Wyclef Jean

Artist bio

Wyclef Jean (born October 17, 1972 in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haïti) is an American rapper, producer, and member of the superstar hip hop trio The Fugees, known now for a series of high-profile hit singles.

Jean moved to Brooklyn, New York when he was nine, then to Northern New Jersey, where he began playing the guitar and studying jazz in his high school. In 1987, Jean, his friend (so close they told people they were cousins growing up) Prakazrel Michel (Pras) and his classmate, Lauryn Hill, formed a group called the Tranzlator Crew before becoming The Fugees. Wyclef worked as a cabdriver.

Recently he has been finding success as a collaborator - with his turn on Shakira's 2006 track 'Hips Don't Lie' hitting number one in many countries around the world.

In August of 2010, Jean announced his intent to seek the presidency of Haiti. This move came after his increasingly-high profile humanitarian work in the wake of the earthquake that devastated that nation. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.