Following on from the venue’s opening day with an electronic curation, Thursday marked the day Pandora dedicated their SXSW venue to hip hop, with iconic artist Wyclef Jean closing out the stage. As part of his epic 90 minute set, Wyclef took the audience on a musical (and somewhat educational) trip down memory lane, not only playing some of his best known solo tracks, but Fugees favourites and reinterpretations from the last 30 years of hip hop.
Hitting the stage to the Fugees classic “Ready or Not”, the night went on to feature tracks like Wyclef’s own “Guantanamera”, his iconic cover of “No Woman, No Cry”, “Killing Me Softly”, “Ooh La La La”, “How Many Mics” and much, much more. Throughout the set he also brought a slate of unknown artists onto the stage to help him mix up tracks from Tupac and Biggy Smalls, with riffs from his own material. He also brought an excited guest from the crowd up to dance on classics like “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. As you do.
The night ended with Wyclef running through the entire venue, ending up on the balcony as one of his special guest artists helped him perform his popular track “Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)”, which took the venue to its curfew. You might be able to spot him in the photo below.
Stay tuned to the AU for more SXSW coverage! The Pandora Discovery Den continues for one more day, until Saturday night.
