Lauryn Hill Initiated The Fugees Reunion, According To Pras

The Fugees reunion is off to a great start, with a well-received comeback show at New York’s Pier 17 as part of the Global Citizen Live concert series and a tour planned to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the trio’s classic 1996 album The Score. Now, thanks to the sometimes overlooked group member Pras, fans know who to thank for the return of Fugees: Ms. Lauryn Hill, who apparently was the one who reached out to her former bandmates during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

In an interview about the reunion with Billboard‘s Nadine Graham, Pras said, “It was kinda initiated by Ms. Hill, but the idea was floating around since last year. But you know last year with the pandemic, nobody really knew which way the world was going. It happened organically. She reached out to Wyclef and they reached out to me. I said, ‘Listen, if it feels right, let’s see what happens.’ I think the culture really needed it, wanted it, so we’re just giving them what they want.”

However, with regard to whether the crew would be turning their reunion tour into a comeback album, he was a little more cagey. “I’ma say it like this to you,” he replied. “Last night, it really felt good.”

You can watch Fugees’ reunion performance of “Ready Or Not” above.

Fugees Are Going On A Reunion Tour To Celebrate 25 Years Of ‘The Score’

Fugees were only active for a few years, but their star burned brightly during that brief window thanks to their massively influential 1996 album The Score. That release celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, so Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, and Pras Michel are marking the occasion by reuniting for a brief set of reunion tour dates.

The first of them is this week, on September 22 at a yet-to-be-announced venue. After that, they’ll pick things back up in November and December for a handful of shows in the US, as well as dates in Nigeria and Ghana.

Hill says, “The Fugees have a complex but impactful history. I wasn’t even aware the 25th anniversary had arrived until someone brought it to my attention. I decided to honor this significant project, its anniversary, and the fans who appreciated the music by creating a peaceful platform where we could unite, perform the music we loved, and set an example of reconciliation for the world.”

Jean also says, “As I celebrate 25 years with the Fugees, my first memory was that we vowed, from the gate, we would not just do music we would be a movement. We would be a voice for the un-heard, and in these challenging times, I am grateful once again, that God has brought us together.”

Check out the full list of dates below.

09/22 — New York, NY @ TBA
11/02 — Chicago, IL @ United Center
11/07 — Oakland, CA @ Oakland Arena
11/12 — Los Angeles, CA @ The Forum
11/18 — Atlanta, GA @ State Farm Arena
11/21 — Miami, FL @ FTX Arena
11/26 — Newark, NJ @ Prudential Center
11/28 — Washington, DC @ Capital One Arena
12/04 — Paris, France @ La Defense Arena
12/06 — London, UK @ The O2 Arena
Date TBA — Nigeria @ TBA
12/18 — Ghana @ TBA

Nas’ ‘King’s Disease 2’ Tracklist Includes Features From Eminem And Lauryn Hill

Last year, Hit-Boy helped Nas overcome his recent album slump, executive producing the Queens legend’s latest full-length, King’s Disease. The results spoke for themselves; not only was the album credited with breaking rap fans’ prevailing “Nas has a tin ear for beats” narrative, but it was also one of the most critically acclaimed rap projects of the year.

It looks like the two principals were pretty impressed with each other, as they recently announced a follow-up titled King’s Disease II to be released on the same projected date as Kanye West’s Donda. Either that, or it’ll be a Lost Tapes-type release collecting some of the cutting room clippings from the original sessions and stitching them together — which has worked for Nas before on Lost Tapes. Today, they shared the tracklist, revealing collaborations with A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Blxst, Eminem, EPMD, Lauryn Hill, and YG.

King’s Disease II will thus mark the second collaboration between Nas and Em and Nas and Lauryn. While Eminem produced Nas’s 2002 God’s Son song “The Cross,” Nas and Ms. Hill collaborated on Nas’ biggest hit to date, 1996’s “If I Ruled The World” from It Was Written. You can see the full tracklist courtesy of Nas’ Instagram below.