Fugees Re-unite!!

[DeactiveCarib]

Fugees Surprise at BET
Hip-hop trio perform, talk reunion album

The Fugees opened the BET Awards Tuesday night, surprising a star-studded audience at Los Angeles' Kodak Theater with three songs, "Ready or Not," "Fu-Gee-La" and "Killing Me Softly With His Song." The unannounced set was the fulfillment of the promise Pras Michel made Rolling Stone last month when he said of future performances, "We're just gonna show up."
The trio of Wyclef Jean, Lauryn Hill and Pras had audience members on their feet throughout the three songs, and the overwhelming support found Pras a bit humbled. "Just to see your peers standing up for us was incredible," he said afterwards. "We've been out for a while and haven't had anything for a while, so it felt great, man."

According to Pras, the performance will fuel the Fugees reunion album -- the long-awaited follow-up to 1996's The Score, which became the best-selling hip-hop album ever -- planned for release next year. "We working on music -- it's in the works," Pras said. "This is definitely gonna pump our inspiration and get the juices going."

As for the new album's sound, expect the Fugees to be true to their past. "You're not gonna hear no crunk or no down south," Pras said. "You're gonna hear Fugee vibe."

Among the awards show's other highlights were Lifetime Achievement Award winner Gladys Knight, who did soaring renditions of classic hits like "Midnight Train to Georgia" and "If I Were Your Woman," and duets by R&B legend Stevie Wonder and new sensation John Legend, as well as crunk diva Ciara and rapper Ludacris. In one of their final television appearances, best-group winners Destiny's Child provided some sizzle by giving Nelly, basketball legend Magic Johnson and actor Terrence Howard lap dances as going-away presents.

The 2005 B.E.T. Awards winners:

Best Female Hip-Hop Artist: Remy Ma
Best Male Hip-Hop Artist: Kanye West
Best Collaboration: Ciara, featuring Missy Elliott, "1, 2 Step"
Best Female R&B Artist: Alicia Keys
Best Male R&B Artist: Usher
Best Group: Destiny's Child
Best New Artist: John Legend
Best Gospel Artist: Donnie Mcclurkin
Video of the Year: Kanye West's "Jesus Walks"
Best Actress: Regina King
Best Actor: Jamie Foxx
Female Athlete of the Year: Serena Williams
Male Athlete of the Year: Shaquille O'Neal
Bet.Com Viewers' Choice Award: Omarion's O



STEVE BALTIN
(Posted Jun 29, 2005)

[sonofabeach]

That's great. I was hoping that this would happen.
I liked the reggae influences in their music. Definitely not the bang bang shoot em up type.

[DeactiveCarib]

Strummin' her pain

By 24 hours news services

Lauryn Hill has thrown the Fugees reunion into disarray, claiming she hated her time in the group and was abused and controlled by the other members.

The group reunited briefly for a stunning 12-minute set at last month's BET Awards - but Hill's comments in Trace Magazine suggest she needs to repair her relationship with Pras and Wyclef Jean before they can regroup properly.

She says, "The Fugees was a conspiracy to control, to manipulate and to encourage dependence." She adds she was "taken advantage of" and "took a lot of (emotional) abuse."

Hill also claims she was banned from dating other men after a rumored relationship with Jean.

She adds to Trace magazine, "I had become used to improper dynamics, where people would transfer their hatred on someone else, thereby making a beautiful person ugly."

Pras recently said of the comeback, "We've been in the studio. We're trying to figure out how we gonna do it," reports sfgate.com.