[Music] foreign
this group made up of Wyclef Jean Lauren Hill and proz Michelle was with us for only a few short
years in the 90s and only released two Studio albums whatever they lacked in quantity though
they more than delivered in quality in fact their second and today last album they released has been
touted by many critics to be one of the greatest hip-hop albums ever so what happened why didn't
this Trio go on to produce many more masterpieces and no doubt reach even further Heights in hip-hop
history while attending the same High School in New Jersey Pras approached Lauren about wanting
to include her in a music group he was putting together the two of them ultimately did team
up and with the addition of another girl began working under the name translator crew that other
member didn't last long and was soon replaced with praza's cousin Wyclef after getting a few years of
practice under their belts their demo landed them a record deal with roughhouse distributed through
Columbia Records the members then decided it was time for a name change and went with the Fugees
taken from the word Refugee a term often used in a derogatory manner to refer to Haitian Americans
both pros and Wycliffe have roots in the country the Fugees released their debut album blunted on
reality in 1994. the project spawned three singles buff Nappy Heads and vocab the most successful was
a remix version of Nappy Heads but even though it did the best out of the three it still didn't
break the top 40. thankfully the Fugees would do much better the second time around little did they
know just how much better the group's sophomore effort the score released in 1996 would go on
to spend four weeks at the number one spot on the billboard 200 eventually going seven times
Platinum the trio gained massive attention for its cover versions of old favorites including
No Woman No Cry and Killing Me Softly the latter being their biggest head [Music]
the Fugees won two Grammys with the score best rap album and best r b vocal performance by a
duo or group for killing me softly then that was it everything just abruptly stopped a third album
never came nor did a formal breakup even though there was no single incident that tore the members
apart if you ask Wyclef there was one watershed moment that definitely caused irreparable damage
to the group's Dynamic for years Wycliffe and Lauren were having an affair that fact in and
of itself wouldn't have been that big of a deal except that Wycliffe was married at the time
eventually Lauren became pregnant she told Wyclef that the child was his but as it turned out the
actual father was Rohan Marley Bob Marley's son whom she'd begun seeing during the promo
and tour cycle for the score in that moment something died between us I was married and
Lauren and I were having an affair but she led me to believe that the baby was
mine and I couldn't forgive that she could no longer be my muse our love spell was broken
thank you later that year all three members of the group began working on solo projects Lauren
on her critically acclaimed the miseducation of Lauren Hill Wycliffe on his debut album the
carnival and Pros had a worldwide number one smash collaborating with Maya and Old Dirty
Bastard on Ghetto Superstar that is what you are from the 1998 film bulworth it also ended
up on his debut album of the same name after a seven year Hiatus the Fugees reunited in 2004
and headlined at the concert in Brooklyn featured in the film Dave Chappelle's block party the group
kept the momentum going when they made their first televised appearance in almost a decade
at the 2005 BET Music Awards opening the show with a 12-minute set later in the year the trio
embarked on a European tour not surprisingly word on the street was that the Fugees also had a new
album in the works new songs in varying stages of completion leaked and in 2006 the Press was
still mentioning the groups in progress third album but the project was Ultimate described
the reason apparently had a lot to do with the deteriorating relationships between the members
one major issue or creative difference if you will ended up costing the group what could have been an
epic comeback with a global hit at the beginning of the process of putting together their new
project the trio recorded a song titled lips don't lie Lauren though didn't like the song and after
some disagreements over it she walked out of the studio and the Fugees were done again the song was
ultimately given to Colombian singer Shakira with featured vocals by Wyclef the title was changed
released as Hips Don't Lie shot to number one in countless countries around the world and ended
the year in the top five on Billboard's year-end Hot 100 singles of 2006. a couple of years later
both pros and Wycliffe were extremely candidate interviews when not only speaking about a proper
Fuji's reunion but also concerning their feelings about Lauren in 2007 Pros told allhiphop.com
before I work with Lauren Hill again you will have a better chance of seeing Osama Bin Laden and Bush
and Starbucks having a latte discussing foreign policies before there will be a Fuji's reunion
around the same time Wycliffe told blues and soul I feel the first issue that needs to be addressed
is that Lauren needs help like in my personal opinion those Fuji reunion shows shouldn't have
been done because we wasn't ready I really felt we should have first all gone into a room with
Lauren and a psychiatrist but you know I do believe Lauren can get help and once she does
work things out hopefully a proper and enduring Fuji's reunion will happen over the years Wycliffe
has established himself as a talented songwriter and producer he founded the Yale Haiti also known
as the Wyclef Jean Foundation a charitable organization providing aid for the people of
Haiti in 2001. by 2012 however they were forced to close their doors following investigations by the
New York attorney general over Financial issues in 2010 his bid to run for president in his country
of Burke was rejected due to not meeting the Constitutional residency requirement of having
lived there for five years before the election day Pros dove into the acting World appearing
in a number of films and has also done quite a bit of work on various documentaries he caught a case
when on May 10 2019 he and a fugitive Malaysian financer were charged with conspiring to violate
Federal campaign Finance law by funneling millions of dollars worth of foreign money into the Barack
Obama 2012 presidential campaign as for Lauren so much has transpired in her life and careers
since the release of her debut solo album that she deserves a video of her own stay tuned in
the fall of 2021 fans of the Fugees were finally able to celebrate another reunion announcement
from the group when they revealed their plans to go on a reunion tour to celebrate the 25th
anniversary of their album The Score sadly one month later they announced that everything would
be postponed early 2022 but by January the group released yet another statement saying they would
not be going on tour at all due to the covid-19 pandemic that may be so but what could also be
true is that due to the charges proz was facing he was barred from traveling internationally on
April 26 2023 Pros was found guilty of 10 criminal counts in the U.S District Court for the District
of Columbia he was found guilty of conspiracy to defraud the U.S witness tampering and acting as
an unregistered agent of a foreign government he faces up to 20 years in prison after the scrap
reunion tour the fujis gave their fans the next best thing at Roots Picnic 2023 reuniting for a
mini set during Lauren's headlining performance hopefully the crowd recognize the significance of
the moment in that it may be a very long time before the trio was able to be seen on stage
again because Pros is likely going to prison when sentenced after she sang on the final day of the
Philadelphia Festival organized by hip-hop band The Roots celebrating the 25th anniversary of her
solo debut album things got taken up a notch when Wyclef and Pros joined her on stage together again
the trio performed five Fuji songs including Killing Me Softly ready or not and fujila the
mood couldn't have been any more positive with Lauren declaring these are my brothers
thank you