Wyclef Jean

The music that Wyclef Jean has written, performed, and produced, both solo and as founder and guiding member of the Fugees, has been a consistently powerful, pop cultural force for over two decades.In 1996, the Fugees released their monumental album The Score. The album, created in Wyclef’s studio in his uncle’s basement in New Jersey, hit No. 1 on the Billboard chart, spawned a trio of smash singles (including their indelible reinvention of Roberta Flack’s 1973 ballad “Killing Me Softly”), and is now certified six times platinum. But Wyclef, a child prodigy with a wealth of musical influences from jazz to classic rock to reggae, resisted the pressure to duplicate the sound and style of that masterwork. Instead he launched himself as a producer and solo artists. Ever since, Wyclef has been rewarded for his creativity and adventurousness with three Grammy Awards, a spot on the cover of Rolling Stone’s special “Top 50 Hip Hop Players,” and the opportunity to make music with such legends as Michael Jackson, Queen, Mick Jagger, and Paul Simon. He has released six albums that have sold nearly nine million copies worldwide, including his 1997 debut The Carnival. While it’s been six years since his last studio album, Wyclef has not abandoned his dedication to sonic excursions. His new album, the upcoming Clefication, features contributions from Afrojack, Emeli Sandé, and multi-platinum DJ/recording artist Avicii.