The Score was produced by a variety of producers including each member of the Fugees, as well as
Diamond D,
Salaam Remi, and
Jerry Duplessis. Although most tracks are built on
sampled melodies, live instrumentation and
DJing are incorporated into multiple tracks. Wyclef Jean plays the guitar on "Family Business", while
DJ Skribble scratches on "Manifest/Outro". Nevertheless, samples are the predominant production tool on
The Score. "Fu-Gee-La" incorporates a sample of
Teena Marie's "
Ooo La La La", and is
interpolated in the song's chorus. "
Ready or Not" also contains a sample that is interpolated; "Ready or Not (Here I Come)" by
the Delfonics. "Manifest/Outro" contains a sample from "Rock Dis Funky Joint" by
Poor Righteous Teachers, while the title track, "The Score" contains vocal samples from every track on the entire album. Three official singles were released in promotion of
The Score, the first of which was "
Fu-Gee-La", which was released on January 9, 1996, reached the
Top 40, peaking at No. 29 on the
Billboard Hot 100. Additionally, the song reached No. 13 on the
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and No. 2 on the
Hot Rap Songs chart. "Fu-Gee-La" was produced by
Salaam Remi and includes elements of "
Ooo La La La" as performed by
Teena Marie. The second single, "
Killing Me Softly", with lead vocals by Lauryn Hill, was released on May 31, 1996. "Killing Me Softly" proved to be the most successful single from the album. The song went No. 1 in 20 countries, including the United Kingdom, where it peaked atop the
UK Singles Chart, and became one of the
region's best-selling singles ever. In the US, the song was not available for purchase, which made it ineligible to chart on the
Billboard Hot 100 chart due to their previous rules; however, it still managed to peak at No. 1 on the US
Mainstream Top 40 and
Rhythmic airplay charts. Initially, the song was to be titled "Killing Them Softly", and though alluding to
Charles Fox and
Norman Gimbel's "
Killing Me Softly with His Song", it was originally not intended to be a cover; however, the original writers refused permission for the rewrite of their song, but did allow the Fugees to do a
cover version. In 1997, "Killing Me Softly" won the Fugees a
Grammy Award for
Best R&B Performance by Duo or group. The third single released from the album was "
Ready or Not", which was released on September 2, 1996. In the US the song peaked at No. 34 on the Rhythmic Top 40 chart. The track interpolates "Ready or Not, Here I Come (Can't Hide from Love)" as performed by
the Delfonics, and also samples
Enya's "Boadicea". Initially, this sample was uncredited, and Enya was prepared to sue for copyright infringement, but decided not to when she discovered that the Fugees were not
gangsta rappers. The accompanying
music video was directed by film director
Marcus Nispel, and was reported to have cost approximately 1.3 million dollars at the time, making it one of the
most expensive music videos ever. In a later interview, Fugees member Pras described the recording of "Ready or Not", stating, "The three of us was each going through some pain. Lauryn was crying when she did her vocals. It was unbelievable. To see her singing with tears coming out of her eyes, it made me want to cry too." It features uncredited backing vocals from by Marley's children
Stephen and
Sharon Marley, as well as reggae singer
Pam Hall. An official remix of the track, featuring Stephen Marley, was included on the group's third release,
Bootleg Versions. It was more successful worldwide, peaking atop the
New Zealand Singles Chart for two weeks, and No. 2 in the UK. == Critical reception ==