from what I understand, the fugees 1st album was different than the score. I heard lauryn hill didn't sing at all on the "blunted on reality" album. so yea, mel or whoever was right when they said that the fugees were structured to be a crossover group, by that point in time at least. its funny that people are in here posting up album cuts, but are ignoring the fact that "killing me softly" is what sold the album. they also did a video video for "no woman no cry". and hell yea, by the time wyclef's solo dropped & the praswell singles, man they were all the way pop. the john forte chit, etc. what yall think ll cool j used to clown them about on those diss tracks? I was under the impression that @kingofnyc was referring to the overall, as opposed to just the daytime play. cuz on power 99, i'd say that I heard jay more than nas after 6pm back in those days. nas had the bigger single with "if i ruled the world" tho, but overall, i heard more jay. youre all over the place. what the hell would faizon love know about what was getting played in east coast streets & east coast radio in '96?? he prolly didn't even follow his own west coast scene like that outside of the mainstream chit. aint nothing wrong with nas doing a song with lauryn. the problem is yall acting like Nas wasn't hit-chasing. mobb deep used to have girls singing on their records too. you should've said BCC instead.
like real talk - i don't even have to go back & listen to that old ‘96 Flex Show to tell u what he was bumping and im like a millionth percent sure dem 2 R&B bangers that got top spins on HOT9 back in ‘96 were and and no disrespect to Nas but 1996 Jay was getting 2 maybe close to 3 times the spin then Nas and i ain't even bullshyting yall i cant even believe we even talking bout this
Yea I forgot shyt like Temperature’s Rising n shyt. Boot Camp is a def good example. Yea. The nikka wanted a hit record without compromising too much. And he achieved it. nikka sampled classic hip hop tracks. Put his homegirl on the hook and was spittin conscious shyt. And the shyt was a HIT. Mission accomplished. Fugees wasn’t no damn pop group. Killing Me Softly was a dope lil RnB remake which in no way was different from the shyt Mary was doing in the early 90s with all her remakes n shyt. Like I said. nikkas pick and choose when it comes to Nas. And leave out the fact that shorty was his homegirl and labelmate at the time. Which is why till this day he STILL puts on for and helps Lauryn till this day regardless of how many people shyt on her and her antics.
basically, nas was going more mainstream with it. while jay was the new hot nikka on the streets at the time, and was killing features. then when nas' cycle ended, jay was going even harder.
There’s a reason Biggie called up NAS and basically let him know he finally got it. U nutcase ass nikkas is buggin tryna say that Jay was getting more play in 96. Then u nikkas keep moving goal posts. First it was in the streets. Then it was MTV and Radio. Now it’s East Coast and New York radio. U know what? fukk it. Lets say Jay got more play in NY and East Coast. Nas got more play in the fukkin country and the world. Bottom line. Nas OVERALL. Got more burn than Jay in 96 and there’s NO debating that.
lol. youre the nutcase. and stop grouping everybody together. i didn't say all of this. i just said reasonable doubt was getting more luv in the streets. then when the radio was brought up, i said that over here, nas had the biggest mainstream record but i heard jay more in primetime. plus, jay was getting a lot of daytime spins too, thanks to foxy. i didn't even speak on NY. that's yall thing. im talking about power 99 and eventually when 103.9 started up in early '97. and now youre moving goal-posts, looking for a W. nas was SUPPOSED to get more play thru the rest of the country. he was getting a huge mainstream push, while jay was a new artist with an independent street album. the argument was initially about who got the most play on the home turf. then it turned into radio play on the turf. heres the thing. youre comparing the fugees to mary. i thought the fugees were supposed to be a rap group tho?? "killing me softly" wasn't just some dope lil r&b remake. its the song that sold the album. the same album that went on to sell darn near 20 million copies worldwide. and they made sure they dropped that video before the album, despite the fact that theres absolutely no rapping in the entire song. if that's not crossover, then i don't know what is. and that has nothing to do with nas. im talking about the fugees. they were the epitome of crossover hip-hop at the time. them & Coolio. then the following year, they were definitely pop. i would say that lauryn kinda separated her brand from it but i wouldn't be shocked if she was on some poppy album cuts. again, i domt have any problem concerning Nas doing a song with them. i just don't like how people are playing dumb in here, acting like Nas & steve stoute didn't construct that entire IWW run with the hopes of going mainstream. and i certainly don't like how people are trying to act like the fugees were heltah skeltah or some chit all of a sudden.
