Woebot
Well-known member
I've always been intrigued by this guy. The Fugees stuff, I do believe, had a hardcore heart. If that makes any sense. It was almost as if their Haitain slant on HipHop was accidentally successfully. That they penetrated the mainstream almost entirely as a result of having an ear for a catchy melody (and in this era of PR budgets that dwarf the gross national output of most caribbean nations is saying something). I don't indulge myself in celebrating or talking-up the assumed theory of platinum pop outfits, or do much reading against the grain of "pop" gesture, but you know there is something incredibly queer about Wyclef. Something ripe for investigation.
Take for instance that track he did with Brian of East 17 (was it?) a quite brilliant bit of, again really catchy, protest pop. Why in god's name was he doing it with that ugly washed-up loser? Then there's that bizarre Credit Card advert he did, captured and held hostage in a trailerpark caravan by a white trash pseudo-domintrix! What gives? How gauchely he likes to present himself! It MUST be deliberate, either evidence of a talent pissing itself up against a wall; still more interesting than the more obvious clearly hip avenues he could further his post-Lauren career. Perhaps it's a simple as him wringing the last dime out of his credibility
I'm going to get that "Ecleftic" LP one day I swear. I mean, duets with Whitney alongside cover versions of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" It's suicide isn't it. His song "Gone to November" I've always thought is a complete masterpiece (did he write that? It's genius.) It's absolutely stuffed to the gills with diamond-sharp self-reflexive lyrics which play with hip-hop's cliches. And the divinely atmospheric stage-setting of the intro:
"I dedicate this record, the carnival to all you brothers takin’ long
Trips down south, virginia, baltimore, all around the world, and your
Girl gets this message that you ain’t comin’ back. she’s sittin’ back
In the room, the lights are off, she’s cryin’, and then my voice comes in
Pow!, in the middle of the night, and this is what I told her for you."
Seriously I get shivers everytime I play this. It sneaks its way into so many CDs I burn. And the girls love it too. I notice he's put out a couple of LPs fairly recently too. And what was that number one he had with all the fashion imagery and electro drums? That was good too.
Take for instance that track he did with Brian of East 17 (was it?) a quite brilliant bit of, again really catchy, protest pop. Why in god's name was he doing it with that ugly washed-up loser? Then there's that bizarre Credit Card advert he did, captured and held hostage in a trailerpark caravan by a white trash pseudo-domintrix! What gives? How gauchely he likes to present himself! It MUST be deliberate, either evidence of a talent pissing itself up against a wall; still more interesting than the more obvious clearly hip avenues he could further his post-Lauren career. Perhaps it's a simple as him wringing the last dime out of his credibility
I'm going to get that "Ecleftic" LP one day I swear. I mean, duets with Whitney alongside cover versions of Pink Floyd's "Wish You Were Here" It's suicide isn't it. His song "Gone to November" I've always thought is a complete masterpiece (did he write that? It's genius.) It's absolutely stuffed to the gills with diamond-sharp self-reflexive lyrics which play with hip-hop's cliches. And the divinely atmospheric stage-setting of the intro:
"I dedicate this record, the carnival to all you brothers takin’ long
Trips down south, virginia, baltimore, all around the world, and your
Girl gets this message that you ain’t comin’ back. she’s sittin’ back
In the room, the lights are off, she’s cryin’, and then my voice comes in
Pow!, in the middle of the night, and this is what I told her for you."
Seriously I get shivers everytime I play this. It sneaks its way into so many CDs I burn. And the girls love it too. I notice he's put out a couple of LPs fairly recently too. And what was that number one he had with all the fashion imagery and electro drums? That was good too.