"Fu-gee-la" (The Fugees)

I think the thing about The Fugees that amazed me was their ability to take all of these different, disparate elements, throw them into the blender, and then come out with something crazy fresh that sounded like nothing else going on at the time.
The track "Fu-gee-la" off The Score (1996) is the perfect example.  The whole song is built on the famous drum break from Lee Dorsey's "Get Out My Life, Woman" and a 5-second sample from keyboardist Ramsey Lewis's "If Loving You Is Wrong."  Thing is, the samples are spliced and filtered in such a way that neither one jumps right out at you.  In fact, the Lewis sample is barely recognizable; it sounds like a merry-go-round calliope playing over the soundtrack to a Kung fu movie.  (And I love it.)
If that weren't enough, then you've got Lauryn Hill recasting the refrain from Teena Marie's 1988 single "Ooo La La La" as a hip-hop boast about her crew.  Not only is it clever, but her voice sounds like hot butter.
But what really makes this song a favorite of mine is Hill's verse.  Although Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel turn in decent verses, Hill's flow is in another galaxy.  The intricate internal rhymes ('Cause we fortified, I could never hide, seen "Cooley High," cried when Cochise died...) blow my mind every time I listen to this song.  It's evidence that Hill not only is one of the best vocalists of the past 20 years, but also one of the best emcees of all time.