As far as who got more airplay on Hot 97 back in 96. From Reasonable Doubt, Dead Presidents hit the mix shows after Flex premiered it on his. Maybe a month or so later, it got added on to the regular daytime Hot 97 rotation. Ain’t No N*gga as we know was a huge smash that spring of 96. Dominated the mix shows and daytime rotation. Definitely the number 1 song that spring. Can’t Knock The Hustle and Feelin It transitioned from mix show to daytime rotation. Can I Live, BK’s Finest, and Bring It On were heavy spins on mix shows. Now with It Was Written, If I Ruled The World was a hit. Real big record on Hot 97 to the point where I remember that summer, Hot 97 had their own commercial they use to play called If I Ruled The World where different artists would talk about what they would do if they ruled the world. Street Dreams, including the remix with R. Kelly, got tons of spins. As far as mix shows, I Gave You Power and Affirmative Action were the album cuts that got the most play. TBH, I remember the Jacking For Beats freestyle with Nas freestyling over the classic 80’s Hip Hop beats, getting as much if not way more love then some of the album cuts off IWW. So objectively speaking @kingofnyc is not far off with what he’s saying from the radio standpoint. And I love IWW but I’m speaking because I was there in real time too.
nikka Lauryn was a fukkin singer/rapper and literally ALWAYS has been. She was singing in Sister Act. She was singing on Star Search. So there was no shock that she was sing on the album. Yes. The song sold the album. I’m fukkin pretty sure they didn’t know how big that shyt would get. But it blew up. That doesn’t mean the group was some pop ass group like y’all making it. Mary did shyt in the same vein but just didn’t catch the SAME type of fire that Killing Me Softly got. Still. I NEVER claimed they was some damn Helter Skelter type group. But it damn sure wasn’t all the way on the other end of the spectrum like Big Mel is tryna suggest. Saying the they shyt is for cacs yet he’s a damn cracker himself. fukk outta here bro. I’m not saying YOU specifically anything. Honestly u made one statement and nikkas came and jumped in and OD’ed with it and took it away from what u originally said in the first place. If the argument stayed between us there wouldn’t be all of this confusion.
fukk all the bullshyt. Who getting more play now? Stfu Jay Z better than Nas. Jay older and everything and Nas is the old rapper while Jay is Jay.
So from ur perspective they both got a lot of airplay. This nikka actin like RD got WAAY more airplay than IWW. The only shyts I remember from Jay get a lot of air play indefinitely was Aint No nikka and Cant Knock The Hustle. But either way Nas was def the bigger star in 96.
Now as far as the “streets, I don’t say this to brag or boast because it’s nothing to brag about. Summer of 96 I was waist deep in the streets from hustling and everything that came with that lifestyle (good, bad, and ugly). Also as far as nightlife, I was hitting the Tunnel, Palladium, Essos, Carbon, and even some of the local hood spots here in Newark. It Was Written was a bigger album that made Nas a superstar. Coming off of Illmatic, it was heavily anticipated. The only criticism it really got was from the underground purist scene but for the most part everyone was fukking with the album. But if we talking about who the streets (nikkas that were really out there getting to it) were fukking with more, it was Reasonable Doubt. The reason being what Jay was spitting was more relatable and realistic to us. Granted I’m only speaking for my area. I can’t speak for everyone else in the country. But we was fukking with RD more although across the board IWW was the bigger album sales wise.
i think it comes down to someone's definition of "pop". for some people, any type of pandering can be considered pop. cuz they were definitely aimed at the mainstream. a rap group doesn't make an r&b song into their primary single upon the release of their album by accident. they were chasing the crossover. for me, i just called them crossover in '96. by '97 that refugee all-stars conglomerate was definitely on some pop dooby-wop bullchit. but yea, this whole thing got way outta hand. but this chit is entertaining. im glad i clicked on this thread by accident. they both need to go away. its to the point where i usually forget how much i used to like them.
He was wrong and the fact that you had to use the " at least at that point in time at least" pretty much disqualifies your argument. Why? Nothing changed about the structure of the group. In regard to structure, The Fugees were no different than Digable Planets: two dudes and a female. Nothing crossover about them. Yeah, you have Lauryn singing hooks and them remaking classic R&B songs, which again isn't crossover. These weren't some polished, by the numbers, made-for-radio joints especially by 1996 standards. Again, what The Fugees were doing was no different from what Mary J. Blige was doing and she covering Chaka Kahn and Rose Royce. Her chorus on "Can't Knock The Hustle" is a cover. Mary J. Blige in the '90's was the go-to female for rappers who wanted a huge hit after the success of Meth's "All I Need" and the remix to Biggie's "One More Chance". When Jay had "Can't Knock The Hustle", Mary had a huge crossover record in "Not Gon Cry".
@spliz, you letting these longtime trolls and Nas haters get to you. Nobody in their right damn mind and old enough would co-sign the shyt dudes like @Wacky D or @Big Mel are posting in here.
