Wyclef Jeanelle Jean (/ˈwaɪklɪf ˈʒɑːn/; Haitian Creole pronunciation: wajklɛf ʒã; born October 17, 1969) is a three-time Grammy Award-winning Haitian-American rapper, singer-songwriter, musician, record producer, and politician. At age nine, Jean moved to the United States with his family and has spent much of his life in the country. He first received fame as a member of the acclaimed New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees.
On August 5, 2010, Jean filed for candidacy in the 2010 Haitian presidential election, although the Electoral Commission subsequently ruled him ineligible to stand as he had not met the requirement to have been resident in Haiti for five years.
Jean’s efforts at earthquake relief, highly publicized in 2010 throughout Haiti and the United States, were channeled through his charitable organization, Yéle Haiti. The charity, which performed a variety of charitable works in Haiti between 2005 and 2010, effectively closed in 2012 after much controversy.
Early life and personal historyedit:
Although his birth date was widely given as October 17, 1972, papers filed for his run as a candidate for the presidency of Haiti, disclosed that he was, in fact, born in 1969. Born in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti, the son of a Nazarene pastor, in 1982 Wyclef moved with his family to northern New Jersey. Jean has cited reggae artist Bigga Haitian as one of his early influences, as well as neighborhood heroes MC Tiger Paw Raw and producer Lobster v. Crab. Jean graduated from Vailsburg High School in Newark, briefly attended Eastern Nazarene College in Massachusetts, and finished one semester at Five Towns College in New York. Jean has been a resident of Saddle River, South Orange, and North Caldwell, New Jersey. In 2009, Jean enrolled in the Berklee College of Music.
In 1994, he married Fusha designer Marie Claudinette. In 2005, they adopted their daughter, Angelina Claudinelle Jean. The couple renewed their vows in August 2009.
His uncle – political activist, journalist and diplomat Raymond Alcide Joseph – has been the Haitian ambassador to the United States since 2005, and came to prominence as a spokesman for his country after the devastating 2010 Haiti earthquake. Together with Wyclef, he issued an appeal for international aid.
On March 19, 2011, Jean claimed that he was shot in the palm of his right hand in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The police reported otherwise saying that Wyclef was not wounded by a bullet but was cut by glass. Police Chief Vanel Lacroix said “we met with the doctor who saw him and he confirmed Wyclef was cut by glass.”
