Wyclef Jean Talks Fugees Reunion: 'Nothing's Gonna Beat the Feeling' (Exclusive)

The rapper, 53, discussed recently reuniting with the band onstage at the 2023 Roots Picnic, as he attended The Apollo Spring Benefit in N.Y.C. on Monday

Wyclef Jean is hoping more reunion performances with his band Fugees can continue.

Fresh from sharing the stage with bandmembers Lauryn Hill and Pras Michel at the 2023 Roots Picnic in Philadelphia on June 3 — Jean, 53, said that “the experience is always amazing” performing with the group, as he attended The Apollo Spring Benefit on Monday.

“It's like if U2 is together, or the Rolling Stones is together. It's just your high school band. Nothing's gonna beat that feeling,” Jean told PEOPLE at the event, held at N.Y.C.’s Apollo Theater.

Fugees performed in what could be one of their last performances as a trio for a while, as Michel, 50, awaits sentencing after being found guilty of conspiring to help China influence the U.S. government.

Jean compared the experience of being onstage with Hill, 48, and Michel to the success and longevity of his beloved Los Angeles Lakers team. “The best way I can explain it is, when I was super young, I loved the New York Knicks and then I loved the Lakers. When you look at the early Lakers — Worthy and Magic — that's the best way I can describe the Fugees,” he told PEOPLE.

Related: The Fugees Reunite at Lauryn Hill's 2023 Roots Picnic Set Ahead of Pras Michel's Sentencing

“We are literally, we've been playing on the court so long naturally that it doesn't matter what year it is, what time it is. There's no rehearsal. It's just us showing up and bouncing the ball — and I can't do that with no other group.”

Jean also discussed celebrating 50 years of hip-hop this August as a member of one of the genre's most iconic groups. “It's 50 years of preserving culture. I think that when we first started, they thought hip-hop was a joke,” he said. “Now every country, hip-hop's the biggest genre in the entire world.”

Hill brought out her fellow Fugees members to perform some of the group's classic songs with her during her set at the 2023 Roots Picnic — to the surprise of fans — as she headlined the annual festival.

Related: Leonardo DiCaprio Testifies at Trial of Ex-Fugees Rapper Pras Michel

Longtime friend Questlove got to see Fugees' reunion performance in person and posted a video clip from the festival on Instagram as he praised the brand "in what could possibly be one of the last times we will see this institution together in this setting."

"What a night," Questlove captioned. "In 1993 an unknown band called the Fugees (at the request of the record label I interned at @ruffhouserecords) opened up for us at #TheTrocodero in Philadelphia — this was one of their first gigs since signing to a major label.

"They were there to help us celebrate our signing to @geffenrecords. Their #BluntedOnReality got released in early 93. We got our deal in Dec. 93 & man ... Now 30 years later & look at us now. What a journey."

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The Roots pioneer, 52, continued, "@MsLaurynHill did us a solid by not only letting us celebrate with her the classic #MiseducationOfLaurynHill but also [creating] a moment by bringing together her bredren @WyclefJean & @PrasMichel."

Questlove added, "I’m giving all the gratitude for making this miracle of a night happen. On what woulda been my father’s 87th birthday."

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