... 12-inch, Vinyl record

The record that really broke The Fugees out of the box – not their debut, but the album where everything really came together – especially the fantastic mix of vocals and MC work that Lauryn Hill brought to the group! The album was a key bridge between hip hop and soul back in the day – of the sort that made R&B bend to the needs of hip hop – and not the more commercial other way around. And, the record's even got Wyclef and Pras sounding pretty great too – on titles that include the classic remake of "Killing Me Softly" – plus "How Many MC's", "Ready or Not", "The Score", "Family Business", "Zealots", "Fu-Gee-La", and "No Woman No Cry". LP, Vinyl record album

The record that really broke The Fugees out of the box – not their debut, but the album where everything really came together – especially the fantastic mix of vocals and MC work that Lauryn Hill brought to the group! The album was a key bridge between hip hop and soul back in the day – of the sort that made R&B bend to the needs of hip hop – and not the more commercial other way around. And, the record's even got Wyclef and Pras sounding pretty great too – on titles that include the classic remake of "Killing Me Softly" – plus "How Many MC's", "Ready or Not", "The Score", "Family Business", "Zealots", "Fu-Gee-La", and "No Woman No Cry". CD

If you want to appreciate BDP's "South Bronx", you've gotta hear this one. If ya don't know... MC Shan recorded "The Bridge", saying hip hop started in Queensbridge, Queens. BDP replied with "South Bronx", setting the record straight (as we see it). "South Bronx" uses the same beat and replies to "The Bridge" almost line for line. MC Shan then replied with "Kill That Noise", followed by the final word from BDP with "The Bridge Is Over". Shan's first single was "Feed The World" on MCA (which explains KRS's line "You got dropped off MCA, cuz the rhymes you wrote was wack" on "South Bronx"). We won't even begin with the other entries in the Queens/Bronx Battle like MC Poet's "Beat You Down", which was directed at KRS. (And somehow Poet returned to the game as a member of Screwball, with an LP on Tommy Boy.) . . . And you thought the LL/Canibus/Wyclef battle went on too long! All that trivia aside, the record is up there as one of our favorites from the class of '85. The b-side is Roxanne Shante's first single, "Roxanne's Revenge" – by far the best of the Roxanne replies. 12-inch, Vinyl record