Playboy's 20Q: Wyclef Jean

What do Johnny Cash, Roger Waters and Jimi Hendrix have in common? They've all been covered by Nelust Wyclef Jean, the improbable crossover king and fusion visionary. As a member of the Fugees with Lauryn Hill and Prakazrel Michel, Wyclef upped hip-hop's musicality on 1996's The Score, which sold more than 6 million copies. As a successful solo artist, he's continued to play the maverick. While rap headed back into the Terrordome with Eminem and Jay-Z barking over beats, in late 2000 Wyclef dropped his second solo album into the mainstream. Like its multiplatinum predecessor, The Carnival, Ecleftic: 2 Sides II a Book is a dense, layered and playful disc. While other rap stars sell instant millions and flame out, Wyclef's albums have a way of racking up sales slowly by word of mouth. If the hip-hop audience that rushes to buy the latest tough-mouthed talent to bounce off the asphalt can't quite adjust to Clef's balance of rap and music, no matter. He's making music to outlast trends.

When it comes to arrangements, composition and musicianship, Wyclef is a rare virtuoso. He is fluent in four languages, out of necessity. He came to the U.S. from Haiti at the age of nine without knowing a word of English. As a new immigrant in the Brooklyn projects, he experienced the worst America had to offer: the early Haitian-AIDS hysteria, crack-fueled gunplay and black-on-black prejudice. His mom bought him a guitar to keep him off the streets. He proceeded to absorb and master late-Eighties airplay, from REO Speedwagon to rap. He played music with his family (younger sister and brother Melky and Sedeck have released a well-received CD), joined a few bands and got married to wife Claudinette at the age of 18. He worked as a cabdriver and security guard. Then in 1993 the Fugees were signed to a contract. The Score was their second release and was recorded for $60,000 in Wyclef's basement. Their blockbuster seller led to problems within the group--not the " least of which was the end of an affair between Wyclef and Hill.

We asked Senior Editor Christopher Napolitano to talk with Wyclef during a brief break in Clef's touring in support of The Ecleftic. Napolitano says: "I first met Wyclef years ago at a fashion shoot. Though he never plays the prima donna, his first instinct is to come off hard. Once he settles in, he wins you over by talking freely. He has the charisma of a preacher, someone compelling enough to have you sipping Kool-Aid and cyanide. We started our conversation by talking about shitty New York neighborhoods."

1

[Q]Playboy: Your father took you from Haiti to the projects in Brooklyn and then New Jersey, places not associated with the American dream. How did you react to the promised land?

[A]Jean: I was one of the kids who came here wanting to be somebody. In Haiti they made America sound like the land of treasure and gold. So to end up in the projects was a real culture shock. You're fighting against the odds. I was either going to end up as Scarface, Sidney Poitier or Duke Ellington.

2

[Q]Playboy: What did you do when people made fun of you for being foreign?

[A]Jean: Kids used to say, "Go back to the islands." And it hurt me. I couldn't understand, because I was black and they were, too. I was like, "Aren't we all supposed to get along here?" And the answer was, "No! We're not!" One time I showed up on the avenue with two big machetes, like the ones I posed with on the cover of The Source. Everyone else had little .22s. I said, "Who did boom, boom, boom?" Next thing you know, a fight erupts. My mother's looking out the window, yelling, "Get your butt back in the house, boy." I'm real good with a machete.

3

[Q]Playboy: Did your family in Haiti practice voodoo?

[A]Jean: One time my grandpa closed his hand and then opened it, and a dove was sitting in his palm. He asked me how he did it. I was little, but I was already a smartass and said, "You already had the dove in your hand. It's obvious." But when I got older, I realized, whoa, his hands aren't that big. Then, a little later, somebody told me, "You know your grandfather was a voodoo priest, right?"

4

[Q]Playboy: What's worse--being poor in Haiti or being poor in America?

[A]Jean: It is much badder down there than it is here. People in America have clothes and an apartment, even if it is in the projects. Down there an apartment in the projects would be like paradise. A house down there is made of hay, so when it rains the whole house gets fucked up. They really don't know where their next meal is coming from. I used to shoot pigeons out of the sky with a slingshot. You don't need to do that in the States. You don't look at pigeons as food. The government here gives everyone a little money.

5

[Q]Playboy: Do younger recording artists look to you for advice?

[A]Jean: A lot of kids call me and complain. I always say, "You signed the contract and now what are you getting?" They say, "I have a car, a house, this and that." But I ask, "Do you really own those things? Whose name is on the papers? Is it your name?" But it's usually in their manager's name. And I try to explain that it doesn't belong to them. About 75 percent of the kids making money out there right now are in that situation.

6

[Q]Playboy: At your fantasy concert, who's performing, (continued on page 162) Wyclef Jean (continued from page 135)

If we'd drop a Fugees album, the first week's sales wouldn't be less than a million copies.

who's the road manager and who's hanging out backstage?

[A]Jean: The women backstage would be Josephine Baker and Marilyn Monroe. That's an easy one. The band is me, Eric Clapton, Bob Marley, Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page. The road manager is Big Red from The Five Heartbeats.

7

[Q]Playboy: How did Tommy Mottola react to your spoof of him on The Ecleftic?

