Nel Ust Wyclef Jean or publicly known as Wycleaf Jean is a Haitian-born musician, record producer and politician who was born on October 17, 1972 in Haiti. Jean was a son of a Nazarene priest, and moved to the United States, to be precise Brooklyn, New York when he was nine before moving again to northern New Jersey.
Jean had attended Eastern Nazarene College but stopped in the middle of the road. Jean himself has announced that he plans to continue his education at Berklee College of Music in Boston. His biggest influence in music was reggae and Bigga Haitian.
In 1994, Jean married a designer named Marie Claudinette and adopted a daughter named Angelina Claudinelle Jean. They renewed the marriage promise in August 2009.
CAREER
His career began with being a member of The Refugee Camp (or better known as The Fugees) with fellow immigrants. The band’s debut album was Blunted on Reality, followed by a second album entitled The Score.
In 1997, Wycleaf began a solo career with Wyclef Jean Presents the Carnival Featuring the Refugee All-Stars (which
known as The Carnival) who still raise immigrant issues, with songs such as We Trying to Stay Alive (adaptation of the Stayin ‘Alive song by The Bee Gees) and Gone Till November.
His solo career was characterized by many phenomena, in addition to the second album he made such as The Ecleftic: 2 Sides II a Book (2000), third album, Masquerade, and subsequent albums. He had joined the America concert: A Tribute to Heroes with Bob Marley’s song, Redemption Song for the events of September 11, 2001.
Jean also wrote songs for the soundtrack of THE AGRONOMIST documentary, GHOST OF CITE SOLEIL
POLITICAL
In 2005, Jean founded the Yele Haiti Foundation which provided scholarships to 3,600 children in Haiti after Hurricane Jeanne had befallen them. In the second year, more aid was distributed to Haiti for tuition fees in five regions.
The Foundation had experienced suspicions from the tax authorities, because there were funds allegedly entered into Jean’s account. But this was denied by the president of Haiti, Yele, who stated that all funds were used for Haiti’s interests.
Jean is very active in supporting his country of origin, paying attention to social issues and providing guidance for Haitians to rebuild their country.
In 2010, precisely August 5, 2010, Jean signed a form that endorsed him as a candidate for the president of Haiti. The reason Jean put forward for his candidacy was a call to serve his country.