San Francisco Music Blog

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Who Needs Lauryn, Anyway? Wyclef Jean

The Barrel House was packed to the foundations last night for a special benefit show by ex-Fugees chief and Haitian goodwill ambassador Wyclef Jean, on behalf of his humanitarian organization Yele Haiti (which provides school scholarships, youth sports programs, food distribution to needy families, and even free outdoor projection of Creole-dubbed films in slums without electricity).

On an unseasonably warm night, the venue felt at times like a brick oven (thank goodness, the Negra Modelo was on the house). But the heat didn't seem to bother Wyclef that much, as he and producer/bassist Jerry "Wonder" Duplessias ran down a long set which seemingly included his entire catalog. In addition to solo hits like "Gone Til November" and "Guantanamera," Fugee fans were satiated with "Fu-gee-la" and "Ready or Not," and for "President," Wyclef switched up the lyrics to acknowledge Barack Obama's victory. He also freestyled in five or six languages, covered Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry,"  played guitar with his teeth Hendrix-style, and got the sweaty crowd even wetter with a medley of classic hip-hop, before previewing tunes from his upcoming album. As the saying goes, all for a good cause. To learn more about the Yele Haiti foundation, click here.