Posted on Thu, Dec. 27, 2007
MUSIC REVIEWS: New pop, country/roots, jazz and classical releases
The Philadelphia Inquirer
WYCLEF JEAN "Carnival Vol. II: Memoirs Of An Immigrant" (Columbia, 3 stars)
Former Fugee Wyclef Jean is either a visionary internationalist who sees a
world without musical borders or a shamelessly starstruck show-off whose albums
exist primarily to demonstrate just how big his Rolodex is. Or more likely,
both. How else to explain "Carnival II," a sequel to a 1997 album of the same
name? The staggering guest list includes Shakira, Norah Jones, Paul Simon,
Mary J. Blige, Paul Simon, Serj Tankian (of brainy metal band System of A
Down) as well as rappers Lil’ Wayne, T.I. and Will.I.Am, and, of course, noted
percussionist Louis Farrakhan. (I kid you not.) Pan-cultural anthems like "Slow
Down" and the Indian film music extravaganza "Hollywood Meets Bollywood
(Immigration)," which makes excellent use of sonorous rhymer Chamillionaire,
come so effortlessly to Jean that it’s tempting to dismiss them as facile and
superficial. But the multiculti lounge lizard deserves props for maintaining an
ebullient party vibe throughout a jam-packed effort that attempts to make
sense of the immigrant experience, even if it does get carried away trying to
include what one song refers to as a "Million Voices."
– D.D.