like Newt Gingrinch sucks dickвЂќ (as does the ill-advised Chinese restaurant sketch that ends the track). Meanwhile, the Fugees rail against the government in вЂњThe Beast,вЂќ claiming Bill Clinton is no Batman and speaking out against the RepublicansвЂ™ slashing of welfare with HillвЂ™s incendiary line вЂњ The 666 cut W.I.C. On вЂњZealots,вЂќ the group namechecks Jesus Christ and Mephistopheles along with Kennedy and the sword of Damocles in a track underpinned by the вЂњshe-bop she-bopвЂќ sample from the FlamingosвЂ™ вЂњI Only Have Eyes for You.вЂќ Hill again challenges rapвЂ™s conventions with вЂњ And after all my logic and my theory/ I add a вЂmuthafuckerвЂ™ so you ignorant n*ggas hear me,вЂќ and with Clef rapping the chorus of вЂњ Another MC lose his life tonightвЂќ the band foreshadows the upcoming Tupac/Biggie bloodshed. Indeed, Hill brings the most cerebral lyricism to the album, taking on subjects from Muzak to Stevie Wonder, black culture researcher Khalil Muhammad to Leviticus and ColecoVision in rapid succession. On вЂњHow Many Mics,вЂќ Lauryn Hill spits about вЂњ getting mad frustratedвЂќ when she rhymes because she thinks of вЂњ all the kids who do this/ For all the wrong reasons.вЂќ ItвЂ™s a thesis statement rapped by an educated, middle-class bred woman about a young urban manвЂ™s game. This translated to a relaxed, self-assured and innovative record that was rightly included among Rolling StoneвЂ™s Top 500 albums of all time.ДЄnchored by singles that are interpolated or outright cover songs (вЂњFu-Gee-La,вЂќ вЂњKilling Me Softly,вЂќ вЂњReady or NotвЂќ and вЂњNo Woman, No Cry), cultural consciousness pervades each track of this sample-heavy album. The trio retreated to WyclefвЂ™s uncleвЂ™s home, which they dubbed the Booga Basement, and recorded The Score at a leisurely pace over the course of several months. Despite this failure to break into the mainstream, Ruffhouse Records threw the Fugees a sizable advance to take another stab. The groupвЂ™s 1994 debut, Blunted on Reality, established their sample-heavy and politically charged aesthetic. The Fugees were formed from a high school connection between Lauryn Hill and Pras Michel, along with his cousin Wyclef Jean. While the Roots, OutKast, A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul (featuring the emergence of Mos Def) would all put out records in вЂ96, it was The Score that kept alternative hip hop vital enough in the mainstream to allow its reemergence as a driving force in the 2000s. Meanwhile, the FugeesвЂ™ rebounded from their fizzle of a debut with a superlative sophomore album. Presidential candidates railed against it, with pressure building to the point that Time Warner dropped Death Row RecordsвЂ™ parent Interscope.

But back in 1996, gangsta rap threatened to overtake the entire genre.

And the President of the United States lists the FugeesвЂ™ вЂњReady or NotвЂќ as his favorite song. A cartoon band enjoyed their stint as alternative hip hopвЂ™s biggest group. Jay-Z has been tamed by BeyoncГ© and good living. High-minded rappers like Kanye West have risen to the top.

In the new millennium, gangsta rap has shriveled to a shell of its former self.

Fugees the score instrumental