| · Back to the beginning – reflection without pretension. It grooves and moves. Includes a bonus DVD of the live studio sessions. If you're a fan, you've hit the motherlode.
Wyclef Jean is the party people's philosopher. His socially conscious lyrics and intricate arrangements are meant to get you off the couch and onto the dance floor. He has always been a creative musician, unafraid to combine styles and influences.
The Preacher's Son is a reflective look at Wyclef Jean's beginnings. It's a mixed bag of musical genres – mainstream hip-hop, reggae, classic R and B and Haitian influences. Collaborating with some amazing artists such as Missy Elliott, Redman and Patti LaBelle, Jean even pays tribute to the giants of R and B, pulling out a rendition of the old-school stylings of Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson on "Baby."
Although the album standout "Industry," an introductory lesson on the past 25 years of hip-hop's paradise lost, is great, not everything on the album works. Jean’s heavy handedness on "Class Reunion" is questionable, but he then proceeds to make cheating men into folk heroes on "Linda" and "Take Me As I Am" (as a woman, I couldn't help but roll my eyes). There is no doubt that he is a sincere and capable musician but these contradictions make it difficult to believe Wyclef Jean's message, and in the end style overshadows substance.
|
Copyright ©2003 FFWD. All rights reserved.