[A]Jean: No one cracks jokes about Tommy Mottola. You got to have the balls to do it. He called me early in the morning and said, "Hello, Wyclef. This is Tommy Mottola. I heard you had me on this record. You think this thing is a joke? Fuck you. You trying to make me sound soft or something?" I said, "Whoa!" And then he said, "Ah ha--got you! I was just kidding, man. I love it." He said it was the funniest thing he had heard in a long time.

8

[Q]Playboy: The Rock made the switch from wrestler to recording artist with It Doesn't Matter. If you became a wrestler, what would your persona be?

[A]Jean: I'd be Jimmy Superfly Snuka. My ultimate move would be standing on the ropes and having my crooked manager, Mr. Biggie, pass me an acoustic guitar. I would leap up in the air and when I landed, pound the guitar on the cat's head, knocking him unconscious.

9

[Q]Playboy: What's the most important lesson in the Bible?

[A]Jean: When Christ saw Mary Magdalene, he didn't say, "Yo, are you a hooker?" He approached her with his mack game, he had his pimping game on. He was like, "Hey girl, what you doing working this strip?" And she said, "You know, I'm chilling, daddy. What you want to do?" And he said, "I just want to take you to the higher ground, find out what's going on." We can't condemn people for what they do.

10

[Q]Playboy:Red Light District deals with falling in love with a stripper. Could you convince a stripper that your Ascap contract entitles you to a free lap dance? JEAN: Definitely, because I have the gift of gab. With the gift of gab you don't need to spend any money. Because if I say my Ascap contract permits me to get a free lap dance, they'll believe it--as long as they think that later on they'll get something in return. I'm the original musical pimp. I definitely get my conversation on with a lot of those girls. They are smart. They can spot the money coming through the door. When they see me, all they hear is ka-chang, ka-ching. They know how to talk. They get inside the head of a man. You go in looking for a lap dance, you get an hour and a half of conversation. Then you just pay the chick and you bounce.

11

[Q]Playboy: What's the current status of the Fugees?

[A]Jean: The Fugees are in a state of confusion, but no one ever called a press conference saying they were quitting the band. The Fugees was Lauryn, Pras and Clef. You heard the impact of talent. Are they going to ever do something collectively? I ask myself that every day, and things are looking better. If we'd drop a Fugees album, the first week's sales wouldn't be less than a million copies. But what does that mean? Absolutely nothing. At the end of the day, it's all about chemistry.

12

[Q]Playboy: What female rock star got you hot when you were little?

[A]Jean: Madonna is my all-time favorite. She defied all forms and all laws. She beat all the odds. When I was sitting in Burger King and Holiday came on, I really felt like I went on a holiday.

13

[Q]Playboy: If you ever made a movie, what would the title be?

[A]Jean: It would be called Sharon Stone Falls in Love With a Black Dirk Diggler. Sharon Stone is banging. I have a major crush on her. There would be a scene in the movie with me in a jockstrap and a guitar behind my back. Sharon Stone would not even have to audition. The minute she got there I would just signal the director to start shooting. Start shooting now, man.

14

[Q]Playboy: Chicks tend to sing about the same old things: getting dumped on by a guy, falling in love and kicking men's asses. If you had the power to excise certain subjects from female singers, what would they be?

[A]Jean: Girls now are all singing, "He dumped me, feel this lawsuit, I'm taking all your money, kill all men" or "I pay my own bills, fuck you, you hurt me, your day will come, no I will not come back to you." [Laughs] I want to hear songs in which they don't kill the men. They should let men know how they feel, and how to make things better. No songs say, "Damn. Can we work on this? You're only human, you're made of flesh and blood and you made a mistake. You're just doing what every man does. Could you not do it again?"

15

[Q]Playboy: Cell phone, pager, e-mail, fax machine. The technological revolution has made it easier for ex-girlfriends to give guys a hard time. Which innovation is the worst?

[A]Jean: The cell phone is very bad, but two-way pagers are even worse. When a girl gets mad, she can just punch FUCK YOU into the message. And then you hear beep, beep. You open it up and it says FUCK YOU. I've seen my friends get so mad they've broken their pagers. Women don't even waste time picking up a phone anymore. It's just like--bam!

16

[Q]Playboy: When you look at a woman, what musical instruments come to your mind? JEAN: Guitar, saxophone, bass. And then sometimes a drum.

17

[Q]Playboy: Jennifer Lopez: When is a big booty too much booty?

[A]Jean: I think Jennifer Lopez' butt is overrated. It's a lovely ass, but there are a lot of Jennifer Lopezes out there. Salma Hayek has a nice ass, too. But man, Jennifer Lopez does know how to work that ass the best. I'll give her that much.

18

[Q]Playboy: You're in the limo with Donald Trump. You see flashing lights. He hands you something to hold on to. What do you say?

[A]Jean: I say, "No, you hold on to it. You got more money than me, and better lawyers."

19

[Q]Playboy: If you and Rudy Giuliani are trapped together in an elevator, who's more scared?

[A]Jean: He's more scared. My nickname is Dracula.

20

[Q]Playboy: You're in the south of France, and you're performing at a club when Baby Doc Duvalier and his wife show up. What song do you play?

[A]Jean:Crazy Baldheads by Bob Marley. "We're going to chase those crazy bald-heads out of town."

If we'd drop a fugees album, the first week's sales wouldn't be less then a million copies