The hip-hop community is grieving after news broke that John Forté, the Grammy-nominated artist closely tied to The Fugees’ legacy, has passed away at 50 at his home in Chilmark, Massachusetts.
For many fans, John Forté will always be remembered for his work on The Fugees’ 1996 classic The Score, where he helped shape songs like “Family Business” and “Cowboys” and quietly shifted the sound of ’90s hip-hop.
Lauryn Hill brought him into the Fugees circle, and once Wyclef Jean and Pras heard his music, they made sure his pen and production were front and center. That move locked him into Fugees history and made his name one you heard any time people talked about the making of The Score.
He kept building with Wyclef after that moment, popping up on Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival and contributing to records like “We Trying to Stay Alive” and “Street Jeopardy.” Wyclef also produced Forté’s 1998 debut album Poly Sci, a project that showed he was more than just a behind-the-scenes collaborator.
His rise was interrupted in 2000 when he was arrested at Newark International Airport on federal drug conspiracy charges. A mandatory minimum sentence hit him hard: 14 years. He served seven before his sentence was commuted in 2008 by then-President George W. Bush, a decision that brought him home and gave him another chance at life and music.
Once released, he returned to creative work with a quieter, focused energy. He wrote “Something to Lean On,” which became the intro theme for the Brooklyn Nets during their first season in Brooklyn in 2012–2013, and continued to move between music, storytelling, and community spaces.
Offstage, Forté built the kind of life many Black men from hip-hop hope to grow into. He met his wife, Lara Fuller, on Martha’s Vineyard in 2015, and the two went on to marry and start a family together, welcoming daughter Wren and son Haile.
His journey held both triumph and struggle, but his impact on hip-hop, his community, and his family remains. For those who grew up on The Score and everything it opened up for the culture, his passing feels personal.
John Forté’s story is a reminder of how Black artists carry brilliance, burden, and resilience all at once—and how much it means when our contributions are remembered with care.
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