FUGEES: Ready or Not (1996)

"Ready or Not" is the second single from The Fugees' 1996 album The Score. The song contains a sample of "Boadicea" by Enya, and its chorus is based on "Ready or Not (Here I Come) " by The Delfonics. The song spent two weeks atop the UK Singles Chart in September 1996.

Singer Enya was prepared to sue the group for copyright infringement, because she had not permitted the group to sample the song "Boadicea", from her 1992 album The Celts. She eventually settled out of court.

The song was covered by European house music artist The Course in 1997. It reached #5 in the UK in April of that year.

U.S. President Barack Obama named "Ready or Not" as his favorite song in a top 10 list submitted to Blender in August 2008.

The Fugees were a critically acclaimed New York hip hop group that rose to fame in the mid-1990s, whose repertoire included elements of soul and Caribbean music, particularly reggae. The members of the group are rapper/singer/producer Wyclef Jean, rapper/singer Lauryn Hill, and rapper Pras Michel. Deriving their name from the term refugee, Jean and Michel are Haitian Americans, while Hill is African American. The group recorded two albums — one of which, The Score (1996), was a multi-platinum and Grammy-winning success — before disbanding in 1997. Hill and Jean each went on to successful solo recording careers; Michel focused on soundtrack recordings and acting, though he found commercial success with his song "Ghetto Supastar". Michel and Jean are also cousins.

FUGEES

"Ready or Not" (1996)
[CHORUS:]
Ready Or Not, Here I Come, You Can't Hide
Gonna Find You and Take it Slowly
Ready Or Not, Here I Come, You Can't Hide
Gonna Find You and Make you want me.

[CLEF:]
Now that I escape, sleepwalker awake
Those who could relate know the world ain't cake
Jail bars ain't golden gates
Those who fake, they break,
When they meet their 400 pound mate
If I could rule the world
Everyone would have a gun in the ghetto of course
When giddyupin' on their horse
I Kick a rhyme drinkin' moonshine
I pour a sip on the concrete, for the deceased
But no don't weep, Wyclef's in a state of sleep
Thinkin' 'bout the robbery that I did last week.
Money in the bag, banker looked like a drag
I want to play with pelicans from here to Baghdad
Gun blast, think fast, I think I'm hit
My girl pinched my hips to see if I still exist.
I think not, I'll send a letter to my friends,
A born again hooligan only to be king again.

[LAURYN:]
I play my enemies like a game of chess, where I rest,
No stress
If you don't smoke sess, lest.
I must confess, my destiny's manifest
In some Goretex and sweats I make treks like I'm homeless
Rap orgies with Porgy and Bess,
Capture your bounty like Elliot Ness, YES
Bless you if you represent the Fu
But I'll hex you with some witch's brew if you're Doo Doo
Voo Doo,
I can do what you do, easy, BELIEVE ME
Frontin' niggas give me hee-bee-gee-bees
So while you're imitating Al Capone
I'll be Nina Simone
And defacating on your microphone.

[Chorus:]
Ready Or Not, Here I Come, You Can't Hide
Gonna Find You and Take it Slowly

[LAURYN'S INTERLUDE]

You can't run away
From these styles I got, oh baby, hey baby
Cause I got a lot, oh yeah
And anywhere you go
My whole crew's gonna know
You can't hide from the block, oh no.

[PRAZ:]
Ready or not, refugees takin' over
The Buffalo soldier, dread-lock rhasta
On the twelfth hour, fly by in my bomber
Crews run for cover, now they're under pushin' up flowers
Superfly true lies, do or die,
Toss me high - only puff la,
With my crew from lock high
I refugee from Guantanamo Bay
Dance around the border like I'm Cassius Clay

[Chorus (Lauryn) REPEAT 3X:]

Ready Or Not, Here I Come, You Can't Hide
Gonna Find You and Take it Slowly
Ready Or Not, Here I Come, You Can't Hide
Gonna Find You and Make You Want Me