N.J. resident Wyclef Jean is expected to announce run for Haiti president | NJ.com

N.J. resident Wyclef Jean is expected to announce run for Haiti president

Published: Thursday, August 05, 2010, 8:00 AM Updated: Thursday, August 05, 2010, 8:30 AM

Star-Ledger Staff
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Enlarge Star-Ledger Wire Services Wyclef Jean appears at press conference at the Sheraton Hotel in New York talking about Yele Haiti, his relief organization, and about helping Haiti. Jean is holding his Greencard and Haitian Passport. Wyclef Jean gallery (6 photos)

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NEWARK — Even when he was a skinny kid at Vailsburg High School in Newark’s West Ward, Wyclef Jean let his ambitions consume him.

His strict parents opened up a church and wanted nothing more than for young Jean to make the most of a free education he never would have received had his family not moved from Haiti. But Jean only wanted to make it in music.

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"If it didn’t have an educational component, our parents weren’t interested," said Jean’s brother, Samuel. "But Clef would sneak out of the house to go to dance clubs and perform or go to open mic events to sing or to rap. You couldn’t stop him."

Armed with his aspirations, Jean would go on to become the Grammy-winning leader of the hip-hop group The Fugees, an always-in-demand music producer and philanthropist.

Now he has a new ambition — to be president of Haiti.

Jean, 40, is expected to officially announce his candidacy for the top seat of the earthquake-ravaged country tonight on CNN’s Larry King Live. And despite the many obstacles that lie in his path between now and the Nov. 28 election to replace President Rene Preval, Samuel Jean says brother Wyclef is in it to win it.

"He would not do this if he wasn’t serious about it," Samuel Jean said. "He would not get involved in it if he didn’t think now was the time to do it and actually affect the process in a positive way for the Haitian people."

Jean’s activism with his home country has grown with his musical successes. He started Yele Haiti, in 2005, and the grass-roots foundation has raised over $9 million.

After the Jan. 12 earthquake that killed up to 300,000 people and left more than one million homeless, Jean, who was unavailable for commeN.J. resident Wyclef Jean is expected to announce run for Haiti president | NJ.com