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Song Stories

“Fu-Gee-La”

Fugees | 1995

Although the other songs from The Score were produced by the Fugees and recorded in their home studio, this pre-release single was produced by Salaam Remi, who also came up with the song’s beat. At first Lauryn Hill wasn’t feeling it because she thought it sounded like Remi’s remix of the group’s "Vocab." Then, during a session for the soundtrack for the movie Clockers, Wyclef Jean had an epiphany. According to the producer, "He just jumped up at one point and shouted, 'We used to be Number 10, now we’re Permanent One!' That was the first line of the song."

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Song Stories

“I'm Yours”

Jason Mraz | 2008

Jason Mraz re-emerged after his disappointing second album with this lead single, a Jack Johnson-esque ditty about giving yourself fully to someone else. The success of the reggae-tinged song (it earned two Grammy nods and a spot on the Billboard singles chart for well over a year) was something the folk-pop singer never predicted when he wrote it in 15 minutes at home. "I played a happy-hippie chord progression that would probably work without 50 different Bob Marley songs," he told Rolling Stone. "I thought, 'It's too novelty. This is a nursery rhyme,'" concluding that "you can never guess what's gonna be a hit."

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