Wyclef hasn’t put out a hip hop record in a minute, so it’s understandable that he’s more than a little excited about this new mixtape project with DJ Drama. And he admits that after the last few years of producing and performing on huge international pop hits, like Shakira’s Hips Don’t Lie, he had to work to get his flow back.
Wyclef stopped by our studio to talk about the new record and to give us a preview. Click on the player below to hear a full album stream, and check out Clef performing live in the video below.
VIDEO
REVIEW OF REVIEWS
Wyclef Jean’s From The Hut, To The Projects, To The Mansion (with DJ Drama) fuses many genres–especially world and hip-hop–to create a satisfying urban amalgam as presented by the artist’s persona T.I. Toussaint, a character loosely based on the Haitian revolutionary Toussaint L’Ouverture who, basically, brought the country out of obscurity in the 18th Century. Start Here: “Warrior’s Anthem,” “Suicide Love” with Eve, and “Gangsta Girl” with L’il Kim
Despite its gritty trappings, this album is buoyed by Jean’s surefire pop instincts. Few gangsta-rap albums have so many killer choruses, or make such effective use of high-profile guests like Eve, Timbaland, Maino and, believe it or not, Cyndi Lauper. The new-wave pop survivor adopts a persona of her own, Luscious Loo Loo, to sing a great hook on “Slumdog Millionaire” and add a tough-talking rap about her own impoverished background.
TRACKLIST
1. Interlude – From the Hut, to the Projects, to the Mansion
2. Warrior’s Anthem
3. The Streets Pronounce Me Dead
4. Slumdog Millionaire (feat. Cyndi Lauper)
5. Interlude – Every Now & Then
6. Walk Away
7. More Bottles
8. You Don’t Wanna Go Outside
9. Toussaint vs. Bishop
10. Interlude – The Struggle
11. We Made It
12. Suicide Love (feat. Eve)
13. Letter From The Penn
14. Robotic Love
15. Gangsta Girl featuring Lil? Kim
16. Interlude – Tell The Kids The Truth
17. The Shottas
BEST SHOTS
photo credit: adanbouzoua
