Word: hip-hop
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...bass guitar. The pair, who are here to tape a rendition of the Police song Walking on the Moon for the pilot of an MTV series on musical influences, are indulging in an unscheduled jam. Wyclef, who with Lauryn Hill and Prakazrel ("Pras") Michel made up the Grammy-winning hip-hop trio the Fugees, pounds out a rock beat, shifts to something funkier and finally settles into a reggae groove that sounds distinctly like Bob Marley's skittering Lively Up Yourself. Then Wyclef, who is more of a guitarist than a drummer, puts down his sticks and walks away laughing...
...solo debut, The Carnival, sold almost 2 million copies. Now his new CD, The Ecleftic--2 Sides II a Book (Columbia), is garnering some of the best reviews of any rap release this year. Rolling Stone called it "the most pleasingly direct yet musically adventurous hip-hop long-player you're likely to hear all year." The hip-hop magazine Source gave it 4 1/2 microphones out of 5--half a mike more than Eminem got in the same issue. "I wanted this album to be really musical, but with an edge," says Wyclef. "I wanted to bring in people...
Ecleftic boasts cameos from country star Kenny Rogers and pro wrestler the Rock. A Marley-ish protest song about police brutality (Diallo) is balanced by a lighthearted tribute to marijuana (Something About Mary). Along the way, there's a sexy duet with hip-hop soul singer Mary J. Blige (911) and a nostalgic, rap-infused cover of Pink Floyd's Wish You Were Here. The CD's most striking song, however, may be its first, Where Fugee At, a blunt call for Wyclef's bandmates to come back together: "Lauryn, if you're listening/Pras, if you're listening/Give...
...this hip-hop trio released an album entitled De La Soul Is Dead; its bright new CD proves that the announcement was premature. Art Official Intelligence has an impressively eclectic lineup of guests, including Busta Rhymes, Chaka Khan and members of the Beastie Boys (Mike D and Ad Rock). De La Soul's songs, like the warm, stuttery Set the Mood, lack the vulgar, low-riding punch of gangsta rap, but they find strength in invention...
Neosoul singer-songwriter Scott arrives with solid credentials: she co-wrote the hit song You Got Me for the hip-hop group the Roots; and Hidden Beach, the record label putting out Scott's debut album, is partly owned by retired basketball superstar Michael Jordan. Scott's album lives up to the promise of its resume. Her mostly midtempo songs are smoothly entertaining, and her soothing vocals fluently blend soulful croons, jazzy scats and forays into spoken word. Scott's relaxed singing style and the emotional detail in her lyrics make it seem she's not so much performing...