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The trio soon changed musical direction, and released its first hip-hop LP, Blunted on Reality, under the guidance of Kool and the Gang's producer Ronald Bell. Refugee Camp, while a name sometimes credited to the trio, also refers to a number of artists affiliated with the members, and particularly Jean. The members then changed the group's name to Fugees, which was purposely taken from a word often used derogatorily to refer to Haitian-Americans ( refugee). In 1993, after some gigs and recorded demos, the trio signed to Ruffhouse, distributed through Columbia Records. The moniker Tranzlator Crew refers to the name of their band at the time, which included Johnny Wise on drums, Ti Bass (Jerry) on bass guitar, and Leon (DJ). Pras, Lauryn, and a mutual friend Marcy Harriell formed a musical trio called Tyme Pras' cousin, Wyclef Jean, joined the line-up and Marcy left soon afterward, in 1990. Lauryn Hill and Pras first met at Columbia High School, in Maplewood, New Jersey.
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Accolades the Fugees have won include two Grammy Awards and a Brit Award for International Group. In 2012, BET placed the group on its list of 'Hip Hop's Greatest Trios'. U2's Bono dubbed them "the hip hop Beatles". In 2007, MTV ranked it the ninth-greatest hip-hop group of all time. The Fugees sold over twenty-two million records worldwide, and is one of the biggest-selling hip hop groups of all time. Fugees reunited in 2004, and again in 2021 for reunion tours. In 1997, the group disbanded so that the members could pursue solo careers. Afterwards, the Fugees released the single " Rumble in the Jungle" (featuring Busta Rhymes, A Tribe Called Quest & John Forté), which peaked at number three in the UK. It received universal acclaim, and is considered to be one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time it included the hit singles " Killing Me Softly", " Ready or Not", and " Fu-Gee-La". They followed it up with their second and final studio album, The Score (1996), which was a commercial success, peaking at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart and being certified seven times platinum in the United States. The following year the group released its debut album, Blunted on Reality (1994) the album received mostly favorable reviews, and included the underground Salaam Remi-remixed hits " Nappy Heads" and " Vocab". In 1993, the trio signed to Ruffhouse, distributed through Columbia Records. The group is often cited as being one of the most significant alternative hip hop groups of the 1990s. The group rose to fame with its second album, The Score (1996), one of the best-selling albums of all time. Deriving its name from a shortening of the word "refugees", the group consists of Wyclef Jean, Pras Michel, and Lauryn Hill. Fugees ( / ˈ f uː dʒ iː z/ sometimes The Fugees) is an American hip hop group formed in the early 1990s.
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