Ready or Not

The song was recorded and mixed at Booga Basement Studio in Bloomfield, New Jersey, with Wyclef Jean and Warren Riker handling engineering. Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean are credited as producers, with Jerry Duplessis and Pras Michel credited as co-producers. Released in 1996 as a single from The Score, it became a UK No. 1 and helped define the Fugees' blend of rap, R&B, and reggae for a mass audience. Contemporary critics singled out its lyrical strength and the mix of smooth singing with sharp rapping. The track stayed visible through later interpolation and sampling, including Mario Winans' "I Don't Wanna Know" and The Weeknd's "Creepin'," and its hook remains tied to the Delfonics original and Enya's "Boadicea" sample lineage. It also became one of the Fugees' most enduring signatures in retrospectives and pop-culture references.