Wyclef Jean

Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper and musician.

At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family.

He first achieved fame as a founding member, co-producer and guitarist of the New Jersey hip hop trio The Fugees, alongside Lauryn Hill and Pras Michel.

Named after the biblical scholar John Wycliffe, Wyclef Jean was born in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti on October 17, 1969.

At nine years old, he immigrated with his family to Brooklyn, New York City, and ultimately settled in East Orange and Newark, New Jersey.

Jean began to make music as a child, and as a teen, his mother, having recognized his musical talent, bought him a guitar.

He has cited "reggae" artist Bigga Haitian as one of his early influences, as well as neighborhood heroes MC Tiger Paw Raw and producer Lobster v. Crab.

He has stated that he played music to earn respect.

Jean graduated from Newark's Vailsburg High School and enrolled for one semester at Five Towns College in New York.

Jean and other musicians formed a group in the 1980s under the name Tranzlator Crew.

Jean and band member Lauryn Hill pursued a romantic relationship beginning in 1992, and ending in 1997, the year of the band's breakup.

Jean later revealed that Hill's dishonesty about the parentage of her child, Zion David, caused the rift that split the group up.

After they signed with Ruffhouse Records and Columbia Records in 1993, they renamed their group as Fugees – an abbreviation of "refugees", and also a sometimes derogatory reference to Haitian immigrants.

The group released the albums Blunted on Reality (1994) and The Score (1996), the latter becoming one of the best-selling albums of all time.

The group's debut album, Blunted on Reality, was released in 1994.

It achieved limited commercial success, peaking at number 62 on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart.

In 1996, Fugees released their second album, titled The Score. The album achieved significant commercial success in the U.S., topping the Billboard 200.

It was later certified as six-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Jean would follow this with the release of his first solo studio album, Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival (1997), which contains the top ten hit "Gone till November".

In 1997, Jean was featured on Destiny Child's breakout single "No, No, No".

The album peaked at number 122 on the UK Albums Chart in 1997, and it was certified gold by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP).

Blunted on Reality spawned three singles: "Boof Baf", "Nappy Heads" and "Vocab".

"Nappy Heads" was the Fugees' first single to be ranked on the US Billboard Hot 100, charting at number 49.

Afterwards, he co-wrote the 1999 singles "My Love Is Your Love" (for Whitney Houston) and "Maria Maria" (for Santana).

His second solo album The Ecleftic: 2 Sides II a Book (2000), included the song "911" (featuring Mary J. Blige), and was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

His third album Masquerade (2002), peaked within the top ten on the Billboard 200 chart.

The charity, which conducted education and welfare activities in Haiti between 2005 and 2010, effectively closed in 2012.

The New York Times reported that much of the money raised by the organization in the Hope for Haiti Now telethon was retained by Jean for his own benefit.

He is the recipient of three Grammy Awards, the BET Humanitarian Award, and a Vanguard Award from the NAACP Image Awards, in addition to being nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his musical work.

In 2006, he was featured on the US Billboard Hot 100 number one single "Hips Don't Lie" by Shakira.

His sixth studio album Carnival Vol. II: Memoirs of an Immigrant (2007), spawned the single "Sweetest Girl (Dollar Bill)" (featuring Akon, Niia & Lil Wayne)". Jean performed his single "Dar um Jeito (We Will Find a Way)", at the closing ceremony for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

In 2007, Jean was appointed Ambassador-at-Large of the Republic of Haiti by President René Préval.

In 2009 he enrolled in the Berklee College of Music to pursue his diploma.

Jean has been a resident of Saddle River, South Orange, and North Caldwell, New Jersey.

In 2010, he filed for candidacy in the 2010 Haitian presidential election.

However, Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council ruled him ineligible to stand for office, as he had not met the constitutional requirement to have been a resident in Haiti for five years prior to the election.

Jean's highly publicized efforts to raise relief funds after the 2010 Haitian earthquake were channeled through his charitable organization, Yéle Haiti.

In 2011, President Michel Martelly of Haiti awarded Jean with the National Order of Honour and Merit to the rank of Grand Officer.

Jean has also been inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame.

Jean is one of the artists who have reached the most radio charts on Billboard.