Home »

BY PHIL ROURA

Fugees founder Wyclef Jean's heart is never far from his native country.

It's closing in on noon on a frigid Friday in New York and there are still a lot of loose ends to tie together before soul/reggae/rap star Wyclef Jean flies to his homeland, Haiti .

One of those tasks is talking to the Daily News about his comeback album, "Carnival Vol. II: Memoirs of an Immigrant" - 10 years removed from his first post-Fugees CD, "Carnival," and several from the grand funk he suffered following the death of his father, the Rev. Gesner Jean, in New Jersey in 2001.

Nearby is 2-year-old Angelina Jean. The only thing on her mind is a cookie.

"Daddy, can I have one?" asks the precocious toddler, whom Clef - as everyone calls him - and his wife, Marie, adopted in 2005.

"Angel, I'm busy."

"But I want it."

"You can have it later."

"I want it now."

Exasperated, Clef ends the debate with, "Just one!"

It's a giggly interruption during a chat about "Riot" and "Sweetest Girl," two of the reggae/rap tracks on the CD, which are bright and bouncy in sound but deep in substance. You'll get to hear them if you hip-hop to the Atlantic City House of Blues at the Showboat on Saturday or the Nokia Theatre in Times Square on Wednesday.

"'Riot' is about growing up in the streets," he explains. "I'm a product of that environment [ Haiti , Brooklyn and South Orange , N.J. ]. I dealt with it. I understand it. I overcame it. I'm challenging the kids to overcome their situation."

The video of "Sweetest Girl" begins with a successful model who's apparently making a lot of money. When it turns out that she's an illegal alien she ends up in a detention center. The model eventually escapes only to get caught up in a life of prostitution for mere dollars.

"Basically, the sweetest girl can be any girl. Things can happen to anybody," says the Grammy winner. "Just because some people have come here illegally, if they contribute to society and have done well, they shouldn't be placed in immigration camps. They haven't done anything wrong.

"The song is a metaphor for all those being deported today. In Florida , there are different rules for Haitians than there are for others, and they get thrown out of the country. That's just wrong."

Occasionally slipping into the third person, he adds that "Clef has always liked to send signals."

After his father died - he was pastor of the Church of the Nazarene in Newark - the signal was very different. He recorded "The Preacher's Son" in honor of his dad in 2003 and it seemed as if Clef's lively reggae beats and guitar riffs had retreated under a reflective canopy.

"Now I'm back. And I'm happy again. This is the fun Clef, the Clef who likes to keep things bouncy and who's returned to his roots. I'm still young enough to have an impact," says the 35-year-old singer-producer who coaxed Mary J. Blige, Lil Wayne, Serj Tankian, T.I., Norah Jones, Akon, Shakira, Chamillionaire and even Paul Simon onto "Carnival II."

But if he is a star here, he is nothing short of a god in Port-au-Prince .

"Well," he says with a laugh, " Jamaica has Bob Marley, I guess Haiti has Clef."

An official roving ambassador of goodwill for the island nation, he has even been mentioned in some circles as a possible presidential candidate some day. That may be a stretch but it is true that he is one of the few people in the world who has enough street cred to be able to walk into a slum and not be harmed. Indeed, he is looked upon as a savior, with teenagers following him like a Pied Piper.

"I hate it when people keep referring to Haiti as the poorest nation on Earth," he fumes. So several years ago, he started a self-help foundation called Yéle Haiti .

"This is not about handouts," he explains. "This is about helping people start their own businesses. We don't give them rice and beans. We help them grow their own rice and beans. Now, there are several Yéle Haiti Kitchens that are doing good.

"You know, the world today is on the brink - whether it's Brooklyn, or Pakistan , or Israel , or Haiti . This year, the United States is holding the most [important] election ever in its history - maybe the most important the world has ever had. We all have to get active and help each other."

It is almost time to head for the airport. But before he leaves Clef stops for a moment.

"You know what I want?" he asks. "I want to be a celebrity for change."