October 2, 1998

Ghetto Superstar

The sheer volume of releases from the Refugee Camp rivals only the Wu-Tang Clan for taking one basic entity and replicating it to infinity....

6 / 10 THE SHEER VOLUME OF RELEASES FROM the Refugee Camp rivals only the Wu-Tang Clan for taking one basic entity and replicating it to infinity. But Pras deserves it. One-third of the Fugees, he is the group's element of surprise, and has been patient enough until now while Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean indulge their solo projects.

A churchgoer who begins and ends 'Ghetto Superstar' with spiritual references, the Haitian-American is not a modest guy. He's even got other stars to praise him on his record. Pras himself also consolidates his extrovert superstar position by reworking familiar tunes. So, the amusing 'Whatcha Wanna Do' becomes a '98 remake of Kurtis Blow's 'The Breaks' set to an old Culture Club tune, whilst the catchy 'Blue Angels' has a very good reason to be infectious - the melody belongs to 'Grease'. After all this, it seems strange that commerce doesn't completely take precedence, but 'Can't Stop The Shining' is metallic and jagged, while 'Murder Dem' utilises dancehall manipulations.

In fact, Pras hasn't sold out - he's sold back in as a star with a ghetto sensibility.