Album: Wyclef Jean – The Carnival Vol II: Memoirs of ..

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Since first appearing on the scene as one third of the Fugees in the mid 90s, followed by his mixed bag of solo work, Wyclef Jean has established himself as a jack-of-all-trades and the self-proclaimed ‘world music ambassador’. After several quiet years, following the underwhelming Preacher’s Son, his journey continues on The Carnival Vol II: Memoirs of an Immigrant, the sequel to his revered genre-bending 1997 debut.

Much like fellow musical enigma Andre 3000, Wyclef has slowly been gravitating away from making what is classified as traditional urban music and has gone on his own path, creating a musical melting pot, incorporating styles from several different genres and regions. This album is the epitome of that sound, however at the same time the majority of the concoctions are still rooted in Hip Hop and R&B fundamentals more so than his last few releases.

The cataclysmic sonics of Riot are the perfect example, as the worlds of Rock, Hip Hop and Reggae collide in the confines of one powerful track. Luckily he finds music rebels forward thinking enough to join him on his all encompassing mission, as he is joined by System of a Down front-man Serj Tankian and Reggae icon Sizzla. Before you have time to recover from that onslaught, with Uncle Murda, Movado and the aforementioned Sizzla in toe, he delivers the heavy Dancehall-infused Welcome To The East.

Similar to a piece of confectionary, which some of his past work resembled (Bob Dylan covers anyone?), The Carnival Vol II has a gooey center, which in this case is a good thing. Following up from the revered 911, the queen of Hip Hop Soul Mary J. Blige plays the scorned lover and mother to ‘Clef’s apologetic former deadbeat dad on What About The Baby. The bluesy hymn-like Slow Down continues a similar theme he has had throughout his career, as ‘Clef calls for world peace. T.I contributes a notable if somewhat out of place verse on the track (T.I also served as the executive producer of the album).

Continuing his career trend of bridging the musical and generational gap to mixed effect, the somewhat lightweight but still nourishing enough Fast Car finds Wyclef linking up with pop music legend Paul Simon.

Past the halfway mark the energy level picks up again on Hollywood Meets Bollywood (Immigration), featuring Chamillionaire, which depending on your point-of-view is either a revolutionary musical journey from New Jersey to India and back or is one of the reasons why you write-off Wyclef’s brand of ‘world music’.

The main drawbacks of this release would actually have to be the bonus tracks tacked on at the end; which come off as gaudy and unnecessary. The somewhat nauseating Touch Your Button Carnival Jam, featuring the king of fluff Will.I.Am, is the main offender, proving that you need to know when to leave party so that you don’t overstay your welcome. Although it is a little questionable detracting points for that, considering that they are after all bonus tracks.

By this point, Wyclef is preaching to the converted, listeners know that what they will hear is unique and cannot be traced to one sole identifiable genre. With that established this gives ‘Clef the room to experiment and not be judged. While admittedly some of his previous work has been unfocused The Carnival Vol II is a concentrated effort, sort of serving as the proof that there is a method to his madness, where all his musical influences roam free but some restraint and much needed sense is applied. I guess you could call it Mr. Jean’s opus. Thumbs up!

Available Through Columbia Records