The Score (album) - Music

Music

The Score was produced by a variety of producers including each member of the Fugees as well as Diamond D, Salaam Remi and Jerry Duplessis. Although most tracks are built on sampled melodies, live instrumentation and DJing are incorporated into multiple tracks. Wyclef Jean plays the guitar on "Family Business," while DJ Scribble scratches on "Manifest/Outro." Nevertheless, samples are the predominant production tool on The Score. "Fu-Gee-La" incorporates a sample of Teena Marie's "Ooh La La La," and is interpolated in the song's chorus. "Ready or Not" also contains a sample that is interpolated; "Ready or Not (Here I Come)" by The Delfonics. "Manifest/Outro" contains a sample from "Rock Dis Funky Joint" by Poor Righteous Teachers, while the title track contains vocal samples from every track on the entire album.

Three official singles were released in promotion of The Score. The first of which was "Fu-Gee-La." The single was released January 9, 1996 and peaked at number 29 on the Billboard Hot 100, number 13 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and number 2 on the Hot Rap Songs chart. The song was produced by Salaam Remi and includes elements of "Ooo La La La" as performed by Teena Marie.

The second single, "Killing Me Softly" was released May 31, 1996. Proving to be the most successful single from the album, it instantly reached number two on the Billboard Hot 100, as well as number one on the UK Singles Chart. Initially, the song was to be titled "Killing Them Softly," though alluding to Charles Fox and Norman Gimbel's "Killing Me Softly with His Song," it was originally not intended to be a cover, however, the original writers refused permission for the rewrite of their song, but did allow the Fugees to do a cover version. In 1997, "Killing Me Softly" won the Fugees a Grammy Award for Best R&B Performance by Duo or group.

The third and final single released for the album was "Ready or Not," released September 2, 1996. The song was the least successful of all the singles from the album, only peaking at number 34 on the Rhythmic Top 40 chart. The track interpolates "Ready or Not, Here I Come (Can't Hide from Love)" as performed by The Delfonics, and also samples Enya's "Boadicea". Initially this sample was uncredited, and Enya was prepared to sue for copyright infringement, however decided not to when she discovered that the Fugees were not gangsta rappers. In a later interview, Fugee member Pras described the recording of "Ready or Not" stating "The three of us was each going through some pain. Lauryn was crying when she did her vocals. It was unbelievable. To see her singing with tears coming out of her eyes, it made me want to cry too."