In January of 2004, the bi-centennial of Haitian Independence was met with violent clashes in a clear attempt to overthrow the tumultuous regime of President Bertrand Aristide, overshadowing the planned festivities. As the Caribbean’s first independent nation, and the Western hemisphere’s first Black Republic, Haitian Independence preceeded the second wave of autonomy in the Caribbean by over one hundred and fifty years. Amidst a U.S. led military intervention in the recent conflict, tragic floods, and the exile of Aristide in South Africa, Haiti is still striving to shine as a symbol of liberation under a cloud of continued turmoil.
Wyclef Jean, a proud Haitian (check the flags in his last video “Take Me as I am”), speaking to this scribe in a phone interview from New York on hope for the future of Haiti says, “I think really to change Haiti, it’s going to take Haitians, not only in Haiti, but around the world, and the whole Caribbean really coming together to try and help the country.” Beyond it’s historical and regional significance, Clef tells of the personal importance of the nation, “it’s definitely a place that I’m from. I’m proud of the place, I feel that I wouldn’t be the person that I am and wouldn’t have these characteristics and these ethics that I have if it wasn’t for that place.”
As a talented a versatile musician, Clef finds his industry beginnings in the early 90’s where Pras, Lauryn Hill and himself, formed The Fugees. Their first album, with singles “Nappy Heads” and “Vocab,” was widely unknown, but did well enough to warrant a second release. In 1996, the group’s follow-up album, The Score, hit with “Fugeela” and a remake of Roberta Flack’s “Killing Me Softly” propelling this unknown trio to superstardom, placing them among the highest selling groups in the history of the music industry for a single album. Speaking on the making of that album Clef boasts, “We did The Score in our basement, you feel me?”.However, a third album would not be recorded before the trio disbanded launching three solo careers - two of which would remain intact after each of their first releases.
While Lauryn Hill reached legendary status with her five grammy winning recording The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, she suffered a public break-up with Rohan Marley, a lawsuit over missing production credits, and an unpolished, though widely loved, MTV unplugged album. Though he rarely speaks publicly about Lauryn since the Fugees break-up, Clef states simply, “She’s a modern day Billie Holiday.” Aware of Holiday’s deep drug and personal problems, Clef adds, “Minus the drugs and all that. Just the moods, you know? And that feel.”
Meanwhile, Wyclef - a producer, rapper, singer, writer, and musician - would remain busy both in front of, and behind, the mic. While there are a few blemishes on his impressive career such as the disappointing results of the release of Canibus, the aforementioned break-up of The Fugees, and some of his less successful musical experimentations, the classic release of The Carnival and collaborations with Mary J. Blige, Carlos Santana, Youssou N’Dour, Patti LaBelle, The Neville Brothers, Buju Banton, Whitney Houston, and Kenny Rogers are a sample of the list speaking to the respect Clef enjoys among artists. Aware criticisms of his music, Clef spit on his 2000 release, 2 Sides II A Book that, “Hip Hop fans you like the woman in my house / no matter how faithful I am you always have your doubt”, adding that, “my mistress is a guitar.” Regardless of the validity of the criticisms he has faced, his broad-based appeal is exemplified in such cases as when JFK Jr. passed away after a mysterious plane crash, after which, Wyclef was invited to play at the funeral in tribute.
With four solo albums under his belt, and a fifth on the way, it is now his intention to launch his own label. The reason? Clef explains, “After you make so much money for a label, you starting to get older, and I want to be in the record game.” He adds, “I’ve been responsible, with my cousin Jerry Wonder, for blowing up a lot of groups which you see out there. The label uses us to blow people up, so we gonna blow people up on our label.”
The label, which is set to blossom gradually over the next two years, will be launched with 18 year female emcee Trinidon (currently battling for a bounty of $50,000 American for the female rapper that can beat her) and 3 on 3 (a trio of brother’s, 12-18, known for their harmonies), as well as his own efforts. In regards to the label’s structure, Clef wants to make it known that, “For me , I’m gonna stick to the old pattern. Barry Gordy is the best example, that’s the sort of tradition that I’m following.” Responding to Gordy’s reputation of ‘no God, no politics’ policy for lyrical content which some critics argue would have had resulted in the shelving of Marvin Gaye’s classic What’s Going On record, had it not been for the distracting success of The Jackson 5, Clef says, “I believe if an artist wanna be conscious it’s a great thing. It’s like I’m a revolutionary, so I would say in Clef Records, consider me the Marvin Gaye.”
Wyclef, who has consistently responded to world affairs and issues of great social importance, has some interesting thoughts on politics in his homeland of Haiti, the U.S., where a war in Iraq and a lingering fear of terror attacks are leading issues in the run up to the presidential election. Without giving away the lyrics for his upcoming single, “If I Was President,” Clef puts it like this: “My global vision is one plus one equals two. I think they try to make it difficult, you know, and they try to make it mysterious.” In terms of the issues he sees on the frontlines that need to be addressed, Clef says, “I think now we’re facing an AIDS crisis, famine, and unemployment - these three things right there. So I think that there should be a budget allocated to fixing those things, and I think fixing those things would reduce the crime rate, and it would make people think a little straighter.”
Beyond the categories, even beyond the music, Clef thinks that people should know that, “I’m a family man”, and that, “it’s important that your Mom’s is stable, your brothers are stable, your girl is stable, because at the end of the day, it really boils down to you and your family.” Clef opens up about a broader sense of understanding regarding family and it’s spiritual dimension explaining, “My Dad has passed away. In my religion, in my beliefs, in my country, when somebody passes away, they rest. They go where they’re going, but part of them that stays with you, you know, he created me. If I walk, he moves with me because through life he has taught me lessons that I didn’t understand until he passed away.”
Over the years his misses among the hits can be seen as the price of breaking boundaries, but his resilience, like that of the nation he says has shaped him remains a guiding force, “I don’t lose sense of my culture, and lose sense of the reality of who I am as a person.”
club nights | club events | concerts | comedy | visual arts | stage | dance | poetry | film | events | festivals | meetings | seminars | submissions | auditions | volunteers 
