The Fugees – which also include Lauryn Hill and Pras Michel – announced in September 2021 that they would hit the road to celebrate 25 years of their classic album The Score, but the dates were postponed and ultimately canceled in March of this year due to varying COVID-19 restrictions in the cities they were due to perform in.
And now, Wyclef Jean has urged fans not to “lose hope” as the trio are planning to play the gigs at some point. “All I could do is tell you that with the Fugees, I’m very excited and I look forward to it getting rescheduled, Jean said while speaking to HipHopDX about the tour. “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 are the Hip-Hop Grateful Dead. We going to get this thing cracking.”
Elsewhere in the interview, the “Ghetto Superstar” hitmaker teased his upcoming solo album 2097, the follow-up to 2019’s Wyclef Goes Back to School Volume 1. “The new album is going to be called 2097 and in the next couple of weeks, we’ll be putting out the first single from 2097,” he explained.
“I need y’all to go back with me. Go to “AfriCali.” I need y’all to Google, go back to 1990. This is four years before the Fugees, so the first song I ever put out was the house music records. It was a house song because back then, we used to dance a lot and we loved house music because of how it made
people feel in the clubs.
“All I can do is tell you I was very inspired and y’all know my music is all about the journey. So, get ready, because we got 2097. Prince had 1999, right? We have 2097.”
When the Fugees announced the cancellation of the tour earlier this year, the trio – who split in 1997 to pursue solo careers – acknowledged they “hoped” to reschedule eventually but weren’t committing to anything definite. “We anticipate and understand disappointment but our anniversary tour will not be able to happen,” the group said 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. 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, We’re grateful for the special night we did get to share with some of you in New York, with that rare live moment.
“If opportunity, public safety, and scheduling allow, we hope to be able to revisit this again sometime soon. Thank you for all your love and support throughout the years.”
