Lauryn Hill is honoring the life and legacy of John Forté, her longtime collaborator and a key determine within the Fugees prolonged artistic circle, following information of his loss of life.

In a heartfelt message, Hill mirrored on their early connection, calling Forté “a mild soul” and recalling how shortly their bond fashioned. “I liked him. My household liked him,” she wrote. “I keep in mind assembly his mother together with her candy voice for the primary time. And strolling the New York Metropolis streets with him in full youthful fascination mode. Our technology of hip-hop was younger and on the ascent of its epic rise. We have been each there…collaborating and taking all of it in, full of pleasure and chance.”

Hill described Forté as a uncommon mix of mind, artistry, and heat. “Forté was a gentleman and a scholar with a powerful pen, deep soul, and sort coronary heart,” she continued. “Half Brownsville, half prep-school, he had entry to a manner of expressing himself. With a vocabulary and fluency that was very distinctive for the time. John was a mild soul beneath all of his Brownsville chanting. I want we’d had the chance to embrace that much more again then.”

She additionally shared recollections of introducing Forté to Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel, a gathering that led to his function as a Refugee Camp All Star. Hill added that her “coronary heart aches” for his household, closing her tribute with, “I really like you John. Relaxation in peace, mild king.”

In line with WBLS, Forté died Monday at his dwelling in Chilmark, Massachusetts. He was 50.

Forté toured with the Fugees and appeared on Wyclef Jean’s 1997 solo debut The Carnival, together with the one “We’re Tryin’ To Keep Alive.” He later launched his personal album Poly Sci in 1998, produced by Jean.

Jean mentioned, “John’s voice was unmistakable.“He was greater than a collaborator—he was household.”

Forté is survived by his spouse, photographer Lara Fuller, and their two youngsters.