WYCLEF JEAN
w/ Akon and Sean Paul. June 17 (7pm). Rexall Place (7424-118 Ave). Tickets available through Ticketmaster (451-8000/ticketmaster.ca).
Hip-hop and social commentary have been bedfellows since Grandmaster Flash’s anti-drug song “White Lines (Don’t Do It)” was released in 1984. More than 20 years later, artists are still addressing societal ills through “rebel music,” as Wyclef Jean calls it. But while Jean’s music, which incorporates a myriad of sounds—from American rap and the reggae stylings of his native Haiti to world music—is often political, music is not the only medium the singer/songwriter, rapper, and producer uses to spark social change.
Three years ago, Jean launched the Yéle Haiti foundation, a non-political organization that distributes food, builds schools, and provides scholarships to students in Haiti, with the goal of rebuilding the nation after decades of violence and poverty. And just last spring, Jean was made a roving ambassador of the country by Haitian president René Préval, charged with the task of improving the nation’s image abroad.
“I’m trying to help paint a new, more positive image of Haiti,” Jean says over the phone from Argentina, where he is filming the video for the next single from his latest album, Carnival Vol. II: Memoirs of an Immigrant. “The light that you see it in is so negative. There’s more to Haiti than just [capital city] Port-au-Prince. Just like when you go to Jamaica—there’s Kingston, but there’s also Montego Bay and Ocho Rios. I’m not saying there aren’t problems, but these are some of the most beautiful places in the world. My goal is to get people to look at Haiti in a different light.”
Jean thinks that his music can make just as much of an impact as his humanitarian efforts can. If just one person researches the food crisis in Africa or feels compelled to learn more about a foreign country he knows nothing about after listening to one of his songs, Jean considers his music successful. But getting kids to listen to music which addresses social issues is a balancing act.
“It’s always challenging because it still has to stay cool and hip for the kids,” Jean admits. “It can’t feel preachy. I always feel that there’s a way to make music that’s real instead of preachy. People always ask, ‘How can you make music that has substance to it which kids still think is cool?’ and I tell them, ‘Just try to be honest.’
“I don’t ever try to paint myself as a saint, you know what I’m saying? I never paint myself as this super-good guy. I paint myself as a guy who worked at Burger King. You don’t have to stand on that corner and sell drugs. Do you want to be a millionaire? You can still do it, the honest way. That’s the kind of message I’m trying to promote to the kids.”
To ensure that Carnival Vol. II connected with young audiences, Jean enlisted the aid of Atlanta rapper T.I. as co-executive producer. Jean had done some production on the rapper’s 2007 disc T.I. vs T.I.P., and the two discovered they shared a chemistry in the recording booth. “I wanted a younger ear to listen to what I was coming with,” Jean explains. “I wanted a fresh opinion and I didn’t want it from someone my age necessarily. I wanted the perspective of a kid who was in his 20s. T.I. and I connected so strongly musically, so I was like, ‘Take a listen to this and tell me what you think,’ and when he heard it he was like, ‘Yo, this swagger is so crazy, I’ve got to be a part of this!’”
And it appears T.I. was right. The disc’s lead single “Sweetest Girl” has charted in 12 countries, reaching #18 on the Canadian Hot 100 charts. The song features Akon, Niia, and Lil Wayne, whose new album Tha Carter III has become the first rap album in more than three years to sell one million copies in its first week of release. Not since 50 Cent’s The Massacre has an album managed to equal those opening-week numbers, an alarming falloff in sales for a genre that used to be one of the record industry’s most reliable sellers.
“[Wayne] did it the old school way,” Jean says. “He did it grassroots, and put out a thousand mixtapes, and did features for everybody. You can still push units; you just have to keep innovating. Rappers need to discover new ways to build demand for their music, just like Wayne did.”
Carnival Vol. II only sold only 46,519 copies in its first week, but perhaps to Wyclef Jean, that means his message has reached over 40,000 people.
