"The combination: Wyclef was very eclectic, Lauryn knew every soul song under the sun—she’s like a jukebox—and then Pras. If you look at that album, it says the executive producer is Pras, co-executive producers are Wyclef and Lauryn. It’s because Pras has the pop ear. From my perspective, a lot of their process during The Score was, ‘What would Salaam tell us to do?’ It’s because we had gotten to that point where I mentored them into now taking their talent and molding it into a record that people liked..."

Roberta Flack

Fugees covered "Killing Me Softly With His Song," the most famous version of which—a No. 1 in 1973—was Flack’s.

"Honestly, I had not [heard of the Fugees prior to 'Killing Me Softly']. The Score came on us like a mighty wind, and I was totally blown away by the power of the group—their musicality, their political message, and their creativity. They wanted to change the lyrics [to 'Killing Me Softly'] to make the song about anti-drugs and anti-poverty. They were all about politics. Given their name and all, the (Re)Fugees, it made sense. It was more Norman [Gimbel] and Charlie [Fox] [the songwriters behind 'Killing Me Softly With His Song'] that wanted their song to not be changed. I feel that the meaning of the song changes depending upon the singer, depending upon the listener. They gave the song a new meaning and exposed it to a new generation. They invented a new version of the song, using some musical ideas from my version. I was surprised they picked that song to be included with the others on that album, as it didn’t have the political emphasis, but then again it depends on the frame of reference from which you listen, right?"

Rah Digga

Part of the Outsidaz and the only other female voice on The Score, rapping alongside Lauryn on "Cowboys"

"Back then with all Jersey artists, most of us rolled in crews, and we were either battling each other or doing songs together. I don’t think anybody really looked at the Fugees as a ‘battle crew’ and at that time Young Zee [from the Outsidaz] was on a promo tour with them. That alliance brought us all together. The crazy thing is we actually all paired off [to write the song] in the same way we do on the record [John Forte was added on later]. I got in this little huddle with Lauryn, and I just remember our goal was to be better than the guys.

"After we did the song, we didn’t think too much else about it. They told us they were shooting a video for it. When we did the video, I was four months pregnant and nobody knew. It still didn’t register that ['Cowboys'] was making the album, until one day I was in the car with Lauryn, and she’s playing the soon-to-be-released album and we’re on it! It was like, ‘Holy crap! Get out of here!’ To be honest, we didn’t know that record was gonna blow to that magnitude. We really thought we were doing one of a hundred songs that we’ve done with any random rappers. Once it started selling and selling and selling though, it was like, ‘Oh wow, this is big.’

"The meeting I ultimately had with Sylvia Rhone [CEO of Elektra at the time]—Q-Tip walked me right into Elektra—that led to my first record deal, and I was eight months pregnant by then. Sylvia walked in an hour late and stayed for about five minutes. She said, ‘Oh okay! You kind of look like Lauryn too. I was just telling Q-Tip we need some fresh blood up in here.’ We drew up the papers and that was it. It was divine timing because I really didn’t know what I was going to do for money with this baby in belly. Then I had this deal. I have to say, it was largely in part to my participation on The Score."

Joe Nicolo

Co-owner and president of Ruffhouse Records, 1986-2000