WIT | West Indies Tempo

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Fugees main man Wyclef Jean has been sneaking a Caribbean-based multiculturalism through hip-hop's back door since his posse of Haitian immigrants cracked the rap charts in the mid-'90s. He's also, understandably, become Haiti's favorite son, returning often to pitch in during the island's innumerable political and natural catastrophes. Welcome to Haiti Creole 101 is an album he's been threatening to make for some time. An effort originally to be released abroad only, it contains but one track in English, "President," and one in Spanish; the rest are in French and Kreyol, the creole language of Haiti. While his lyrics may be indecipherable to English speakers, the musical modus is not. It's the same old Clef game, rife with guest stars, including Foxy Brown, Buju Banton, and the French rap star Passi; covers (this time, "La Bamba"); acoustic guitars; and ersatz Bob Marleyisms. The album comes at an ambivalent time for both Wyclef and his countrymen. Haitians around the world celebrate the 200th anniversary of the island's independence; the birthday of the world's first free black republic. At the same time, civil unrest is at its peak as political corruption and the wrath of two hurricanes continue to test the country's meager resources. Likewise, Wyclef has floundered about, increasingly out of step with provincial hip-hop thuggery. Welcome is a neat exit from the game. (Not without a parting shot: "Tell the children the truth," he raps, "Not all that bling is diamond / Most of y'all wear cubic zirconium.") Wyclef stretches hip-hop so far that it's very nearly something else -- little separates this album from a particularly progressive zouk disc. But the synthesis of heritage, hip-hop, and history -- and a lack of the maddeningly creative rapper's increasingly desperate ghetto histrionics -- make for the most satisfying Clef record since The Carnival.