During her headlining appearance at The Roots Picnic this weekend, Lauryn Hill surprised fans by brining out The Fugees for a six-song set.
Although Hill's set honored 25 years of her pivotal album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel reuniting with her on stage was a key moment.
"We’re out here doing 25 years of Miseducation,” she said, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. “But there’s another 25 years we didn’t do a couple of years ago because of COVID.”
Hill was referencing the 25th anniversary of The Fugees' 1996 landmark album, The Score. They were set to go on tour but it was sidelined in 2021 due to the pandemic, though they did do one show. Although Pras is currently facing up to 20 years in prison after being found guilty in federal court in April of 10 criminal counts related to a failed conspiracy to help a Malaysian businessman and the Chinese government influence U.S. officials, he still appeared on stage, making the reunion even more momentous.
Backed by Hill's 18 person band, The Fugees ran through six songs with a snippet of “The Score,” followed by “How Many Mics,” “Zealots” and “Ready or Not,” “Killing Me Softly,” and "Fu-Gee-La." Per the Inquirer, Hill also shouted out Ruffhouse founders Chris Schwartz and Joe Nicolo as well as his brother Phil Nicolo, one of her Philly associates, while furthering her Philly connection by showing love to The Roots. “We were like classmates, we started at the same time. This is a class reunion," she said.
Watch footage of the show below.