Wyclef Jean and Ms. Lauryn Hill Reunite for Surprise Set at Essence Festival
Photo by B+
On Friday, The Fugees reunited (sans Pras) as Ms. Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean gave a surprise performance at New Orleans’ Caesars Superdome during Essence Festival. During their set, the former bandmates performed four songs, marking the first in the six months since they canceled their 25th-anniversary tour.
Initially, the unannounced set was standalone from Wyclef and much to fans’ elation following introductory arpeggios of “Killing Me Softly,” Hill joined him to perform the iconic song solo. The two then united on “How Many Mics,” “Fu-Gee-La,” and “Ready or Not” from their beloved LP The Score.
Wyclef brought out Lauryn Hill & they did Killing Me Softly & How Many Mics 🙌🏼😫 #essencefestival pic.twitter.com/S0psAm7MVJ
— Jęnnifēr Lë 🫶🏼💡 (@jenfrombk) July 2, 2022
The Score was released in 1996, and following the announcement of their 25th-Anniversary tour celebrating the album, the Fugees performed eight songs at a Global Citizen at Pier 17 in New York. However, they quickly postponed their fall reunion until early 2022 during the initial spread of the Omicron variant, and, two months later, they canceled the delayed venture entirely
“We anticipate and understand disappointment but our anniversary tour will not be able to happen,” the Fugees shared in a statement. “The continued Covid pandemic has made touring conditions difficult, and we want to make sure we keep our fans and ourselves healthy and safe.”
They continued to write, “An idea sparked to honor and celebrate this 25th anniversary of The Score but we see now it may not currently be our time for revisiting this past work.”
The four-track appearance at Essence Festival could be a sign that their full-fledged reunion tour could still happen sooner rather than later.
In an interview with HipHopDX, Wyclef said, “All I could do is tell you that with the Fugees, I’m very excited and I look forward to it getting rescheduled. “I look forward. As a fan of the Fugees, I’m very excited. All I could do is just tell all the fans, do not lose hope, because y’all know we the Hip Hop Grateful Dead. We going to get this thing cracking [laughs].”
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