Wyclef Jean-The Carnival Volume II (Memoirs Of An Immigrant)
SONY
Former Fugee hitmaker now creating hip hop without frontiers.
Given Wyclef Jean's Haitian roots, it's no surprise that the sunshine-soaked sound of the Caribbean has been an omnipresent feature of the former Fugee's solo albums. This sixth opus is no exception, as the vibrant dancehall syncopations of Carnival Jam and edgy dub inflections of King & Queen illustrate. But reggae is just one of a multitude of styles thrown into the blender on this refreshingly eclectic album that fuses hip hop with muscular rock (Trouble Again), ruminative acoustic pop (the lovely Any Other Day, featuring Norah Jones), R&B (What About The Baby, with its cameo from Mary J. Blige) and Middle Eastern music (Immigration). Jean's sonic scope is breathtaking, complemented by imaginative lyrics whose themes range from family break ups, prostitution and drive-by shootings to the US occupation of Iraq. A heady polyglot infusion.
Charles Waring
No comments:
Post a Comment