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Add Texture to GoogleNovember 5, 2026 marks an unexpected turning point for the Fugees’ legacy. Thirty years after the cultural explosion of the album *The Score*, Ms. Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean aren’t just returning to the stage for a U.S. tour that kicked off the day before. They are venturing into the realm of contemporary art with “FUGEES HOPELINE,” a global, interactive, and participatory sound installation created in collaboration with the British platform CIRCA. By reviving the concept of the telephone line as a space for artistic expression, the duo bypasses streaming platforms to establish a direct and raw dialogue with their audience.
An artistic connection between poetry and the streets
The project did not emerge from a conceptual vacuum. Ms. Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean claim a direct lineage to “Dial-A-Poem,” the historic work created in 1968 by American poet and performer John Giorno. At the time, Giorno had transformed the telephone into a vehicle for radical poetry, accessible to all. In 2026, the Fugees are picking up this now-vintage technological torch to deliver a multisensory experience. Accessible at +1 (424) 7-FUGEES (or +1 424 738-4337), or via WhatsApp for international callers wishing to avoid long-distance charges, the line becomes a sonic sanctuary.
Callers are greeted by the voice of Selah Marley, a model and singer, whose tone of voice introduces them to her parents’ world. Once the connection is established, the listener gains access to personal messages recorded by Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean, followed by an exclusive 60-second excerpt. This excerpt is taken from a previously unreleased twenty-minute medley, an epic piece that marks the group’s first official recording under the Fugees label since the 2005 track “Take It Easy.” The excerpt features a spoken-word introduction by Wyclef Jean urging the listener to move, a cover by Ms. Lauryn Hill of Michael Jackson’s “I Wanna Be Where You Are,” and a previously unreleased rap verse by Wyclef Jean paying tribute to the strength of women.
Hope as Creative Fuel
Beyond passive listening, “FUGEES HOPELINE” invites the anonymous voice to be heard. Callers are invited to leave a voicemail message on the theme of hope. This collection of testimonials, open through December 31, 2026, transforms the project into a living archive of the contemporary collective psyche. After that date, the line will switch to a listen-only mode, allowing users to listen to the contributions but not add new ones.
This audio material will not remain confined to telephone servers. On December 4 and 5, 2026, a selection of these testimonies will be presented at the Faena Forum in Miami Beach, on the sidelines of the prestigious Art Basel Miami Beach fair. The exhibition, organized by Ms. Lauryn Hill in partnership with Saint & Citizen, will feature an immersive installation where the voices of the public will resonate alongside visual elements and stage sets from their current tour. This transition from a private phone line to a public museum space underscores the project’s artistic ambition, which moves beyond mere musical promotion to become a documentary work.
From pixels to lithography: the group’s aesthetic
The “FUGEES HOPELINE” project is also part of the urban landscape. Throughout the month of November 2026, the phone number will be displayed in giant letters on the screens of Piccadilly Lights in London and the Marriott L.A. Live in Los Angeles, transforming these consumer hubs into access points to a conceptual artwork. Alongside these monumental projections, Ms. Lauryn Hill explored the medium of paper through a series of three original graphic collages. These works blend typography with archival photographs of the group, including shots by Jonathan Mannion and B+.
The art market reacted with lightning speed to these limited editions, available at circa.art/fugees. The large-format prints (A2), limited to 500 copies and hand-signed by Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean at a price of £1,000 each (approximately €1,150), were announced as sold out shortly after their launch. The complete set of the three works, priced at £2,500 (approximately €2,880), met the same fate. For collectors who were a bit slower to act, a small-format (A4) edition with a limited-time run remains available through December 31, 2026, priced at £200 each (approximately €230), featuring printed signatures.
A Reunification of Mixed Composition
Despite the scale of this initiative, the project implicitly highlights the persistent rifts within the original trio. While Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean are driving this artistic venture and the upcoming release of the complete medley in December 2026, Pras Michel is absent from the equation. The third original member, who is in an ongoing legal dispute with Ms. Lauryn Hill, is not participating in any aspect of the project. This arrangement confirms that while the Fugees brand is regaining creative vitality, it now operates without its full lineup.
The twenty-minute medley, billed as the musical centerpiece of the end of this year, will be the group’s first musical release in over two decades. Straddling the nostalgia for a sound that defined the 1990s and an artistic approach firmly rooted in modern interactivity, the Fugees are attempting to prove that hope—the central theme of their hotline—is a frequency that never gets overloaded.
