Wyclef Jean still exploring sounds without borders

By Gail Mitchell

LOS ANGELES (Billboard) - "Eclectic" is a word critics have used to describe Wyclef Jean's music. But the musician/rapper/songwriter/producer says his vision was just ahead of its time.

"Sampling Enya with the Fugees, doing combinations with Kenny Rogers ... I was doing that 13-14 years ago," Jean said during an interview at Billboard. "I was called eclectic because of a certain box I was supposed to stay in. Now I hear everybody with everybody. Music is at a fresh space right now; there's a fusion going on. If I grow up knowing Johnny Cash, Run-D.M.C. and Jimi Hendrix, why can't I just play all the music?"

Jean does just that on his latest solo album, "The Carnival II: Memoirs of an Immigrant" (December 4, Columbia). Following the pattern of his previous albums, the artist marshals the creative forces of a diverse guest lineup, including Paul Simon, T.I., Mary J. Blige, Norah Jones, Akon, System of a Down's Serj Tankian, Lil Wayne and Shakira. Jean's longtime collaborator, cousin Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis, executive-produced the album with the artist.

"Carnival II" marks the Fugees frontman's return to Columbia/Sony and the 10-year anniversary of his solo debut, "Wyclef Jean Presents the Carnival Featuring Refugee Allstars." Acknowledging that "Carnival II" is similar to its predecessor, he attributes its release 10 years later as happenstance. "I didn't plan it like that," he insisted. "I was just inspired by Haiti and the fusion of culture around the world."

It was Jean's explosive pairing with Shakira on the No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hit "Hips Don't Lie" that signaled what Jean terms his second wind of inspiration. He had spent the greater part of the last three years doing charity work in his native Haiti. During that period, he lost a key inspiration and gained another.

The loss occurred with the unexpected death of his evangelist father. "The way I learned music was through traveling," Jean recalled. "I would hear different forms of it on the streets being with my father."

BABY STUFF

His inspirational boost came with the birth of his daughter two years ago. "A child does something else to you. She thinks I'm cool," he said in his lyrical Haitian lilt.