Hip Hop News: The Fugees Reunite For What May Be Their Last Show (2024)

In the semifinal, a matchup between the Wu-Tang Clan and G.O.O.D. Music crew saw the winners of the East Coast and Midwest regions do battle. The Clan surged ahead past the crew they’ve worked with on albums like My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy, Cruel Summer, and The Man With The Iron Fists soundtrack. Before Kanye’s G.O.O.D. crew, Wu defeated Ruff Ryders, the Juice Crew, and Dreamville in previous rounds.

The Semifinal Round 4 Battle Between The West Coast & Dirty South Regional Winners

The other semifinal matchup was a closer race. The winners of the West Coast and Dirty South—Death Row Family and YMCMB squared off. In one of the tournament’s tighter competitions, the crew, including Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Tupac, and others, prevailed against the squad involving Lil Wayne, Drake, Nicki Minaj, Juvenile, Mannie Fresh, Birdman, and others. Both influential collectives represent extensive and dynamic membership, with multiple movements and eras to each. Less than 1,000 votes decided this matchup, making for the most exciting competition in the tournament thus far. Before YMCMB, Tha Row crew defeated TDE, N.W.A. & The Possé and the Hieroglyphics crew.

The Championship Round Preview

That spirit of tight competition will undoubtedly carry into the championship round. Wu-Tang Clan and the Death Row Family are contemporaries. Both crews formed in the early 1990s, and players on both squads remain all-stars over 30 years later. There were reports in several books on Death Row—including Ronin Ro’s Have Gun Will Travel that Suge Knight unsuccessfully attempted to bring the burgeoning Wu to Death Row in the mid-1990s. By 1996, Method Man joined Tupac and Tha Dogg Pound on “Got My Mind Made Up” from the diamond-certified All Eyez On Me. However, that song—also featuring Redman—omitted a recorded verse from Inspectah Deck. While the Death Row squad was the commercial juggernaut out of the gate in the early 1990s, Wu-Tang eventually found sales and mainstream recognition to match their critical acclaim and certified Hip-Hop approval. Then, in the mid-2000s, Raekwon signed with Dr. Dre (at Aftermath) where he began working on what eventually became his lauded Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…Vol. II album. Each of these squads has endured losses, including the passing of core figures like ‘Pac and O.D.B. The love between the DR family and the W is real, and lasting—long after any awkwardness in the past.

Round 5 will decide the winner of this epic celebration of Hip-Hop. Your vote could be the one that determines the champ. That’s why this round features 72 hours of voting—before the winner is announced at the 2023 BET Awards.

Go to BET.com to vote on which crew you believe should win this competition. You can also vote on Twitter and Instagram, using the hashtag #BETGreatestRapCrew and a hashtag with your favorite crew.

Lauryn Hill surprised fans tonight (June 3) with a special Fugees reunion concert during the 2023 Roots Picnic. Taking place at West Philadelphia’s The Mann Center, Saturday headliner Ms. Lauryn Hill brought out her former band-mates Wyclef Jean and Pras.

Backed by The Roots, the Grammy Award-winning trio performed classics, including “Zealots,” “Ready Or Not,” and “Ki__ing Me Softly With His Song,” The moments happened during Hill’s set, which began with solo standout “Everything Is Everything.” The lyrics, “Everything is everything, what is meant to be, will be,” resonated with the rest of the set—which ended with a spirited performance of “Fu-Gee-La.”

Pras Reveals How A Big Bet The Fugees Placed On Themselves Led To The Ultimate Score (Video)

In the live-stream on Instagram, The Roots Questlove posted a caption “The last Fugees show.” “We kinda all came out at the same time; we’re like classmates. This is like a class reunion,” L-Boogie said of jamming with The Roots.” She also thanked members of The Roots crew for their contributions to The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill. This personnel includes keyboardist James Poyser.

Ambrosia For Heads attended the event and captured the performance from the crowd:

The Roots Picnic show took place ahead of Pras facing significant jail time. In April, the MC/producer was found guilty of 10 counts, including conspiracy as well as acting as an unregistered agent of a foreign government. Ahead of the verdict, Pras was accused of funneling money from a Malaysian financer Low Taek Jho—now a fugitive. That money allegedly traveled through straw donors to Barack Obama’s 2012 reelection campaign. According to the Associated Press, money was also used in an alleged attempt to squelch a Justice Department investigation during the following administration in the late 2010s. The 50-year-old artist now faces approximately 20 years behind bars, per NPR. Pras, born Prakazrel Michel, was represented by former Death Row Records counsel David Kenner.

After the show, on IG Live, Questlove addressed the sentence being the cause of what may The Fugees last show. The Grammy-winner added, “though I hope it isn’t.” He also called the moment “bittersweet” and “a full-circle moment” in his career.

Fugees Producer Salaam Remi Explains How They Went From Underground MCs To Global Superstars

In late 1993, when The Roots signed with MCA/Geffen Records, they held a party to honor the event at Philadelphia’s Trocadero Theater. Questlove has spoken about it on Questlove Supreme. The drummer/producer, who formerly interned at Ruffhouse Records—the label backing The Fugees—agreed to let the New Jersey-based collective open for The Roots crew. He spoke about it during a QLS episode with Ruffhouse co-founder Chris Schwartz. From the stage, Lauryn Hill brought up Ruffhouse and shouted out the label founders Chris Schwartz and Joe  “The Butcher” Nicolo. She credited the Philly-based label on signing the group, “without The Score.” Schwartz attended the event.