Debut album by Fugees, hip-hop group from East Orange, New Jersey, formed by Samuel "Pras" Michel of New York, Wyclef Jean of Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti, but raised between East Orange and Newark, and Lauryn Hill of South Orange, New Jersey.
Pras and Hill meet at Columbia High School in Maplewood, New Jersey, and are later joined by Jean, shortly before Marcy Harriell left them. The group changed its name several times, when it reached an agreement with Ruffhouse Records, a label distributed by Columbia, it changed definitively from Tranzlator Crew (kept on the cover) to The Fugees, short for "refugees" and a derogatory term addressed to Haitian immigrants. The record has features typical of the '92 hip-hop season, having been recorded around that time, however, it wasn't officially released until early 1994 due to issues with the label. Rapping is provided by all three performers, while production is mainly done by Pras and Wyclef Jean, together with Khalis Bayyan, already known for his work with Kool & the Gang, Rashad Muhammad, Brand X, Stephen Walker, Jerry Duplessis and Salaam Remi. The rhythms are combined with live instrumentation performed mainly by Wyclef Jean on guitar and bass, and by Khalis Bayyan on sax and keyboards.
After the intro, Wyclef Jean quickly makes it clear that he'll be going hardcore on this record, delivering on a cheerful boom bap with decent jazzy samples and regular drum pounding. Pras is quite mediocre and meager right from this first track, while Lauryn Hill is easily better than the other two combined, spitting bars with a tight, flowing, flawless, dope flow. Track number three's actually a double track that features an opening short interlude, a one and a half-minute skit, and then a five-minute song, with a verse each performed by the three MCs. Boom bap with accessible light pounding slow drum and tight horn sample in the background: Wyclef delivers hardcore, smooth, great flow, follows Lauryn Hill killing the song with a smooth, tight, dope style. An extravagant and irregular rapping by Pras closes. Fourth choice is dominated by Jean: jazzy boom bap, dirty and tight heavy thumping skinny drum machine, Lauryn Hill is better than the other two again, with great crisp flowing and quick rapping, Wyclef Jean delivers syncopated and quick, Pras is forgettable.
The following song is an overbeat freestyle: the fact that Hill isn't present, automatically makes it both one of the worst choices of the edition and one of the easily skippable, forgettable ones. The girl returns to bless the album in "Vocab", going much stronger than the other rappers, practically humiliating them on a minimal acoustic guitar riff that acts as a sound background for the five-minute track, without a drum. Skit (still without Hill, replaced by one of the producers, Khalis Bayyan), then "Boof Baf": five-minute choice, intro and verse Wyclef Jean's crazy, violent and flowing hardcore shouting on jazzy boom bap with frantic tight drum and decent sample. Pras spits slow and decent, Lauryn Hill is always fresh, even if she's limited to one verse while the other two share nine more hooks and outro. In "Temple", Hill delivers first, then Wyclef Jean and Pras complete the record, but the rhythm here doesn't assist them, the drum is too low and the sample is simply decent, the guys sound uninspired. The tenth song limits the South Orange girl's homework: boom bap funky, Jean & Pras go decently for three stanzas, closes Hill in a back n forth sort of verse with Wyclef at the end.
Skit by the other producer of the edition, Rashad Muhammad, then "Some Seek Stardom": solo track by the best rapper of the Fugees, on an indecent, skeletal and shoddy rhythm, boom bap with a lean economic weak drum that can't support the performer's bars. "Giggles" is the weakest moment of the edition: Pras solo joint on skeletal rhythm with mediocre samples and cheap, tight, hard and pounding drum: the boy delivers with a bad style, Hill saves the song by acting the hook. The next skit shows how uninspired the guys are, this time they manage to place Hill too to say something. "Refugees on the Mic" was born as a solo cut by Wyclef Jean, then close Pras and Hill with a verse each: skit, cheap boom bap, drum poor syncopated weak and sluggish, soulful female sample in the background, crazy delivery by Wyclef, Pras accelerates without impressing, Lauryn Hill closes. Eventually, Wyclef Jean manages to carve out his solo song, "Living Like There Ain't No Tomorrow": weak and poor rhythm, hardcore eclectic delivery, discreet track. Nine minutes of thanks on economic boom bap, poor slow drum and mediocre sample follow, preceding the final song, the remix of their second single: good jazzy boom bap, dope samples, tight and accessible quick drum, good smooth delivery of performers.
The album mirrors the East Coast sound and mixes it with ragga: the producers come up with honest rhythms, at best good, never excellent, composed of a dynamic drum and jazzy, funky, soul and pop samples. Thematically, the album varies between politics, racism, violence, life in the ghetto, braggadocio, crime, violence and represent, without a precise direction and with several socio-conscious extracts. At rapping, Lauryn Hill stands out above all and obscures the other performers in every track, boasting a dope flow: the guys are technically limited, have decent style, not good, and Jean saves himself by reciting most of his lyrics with a lively and coherent hardcore-ragga style. Pras easily the worst, but he's the furthest thing from being an MC, he's not a rapper nor has he ever been very close to hip-hop.
In 1993, the guys released "Boof Baf" as their first single: the choice is curious, because it's the second or third worst cut in the first part of the record, moreover, it features Wyclef Jean and Pras for most of the time, limiting the Hill's contribution. The single is a notable commercial flop, because it fails to rank despite being released by Columbia Records. The following year, the group repairs with "Nappy Heads" and "Vocab", singles where the girl's performance is probably the only reason why the songs are worth listening. Released by Ruffhouse and distributed by Columbia, the album is a commercial flop: it doesn't chart on the Billboard 200, reaching the top 70 among rap records and the UK chart, finishing after the 120th place. It sells a few thousand copies until the release of the second disc, subsequently reaching certifications in France and, over fifteen years later, in the UK. The album is generally greeted by positive, but cold reviews: the guys overdo it with 71 minutes and 18 tracks, a third of which are skits. The record is too long, even if it's funny and solid most of the time: it's an honest debut, but from this record alone you wouldn't say it's one of the best hip-hop groups of the nineties.
Highlights: "Blunted Interlude", "Recharge", "Vocab", "Some Seek Stardom", "Nappy Heads (Remix)".
Rating: 6.3/10.
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