My daddy was a minister, my grandfather was a voodoo priest, my uncle was a mason; I was raised with a lot of studies.

When the Fugees were big, we made a whole lot of money, and what happened was that I saved my money and never spent it.

It will be true work that the kids can follow, as opposed to a facade of you doin' something, and you're doin' nothing.

I don't see no more Billie Holidays, no more Marvin Gayes, no more Smokey Robinsons. I don't even see no more Nirvanas.

I'm 27 years old. I'm going to go into Hollywood really arrogant. I'll be breaking a lot of rules. It's going to be hot.

I want people to experience what it's like being from Haiti, coming to America, being Wyclef - multicultural, multilingual.

The voice of an Angel, the Heart of a Lamb, the spirit of a Lioness, the presence of a Goddess, love you R.I.P Whitney Houston.

My grandfather was a voodoo priest. A lot of my life dealt with spirituality. I can close my eyes and remember where I come from.

It's important, when you see darkness, to understand that there's light ahead of that, and I'm the living testimony of that, you dig?

At the end of the day, just know that God made you, so you can be your own individual, and don't let people give you that peer pressure.

I come from a hut, from a hut I went to the projects, from the projects I went to a mansion so you out there you have ABSOLUTLY NO EXCUSE!

When I'm rhyming it's all in my head... Like the slaves, when they were picking cotton, they would block out their minds. They would sing.

I grew up in a Caribbean family household, so the parents are always right. My father smacked me up til I was 20. It was a strict household.

It was important that I became successful. People say they do it for the love, and yes, you do it for the love, but you want to be successful

Haiti is my country. The same way the Beatles are received in England - that's how Wyclef Jean is received in Haiti, do you know what I mean?

It was important that I became successful. People say they do it for the love, and yes, you do it for the love, but you want to be successful.

If I can't take five years out to serve my country as president, then everything I've been singing about, like equal rights, doesn't mean anything.

You get quick money, it's beautiful, there's sunshine, but at the end of the day, you find out it's all a masquerade, baby. It's not what it seems.

When you enter the realm of politics, you don't enter it because you want to be popular. When I want to be popular, I pull on a guitar and sing a song.

With Yele Haiti, the first thing was I'm proud of the organization and the work that the organization has done, and in the future hope to continue doing.

I always want to know what's wrong with you, why you ain't smiling. That's just my character; I just love people and want to see people having a good time.

When I want to be popular, I pull on a guitar and sing a song. Pras did not affect me because, in the realm of politics, he has never stood up for anything.

I lived in a hut with no roof, and I rode to school on a donkey. I used to shoot birds with a slingshot to cook for dinner. Now I prefer to get my food from KFC.

The first thing you must learn is to always treat a man and a woman with total respect and honor, 'cause if you do that, the legacy you will leave behind will be work.

I've known Clinton for probably the last year that he was in office and stuff. The vibe that I always got from Clinton was, you-know, he never gave me a president-vibe.

Right now I'm trying to help my sister with her school situation, 'cause she's real smart. Besides me, my other brother's a lawyer... my parents stressed education a lot.

It was important to me to go back to the grungy, because all of a sudden you get excited again, 'cause there's another whole dimension of 'Clef that you wasn't expecting to hear.

Once we revolutionize the music industry, then we can revolutionize our communities and everything in the world, 'cause what happens is, the communities are listening to the music.

Michael Jackson was my musical God. He made me believe that all things are possible, and through real and positive music. He can live forever! I love Michael Jackson. God Bless him.

No matter how far you go, if you can't go back to the essence, you're not sayin' nothin'. The essence for me is hip-hop. But the hip-hop community I came up in isn't a loyal community.

You might see a female, and she triggers something, or you see an old lady walking down the street, she triggers something. You go to Africa, you see the vibes, that triggers something.

The Wyclef Jean music is eclectic music. Wyclef represents music -eclectic music. I've been doing this music since I was a child, and I said I will refuse for anyone to put me into a box.

In the beginning I had women problems, 'cause you know, I represent for the guys. But I was actin' a fool, whilin' out. I'm not sayin' I don't while out anymore. I'm not gonna lie to you.

I know that the nice shines I have on is going to pass. The nice cars will pass. All that will stay is the music and the work. That's where I get the inspiration to help people out and work

My accomplishment has helped millions of kids see that they can come from a poor family and go somewhere, make something out of themselves. Ive been doing it for seven years professionally.

I know that the nice shines I have on is going to pass. The nice cars will pass. All that will stay is the music and the work. That's where I get the inspiration to help people out and work.

I think it's cool to do stuff in a different language. Basically, I learned English through listening to rap. A lot of people think it's funny. But it's true; I used to try to get the accents.

Me and my father went through a war period where we wasn't talking. He wanted me to go to theology school - I didn't want to go. I wanted to do music. I told him I was a minister through music.

That's the best way to feed the human mind. That's how Bob Marley did it. He never put it in your face. After you got the groove, you were just singing the hooks, because you thought it was cool.

When you're talkin' about a great man, you're not talking more than one person. It's not about how many people are followin' you, it's about the fact that you're a great man, that's all it's about.

Coming from Haiti and growing up in Brooklyn, there's a lot of European influence when I get dressed up. I wear a lot of fitted suits, elegant cuts; I think it's cool to mash up a lot of different looks.

For me, before I go on stage, it all depends. Might be a girl, might be an edible, might be a verse, might be somebody mixing something in my drink without me knowing - hopefully that won't happen tonight.

I don't have to be president to do great things for my country, but at the same time, to get legislation and policy passed, you have to be in some kind of office. So I don't know what the future will lead to.

'Masquerade' is the autobiography of Wyclef Jean. A lot of people know me through my work with Carlos Santana or Destiny's Child, winning all those Grammy Awards, but you do not know what is going on inside me.

America is a melting pot of immigrants. So actually, if you took all of the immigrants outside of America, you'd be missing a lot of flavor, starting with the food, with the culture, with the dance, with everything.

What I learned from people like Carlos Santana is that you cannot get too happy after working for five years in the industry. It takes years and years, and I learned to keep a straight head and keep on working harder and harder.

On Sundays I give the sermons like my dad used to give. I utilize it as a revolutionary tool, as a thinking tool, as a tool where I can recruit people, DM them, and give them information that I feel that they need going forward.

My first record wasn't even with the Fugees. I was signed to Big Beat Records, so I was signed back in 1989 to the label that the Knocks are on now. You can always tell which generation had the pulse based on how they see things.

When I rap, I get to express myself in a way where putting words together is like poetry, and sometimes it's better to talk in certain expressions than sing, you know? So I love, I love to rhyme when I want to express certain things.

What I picked up on Michael Jackson - because I study people when I watch them - the way that he counts his rhythm with his feet and his neck at the same time is crazy... so he's hearing multiple things at once. And I don't know anybody who does that.

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