The Score

If it wasn’t for Lauryn Hill this album might have just been a 90s conscious rap blip. Her singing really rose this album up above others. And she’s a great rapper to boot. The other two sounded pretty generic in my opinion. Not every song on here was amazing, but there was some really good stuff. I think Fu-Gee-La is the best song on here.

An amazing combination of the two dominant early 90s New York hip hop sounds - the emphatically lyrical wordy and insistently clever delivery of Tribe Called Quest or Digable Planets paired with production style of Wu-Tang, with dead simple looped piano/drum machine beats that serve as perfect platforms for the delivery. More than any individual contribution, the interplay between the voices swapping verses, picking up and continuing each others ideas, speaking back and forth, extending the rhyme schemes and cadences is the real magic here. The hits were inescapable but remain fresh and exciting, some of the best hop hop singles of the 90s. Overall it's is very consistent in terms of sound/style and quality - so a bit samey, but lots of good stuff, though the Bob Marley cover is very corny. The whole thing has a very cinematic feel, from the movie-poster style cover and the silly skits, to the atmospheric beats, and scene-setting, character-establishing, story-telling style in the lyrics.

I don't like hip hop. I think it's a shame with this album in particular. There are great vocal passages and fine choruses. The vocals are great. But I can't do anything with the chanting. I always enjoy listening to Ready or Not, Killing Me Softly and No Woman No Cry. I only played the rest of the album and skipped it.
2/5

The singles are all amazing but while the album tracks have some cool lyrical moments, they’re largely forgettable and often sound like second rate Wu Tang.

Wonderful album ;-)

This is an almost perfect album, great to give this a listen on a lovely warm afternoon. It is a bit long, and I could do without the somewhat racist Chinese restaurant skit (and basically every skit ever), but this album is too important to quibble over a few imperfections. It was a great antidote to the gangsta and bling rap that was dominating at the time, and has aged pretty well. Great to see a female MC on the list too!

Not my bag

The handful of hiphop choices are doing their best to drag up my 90s average score. Surprised at how much Wu Tang I could hear in parts of this.

Loved this, I had not listened to this since my childhood. It was one of the first cds I ever bought.
it still sounds good today. Lots more filler than I remember.

Favourite song: Ready or not
Least favourite song:
Album artwork: Cool

I had no idea Ready or Not was from this album, but that's a banger. Lauryn Hill shitting on the mic literally in this one. HOLY SHIT. Is Fugees short for "Refugees" like Lauryn raps on Zealots? I never would have thought. Wikipedia can confirm. Wow. I never knew! Songs that use sirens piss me off when I'm driving. All the Star Wars references in The Beast make me wonder if George Lucas got the idea for Jar Jar Binks while listening to this album. The background music and beats on this album are nice. Kind of unique. The flow sounds like 90's hip hop. Getting Tribe and Diggable Planets vibes. That smooth flow interlaced with intelligence spewing and nerdy references. So 90's. Rappers these days gave up on that shit. They don't have anything to prove like the Fugee's did. The only thing I dislike about this album is all the skits. When I want to listen to music I want music. I don't want people talking to each other in between songs. If they're split out from the other songs, that's fine because I can skip them but when they're embedded at the end of songs, I don't like it. Aside from that this is a solid album. Killing Me Softly has always been a hit. The No Woman No Cry cover (coincidentally on this album after listening to Bob's version a few albums back) isn't bad but I guess I prefer Bob's version. Solid beats, solid intelligent lyrics, and overall a decent listen minus the skits.

Nothing near the seminal album it is portrayed as. It has some decent moments, but most of it is forgettable. Just never fully understood the appeal. 1.5/5

All over the place apart from the singles, "Ready or Not," "Killing Me Softly," and "Fu-Gee-La." Somehow it's charming and it has a unique perspective, despite its scattershot approach. Basically a drunk driver of an album but with fewer road casualties.

Great!

Was not a fan of this. There were some decent songs for the genre, but nothing I would ever want to listen to again. 1/5

Great memories, much nostalgia, very fun

3.76 per track. If it wasn’t for mista mista and the skits this would have scored much higher. Great album.

Best produced hip-hop album yet. Aside from the borderline racist restaurant sketch, the tracks were a joy to listen. I did find myself wishing every voice was just Lauryn Hill

An alternative hip hop classic. The beats are consistently spectacular and lend a really cohesive vibe to the whole album. The vocals are gorgeous and thematic throughout. Just straight fire.

The Fugees proberen relaxed te zijn. Dat lukt bij vlagen. Het leidt vooral tot weinig interessante nummers. De hitjes Ready Or Not en Fu-Gee-La luisteren aardig weg. Bij het andere hitje werkt de zogenaamde relaxedheid vooral op de zenuwen. Ook de cover van Bob Marley werkt op de zenuwen. Goed, het breekt de wat eentonige opzet van het album wat. Maar juist hier had ik gehoopt op een goede mix van het origineel en de stijl van de Fugees.
2.5 ster.

Not all songs are as memorable as others, but the heights on this album are really worth listening to.