The second solo album from the man behind the Fugees finds him poised between his roots in the ghetto and his current pop supremo status. Happily, this tension gives his music an edge which marks him out from his hip-hop rivals. This is a fine album, not so much for its infectious rhythms as for the sardonic wit and sheer charisma which carry these sharp, stripped-down meditations on urban tension. Old Fugees fans will still yearn for a reunion with Lauryn Hill but on this evidence Jean is doing just fine on his own.
