazing... An All-Star Tribute To Luther
Vandross with "Always &
Forever."
 Wyclef
Jean: # 71
Singles Artist of the Year
Wyclef was
nominated for a Grammy Award for Best
Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television
or Other Visual Media (awarded to the
songwriter) ("Million Voices" with
Jerry Duplessis).
Wyclef hit the Top 40 helping
out Shakira with "Hips Don't Lie."
 Wyclef hit the Top 10 helping out Shakira with "Hips Don't Lie."
Wyclef hit #1 for 6 weeks helping out | 
