Artists are becoming more and more aware of their impact outside of music. With investors like Jay-Z, Diddy and Nas and Scarface looking to run for Houston city council, hip hop has been at the forefront of change in our communities for many years now. Wyclef Jean was even looking to become president of Haiti back in 2010, but ultimately got disqualified.
In a recent “Facts, Fads and a Fugee” panel, Wyclef talked about his decision to run for president.
“At a very young age, politics in Haiti has always been in the back of my mind, and I knew 80 percent of a population is living on less than a dollar a day. They talk about me running [for president] but five years from that I was at the Congress — there were a few bills that I got passed for my country,” he said. “I’m all about job creation. That’s my whole thing within my country.”
The Fugees member went on to say how being an artist helped him in making his decision to run.
“I need people to understand that rappers have brains,” he said. “I really don’t think they understand how smarts celebrities are. Not all of them, you know, but a lot of them.”
Wyclef did not mention if he would be interested in running again, but it’s always a possibility.
