Salon.com: "How Wyclef Jean is Saving Hip-Hop"

[DudeAsInCool]

Baz Dreisinger of Salon.com writes in his article 'Preacher's Son' how Wyclef Jean is

channeling Bob Marley and Bob Dylan to save "hip-hop from its purgatory of bling-bling and booty"

Here are a few excerpts:

" Wyclef Jean is not a great rapper, a stellar singer or a humble self-promoter ("I want to do things that will change people who hear it 300 years from now, like Scriptures," he recently told MTV). That he's favored by two former presidential hopefuls -- Al Gore, who gave Jean a public "shout-out" in 2000, and Howard Dean, who deemed him "fantastic" -- doesn't bode well: Any act deemed fit for political endorsement is likely to be as cutting-edge as warm milk."

"Jean's excruciatingly righteous new single, "If I Was President," released via AOL Music, isn't likely to boost his hardcore hip-hop credibility, either. "If I was president," the rapper begins, "instead of spending billions on the war/ I'd take that money so I could feed the poor." The well-intentioned, musically bereft track has the feel of a grade-school writing assignment -- "what would you do if you were president, Billy?" -- and AOL has, aptly enough, turned it into one: Fans are invited to add their own "If I Was President" declarations to an online message board; winning entries will be incorporated into a remix of the original Jean song."

If you want to read more, go to Salon.com, view an ad to get a free day pass, and check out the article and the rest of the site:

http://www.salon.com/ent/feature/2004/06/0...leff/index.html

[Ken]

How about, "If I were president...".

[DudeAsInCool]

How about, "If I were president...".

...with Spud as your running mate?

[Redneck4sure]

How about, "If I were president...".

English must be his second language. Shuck and Jive is his first :)