Wyclef Jean: The Preacher's Son : Music Reviews : Rolling Stone

Album Reviews

Since the Fugees days, Wyclef Jean has been mashing outside styles -- Caribbean music, rock, pop, soul -- into his hip-hop framework to varying degrees of success. His new album is mostly tepid adult-contemporary black pop. He's still got an ear for a top melody, as on the moving Monica duet "Class Reunion." But most of The Preacher's Son consists of experiments that don't quite pan out: a dull Santana duet ("Three Nights in Rio"); a duet that underutilizes Patti LaBelle ("Celebrate"). And though the album features appearances by heavy spitters Redman, Scarface and Mobb Deep's Prodigy, the rappers hardly raise a hackle, either because 'Clef won't let them, or because they can't be bothered.