An Interview with Wyclef Jean

Freddy Deknatel Arts Editor

Shooting for the stars of student appeal, Vassar College Entertainment (ViCE) has booked the once-again Fugee Wyclef Jean to play Walker Field House with Blackalicious on Saturday, Feb. 11 at 8 p.m. Wyclef will be the first act to perform in Walker since The Roots played there in 2002. Mr. Bubblegoose has been busy since we all bought The Carnival in 1997, spreading his solo wings with four subsequent albums, receiving a Golden Globe nomination for a song recorded for Hotel Rwanda, and spending valuable time in Haiti, where he runs his charity, Yelé Haiti. Wyclef spoke to The Miscellany News from a “Fugee mode” New York City studio last Friday, Feb. 3. Lauryn Hill and Pras would join him later in the day, he said. It was still early. By Monday, Wyclef was back on a plane bound for Haiti, in order to vote in elections held there on Feb. 7.

The Miscellany News: Clef, I understand you’re going down to Haiti soon. Can you tell us about your charity, Yelé Haiti?
Wyclef Jean: I’m just getting back from chillin’ with Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt down there. I opened this foundation two years ago and the idea is that through music and through my celebrity, I use that to raise money for Haiti, because 80 percent of the population can’t read, can’t write. It’s a high poverty situation. So, I opened this organization to show people [that] three or five dollars can feed a family. You know what I’m saying? Or six dollars.
MN: Is this charity organization a recent development?
WJ: I mean, I’ve always been doing it. Through the years we had Clef Kids. I’ve had a whole lot of organizations. Charity is just what we do, you know?
MN: Moving on to Vassar, I know you played here a few years ago. What do you remember about that show?
WJ: It was crazy.
MN: Crazy? How so?
WJ: Just the people. The people are as crazy as me when it comes to a live performance.
MN: Did you stick around and go to any parties by any chance?
WJ: Yeah, I dipped around. I was chillin’. You know, everyone knows me, man. They call me the college dorm kid, you know? I got kicked out of the third year. So the best way to make it up is to rock out when I play.
MN: What sorts of things were you studying then?
WJ: I was studying music theory.
MN: I know everyone asks you these days about the Fugees. What’s the story? Is there more new material on the way?
WJ: Yeah, we got a joint on the underground called “Take It Easy,” and we’re in the studio recording an album scheduled to come out in the fall.
MN: Is there a name for that record now?
WJ: No, the name for it right now is called Work in Progress.
MN: What’s it going to sound like?
WJ: Being that we all traveled all around the world, we got a chance to listen to a whole lot of music, plus the music in the States—I think the album is going to have a very global hip-hop feel to it.
MN: I know that you’ve played a lot of college shows, but obviously you’re still Wyclef, the big hip-hop artist. Do you think you’re playing to certain crowds, or lots of different crowds? I remember Howard Dean said you were his favorite artist. Do you think you have a very broad appeal?
WJ: In my mind, I always keep it very simple. I could play your college and the next day you turn on your television and you see me, you know what mean? Or, I’m doing this, I’m doing that. You know, in my world, where I’m at, they consider me a superstar icon. But I’m just a simple kid that left Haiti, moved to Brooklyn and New Jersey. You give me a guitar and a few drinks, and I’ll have nice time, you know what I’m sayin’?
MN: I saw you play at Columbia a couple of years ago and you climbed the scaffolding on the stage.
WJ: Oh, I had just came out of the hospital!
MN: Yeah, that was pretty ridiculous.
WJ: I still had the IV tube shit in me, man.
MN: How did you get through that? Were you in pain at all?
WJ: Yeah, I was in pain. I had food poisoning. And I was dying in the fuckin’ hospital. But I was like, “Yo, I got this fuckin’ show at Columbia. I’m not gonna miss the show.” And against the doctor’s wishes, I got myself out of the IV, and snuck out the hospital, and my bro picked me up, and went down there. The fuckin’ hospital tag-band was still on me. I was like a fuckin’ psycho patient.
MN: Are you going to do similarly crazy things when you play here next week? I mean, you’re not breaking out of the hospital, but…
WJ: I mean, people call it crazy, you know, but I don’t really call it crazy, climbing things. Some people got mountain climbing; I climb stages, you know?
MN: Is the press important to you these days, either attention they give you or certain magazines you read for music news? Are you an avid reader of certain music websites or anything?
WJ: I mostly read books. A lot of people be like, “Why don’t you read your press?” I say, “I’m going to read it when I turn, like, 65.” You know? But I just have so much work I have to do right now, I don’t want to get caught up in the hype of the press.
MN: What sort of music are you listening to these days?
WJ: Lately I’ve been into a lot of old stuff. Into a lot of Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, some of Duke Ellington, Miles Davis. Recent stuff, probably listening to, like, G-Unit. I like Dipset.
MN: Do you hope that you’ll be on the cover of Rolling Stone again?
WJ: I mean, I don’t really think about that, you know, but it’s just going to happen. Like, I have different phases. The Fugees is a superstar band. Ain’t no way the Fugees are going to come out and it’s not going to be on the cover of every magazine. But I’m not thinking about that—“Yo, let me get on the cover…” You know what I mean? It just is.
MN: I hear you. It would be awesome if you wanted to kick it with us after the show. A bunch of us here like to play—drinking beers, playing guitars, rocking out, that’s what we’re pretty much about here on the weekends.
WJ: You all know Michael Hedges?
MN: Yeah, a little bit.
WJ: He’s a crazy guitar player. He does a certain style of tuning which is dope.
MN: So you’re in the studio now. Are you recording for this Fugees album?
WJ: Yeah, we in Fugee mode right now.
MN: Is that Fugee mode in New York City?
WJ: Yeah, Fugee mode between New York and California.
MN: Are you guys all in the studio together right now?
WJ: They’ll be coming here later. It’s still early.
MN: And then you’re going to Haiti again?
WJ: Yeah, I’m going down to Haiti on Monday.
MN: So basically the life of Wyclef these days is hanging out in the studio with Lauryn Hill and Pras and then going down to Haiti. Is that an accurate impression? Are you busy all the time? Any downtime?
WJ: No, we always busy. We got the Fugees stuff, then I got the label, Clef Records. Haiti just plays a part of everything because that’s where the charity is at.
MN: Cool. I know a lot of people here who are excited to see you and Blackalicious, and also to see the Poughkeepsie High School Step Team, who will be performing at your concert, too.
WJ: All right, well that’s hot. I’m gonna see you all there then, man.
MN: Yeah, we’ll see you there. Hopefully, we can maybe even play some guitars afterwards, if you want to see some dorm life.
WJ: All right. That’s what’s up, man.