As if you should have to ask at this point: No, the first Fugees reunion show did not start on time. The hip-hop trio announced their reunion earlier this week, with the first show set to be a pop-up in New York City, filmed for the upcoming Global Citizen Live event. That show happened on September 22 at Manhattan’s Pier 17, with Ms. Lauryn Hill, Wyclef Jean, and Pras Michel taking the stage close to 10:30 p.m., hours past the show’s advertised 7 p.m. start. Doors opened around 30 minutes late, per a Rolling Stone review, after sound check for the group’s massive backing band ran over. The trio performed for around 45 minutes, running through songs from their second album The Score, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, including hits like “Ready or Not” and “Killing Me Softly.” During a freestyle, proud Haitian Jean — wearing the country’s flag on a bandanna — also took aim at the current Haitian migrant crisis. “Give the Haitians a pass like you did with the people coming from Afghanistan,” he addressed President Joe Biden directly afterward. Hill, meanwhile, took her solo time to speak on the group’s complicated history, at their first performance together in over 15 years. “I had to take a hiatus,” she explained at one point. Later, Hill reportedly reminded the crowd, “Respect the miracle of this union. Respect that we can get on this stage and still do this.”
