A Cry for Freedom

In 1997, Wyclef Jean released The Carnival, an album which explored the musical and societal roots of hip hop, reggae, and soul. Wyclef made poverty, drug dealing and war sound almost sentimental. The shining song on the album is "Yele," which is defined musically by its raw acoustic guitar and deep bass drum hits. Lyrically, I don't understand Wyclef's Haitian-French, which is a good thing, because the English translation cannot be as potent as the foreign version. Wyclef translates the title of the song, Yele, as "a cry for freedom," and since 2005 and throughout the Haiti earthquake relief effort, Wyclef's Yele Haiti has distributed hot meals to Haiti's citizens. Almost everyone is doing their part to give to Haiti these days, so listen to "Yele" to get a little something back.