Fugees (; sometimes The Fugees) was a American hip hop group formed in the early 1990s. Deriving its name from a shortening of the word "refugees", the group consisted of Haitian Wyclef Jean, Haitian-American Pras Michel, and American Lauryn Hill. The group rose to fame with its second album, The Score (1996), one of the best-selling albums of all time. The group is often cited as being one of the most significant alternative hip hop groups of the 1990s. In 1993, the trio signed to Ruffhouse, distributed through Columbia Records. 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". 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. 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". 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. In 1997, the group disbanded so that the members could pursue solo careers. Fugees reunited in 2004, and again in 2021 for reunion tours. The Fugees has sold over twenty-two million records worldwide, and is one of the biggest-selling hip hop groups of all time. In 2007, MTV ranked it the ninth-greatest hip-hop group of all time. U2's Bono dubbed them as "the hip hop Beatles". In 2012, BET placed the group on its list of 'Hip Hop's Greatest Trios' The Fugees has won many accolades, including two Grammy Awards and a Brit Award for International Group.