As a member of the Fugees, Wyclef Jean showed that conscientious hip-hop could go multi-platinum. Indeed, the group's album The Score is one of the all-time bestselling albums of any genre. On his own, Wyclef has continued down the...
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As a member of the Fugees, Wyclef Jean showed that conscientious hip-hop could go multi-platinum. Indeed, the group's album The Score is one of the all-time bestselling albums of any genre. On his own, Wyclef has continued down the conscious lyrical path, but has also tried to stay hard enough to remain visible among the gangstas that dominate the charts -- and the streets.
Haitian-born, New York- and New Jersey-raised Clef's greatest accomplishments are often musical rather than lyrical, including production work for Whitney Houston, Santana, Destiny's Child, John Legend and Mick Jagger. As a songwriter and producer, he has an uncanny knack for bringing together a crazy quilt of musical styles that broaden his hip-hop base. It's instructive that he covers and completely recasts songs like Bob Dylan's "Knockin' on Heaven's Door," turning it into a eulogy for rappers that have passed, and Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here," which celebrates the place where music and dreams collide. He also bites a chunk out of the Bee Gees' disco anthem "Stayin' Alive" for "We Trying to Stay Alive," a trenchant plea for ghetto solidarity.
Clef's raps frequently shout-outs to older songs and stars, and some of the references have worn well ("All she wants from me is respect, like Aretha" from "To All the Girls") while others have not ("Still feel like somebody's watchin' me like Rockwell" from "Pullin' Me In"). His hard life coming up in the projects is a frequent topic in his songwriting, but Clef is usually at his best when dealing with larger social topics. He obviously owes a musical and lyrical debt to reggae king Bob Marley, but on protest anthems such as "Diallo," "War No More" and "President," he comes off as Marley's spiritual heir as well.
