Wyclef Jean Quotes

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.

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 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.

I decided to do what I do when I was 2 years old. At 2 years old, you know, I heard the sound of a drum playing in the village, and I found my own drum and just picked it up and started playing, the worst song ever written by Wyclef Jean.But it actually started a vibe.

I think the greatest thing about America is the American Dream.

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.

I'm hands-on with everything, always trying to reach the real people.

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.

I hear them playing Elvis, they on they way to Graceland. But they don't scare me, I'm in the trunk.

Ever since I was a little kid, there used to be the Carnival that used to pass.

As a producer, I always want to know what makes the kids tick.

I was looking for Quincy Jones, that's who I was obsessed with. Watching Mike [Jackson], I always knew that I had to be a showman on stage, because when people come to you live you always want them to come back. You gotta give them something to remember.

When I lose touch with the audience and the reality of what life really is, I'll be Vanilla Ice or something.

When you find the talent, it's always raw, and when you put the talent in the formula, you get the Knocks.

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.

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.

I was a jazz major in high school, in an all-jazz band. No matter what I do, it features my musical influences.

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.

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.

I feel that life is short, so we should be disciplined, but at the same time we should have a good time.

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

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.

I've been communicating with the Fugees, and it feels a lot better now than it did three or four years ago.

Mama, you know you raised me with no father figure. I wanna take this time to thank you, even though I'm doing life.

There's not a hip-hop artist that didn't snatch of piece of Bob Marley. It's totally impossible.

Rap records don't make you feel good no more. Six months after release, it can't come back as a classic.

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.

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.

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.

When I was 11 years old, I started playing guitar.

Bob Marley stood for universal peace and love. He tried to break racial barriers.

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.

I'm cheap, and I'm proud of it!

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.

It's the same with [my wife]
when she goes out, guys are macking on her. I'm not worried with the kind of relationship we've got. Most people, they don't leave room for mistakes in their relationship.

My father being a Caribbean minister, one day I stole the radio. The radio that I stole, I took it to school, showing off how big this boom box was and how bad I was at the time. Once my father figured out where I left the radio, he then got his belt and he walked me, he beat me all the way to where I had hid the radio, and with the boom box.

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.

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.

The reason why we love America so much is America is the only place you can actually come in and wave your flag.

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.

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.

I'm like a hippie. At the end of the day, that's what my voice caters to.

My songs are really never titled. Sometimes I call it one thing. then I change it.

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

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?

'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.

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.

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'm like Cab Calloway: I love the entertainment, and I've loved entertaining people ever since I was little.

For everybody who lost somebody out there and stuff, when you need therapy, music is the best way.

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.

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 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.

Wyclef is a musician that tried to unite as many musicians at once as possible. I am trying to be successful at that. The greatest challenge is that, I just got arrested for protesting in NYC for cutting the school budgets ... And I think that it's important to stand up. Schools are important.

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.

I'm the hip-hop Quincy Jones of today.

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.

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.

The thing which America allows you to be is it's the country of opportunities.

I like to go against the grain, against what's out there. Every day is like a challenge.

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.

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.

Whenever I would get in trouble with my dad, my mom would always save me. So that's why I like my mom - she cool.

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.