Ready or Not (Fugees song)

"Ready or Not"
Single by Fugees
from the album The Score
ReleasedSeptember 2, 1996 (1996-09-02)[1]
Recorded1995
Genre
Length3:47
LabelRuffhouse
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Fugees singles chronology
"Killing Me Softly"
(1996) 		"Ready or Not"
(1996) 		"No Woman, No Cry"
(1996)
Music video
"Ready or Not" on YouTube

"Ready or Not" is a song by American hip-hop group Fugees, from their second studio album, The Score (1996). The song contains a sample of "Boadicea" (1987) by Irish singer Enya, and its chorus is based on "Ready or Not Here I Come (Can't Hide from Love)" by the Delfonics.

"Ready or Not" was met with positive reviews from music critics upon its release. The song was not released as a commercial single in the United States, making it ineligible to appear on the Billboard Hot 100. In the United Kingdom, it became the group's second chart-topping song on the UK Singles Chart, following "Killing Me Softly". Additionally, it was one of the best-selling songs of 1996 in the United Kingdom;[2] and remains one of the top-selling hip-hop songs ever in the region.[3] In total, "Ready or Not" reached the top ten in fifteen countries. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame included "Ready or Not" on their list of 'Songs that Shaped Rock'.[4] In 2023, Rolling Stone ranked it as one of the 100 best East Coast hip hop songs of all time.[5]

The accompanying music video was directed by film director Marcus Nispel. Several music journalists have cited it as the first rap music video with a seven-figure budget;[6][7] with the video's production being reported to have cost approximately 1.3 million dollars at the time of its release, making it one of the most expensive music videos ever.[8]

  1. ^ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. August 31, 1996. p. 31. Retrieved June 30, 2021.
  2. ^ "Official Top 40 best-selling songs of 1996". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved February 2, 2022.
  3. ^ "The Official Top 100 biggest Hip-Hop Songs of all time". www.officialcharts.com. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  4. ^ "Rocklist.net...Steve Parker...Rock and Roll Hall of Fame." www.rocklistmusic.co.uk. Retrieved May 2, 2021.
  5. ^ "The 100 Best East Coast Hip-Hop Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. June 16, 2023. Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  6. ^ Jawnson, Kershaw St (January 14, 2023). "Bun B Says JAY-Z Had The First Million Dollar Video ... But Was He Right?". AllHipHop. Retrieved March 24, 2023.
  7. ^ Raekwon; Bozza, Anthony (November 30, 2021). From Staircase to Stage: The Story of Raekwon and the Wu-Tang Clan. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-9821-6872-8.
  8. ^ Nelson, Daryl (May 31, 2018). "The 15 of the Most Expensive Hip-Hop and R&B Videos of All Time". The Boombox. Retrieved March 7, 2022.