Post by dawyked on Nov 26, 2005 22:11:48 GMT 1
The former Fugees frontman gets back to his roots with his Haiti aid effort and snags a Golden Globe nomination for a forthcoming single
By Brian Braiker
Newsweek
Updated: 7:58 p.m. ET Dec. 17, 2004
Dec. 17 - It’s hard to get much bigger than the Fugees were in 1996. But when the Grammy-winning hip-hop phenomenon started to languish, it was founding member Wyclef Jean who emerged as one of the genre’s most consistently eccentric and compelling voices. The native Haitian, who emigrated to Brooklyn, N.Y., at the age of 9, has crafted a hip-hop catalog infused (some critics allege rather messily) with Caribbean beats, reggae rhythms and African accents. A prolific producer, he has also collaborated with the likes of Whitney Houston, Santana and Destiny's Child. In 2001 he became the first rapper to raise the vaunted roof at Carnegie Hall.
But even for a man with a resume as varied as Clef’s, this has been a banner year. In October he released his fifth solo album, "Welcome to Haiti: Creole 101," a raucous shape-shifting tribute to his motherland. Last week he launched Yele Haiti, a nonprofit aid group raising money to rebuild hurricane-damaged schools in slum areas, with a concert in New York. He has also teamed up with the United Nations World Food Program to release a music video for his Creole song, “Gonaives,” to raise money for Haitians. And just this week Jean learned that he was nominated for a Golden Globe award for his African-flavored "Million Voices," a song that appears on the “Hotel Rwanda” soundtrack. But after the Fugees held a surprise September reunion concert at a Dave Chappelle-hosted block party in Brooklyn, the question on everyone’s mind is when they’ll hit the studio again. Clef answered that, and more, in a recent conversation with NEWSWEEK’s Brian Braiker. Excerpts:
NEWSWEEK: You’re having a good week.
Wyclef Jean: Great week, man.
Tell me about the Golden Globe nomination. How does it feel?
It feels incredible to get a Golden Globe nomination. I feel like I’m just getting inside the music industry again.
continue...
By Brian Braiker
Newsweek
Updated: 7:58 p.m. ET Dec. 17, 2004
Dec. 17 - It’s hard to get much bigger than the Fugees were in 1996. But when the Grammy-winning hip-hop phenomenon started to languish, it was founding member Wyclef Jean who emerged as one of the genre’s most consistently eccentric and compelling voices. The native Haitian, who emigrated to Brooklyn, N.Y., at the age of 9, has crafted a hip-hop catalog infused (some critics allege rather messily) with Caribbean beats, reggae rhythms and African accents. A prolific producer, he has also collaborated with the likes of Whitney Houston, Santana and Destiny's Child. In 2001 he became the first rapper to raise the vaunted roof at Carnegie Hall.
But even for a man with a resume as varied as Clef’s, this has been a banner year. In October he released his fifth solo album, "Welcome to Haiti: Creole 101," a raucous shape-shifting tribute to his motherland. Last week he launched Yele Haiti, a nonprofit aid group raising money to rebuild hurricane-damaged schools in slum areas, with a concert in New York. He has also teamed up with the United Nations World Food Program to release a music video for his Creole song, “Gonaives,” to raise money for Haitians. And just this week Jean learned that he was nominated for a Golden Globe award for his African-flavored "Million Voices," a song that appears on the “Hotel Rwanda” soundtrack. But after the Fugees held a surprise September reunion concert at a Dave Chappelle-hosted block party in Brooklyn, the question on everyone’s mind is when they’ll hit the studio again. Clef answered that, and more, in a recent conversation with NEWSWEEK’s Brian Braiker. Excerpts:
NEWSWEEK: You’re having a good week.
Wyclef Jean: Great week, man.
Tell me about the Golden Globe nomination. How does it feel?
It feels incredible to get a Golden Globe nomination. I feel like I’m just getting inside the music industry again.
continue...
