Big Think Interview with Wyclef Jean | Big Think

Big Think Interview with Wyclef Jean

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Jean, member of the legendary group The Fugees and Hip-Hop producer, talks about his childhood in Haiti, post-race politics, and working again with Lauryn Hill.

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Wyclef Jean:

Lead Fugees rapper and sometime guitarist Wyclef Jean was the first member of his group to embark on a solo career, and he proved even more ambitious and eclectic on his own. As the Fugees hung in limbo, Wyclef also became hip-hop's unofficial multicultural conscience; a seemingly omnipresent activist, he assembled or participated in numerous high-profile charity benefit shows for a variety of causes, including aid for his native Haiti.

The utopian one-world sensibility that fueled Wyclef's political consciousness also informed his recordings, which fused hip-hop with as many different styles of music as he could get his hands on (though, given his Caribbean roots, reggae was a particular favorite). In addition to his niche as hip-hop's foremost global citizen, Clef was also a noted producer and remixer who worked with an impressive array of pop, R&B, and hip-hop talent, including Whitney Houston, Santana, and Destiny's Child, among many others.

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TRANSCRIPT:

Question: Do you remember your childhood in Haiti?

Wyclef Jean: I mean, basically my vivid memories in Haiti is -- the best way to explain it -- think about, like, the Godfather movie when they go back in time and then it’s this small village with the donkeys. I mean, think about that, but mine is, you know, the luxury of the harvest. It was just a very poor community and no electricity, but a lot of drums, a lot of native drums which kept the energy going. And I always remember, like, my grandma a lot because my grandma gave us, like, a penny every Sunday to go to church, and sometimes we took that penny and bought some candy with it. But despite, like, how poor we were, she always found a penny every Sunday. And I was like -- she always was, like, you know, giving is caring.

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