Wyclef Jean

One of the most inspiring facets of hip-hop star Wyclef Jean has been his commitment to rebuilding Haiti since his homeland's devastation by an  earthquake  in 2010. And one of the more interesting things he's done is run for president of the island nation. But his fund-raising efforts resulted in a financial scandal and his political aspirations were cut short by an unsuccessful run for office. However, in his new autobiography, “Purpose: An Immigrant's Story” (out Tuesday)

One of the most inspiring facets of hip-hop star Wyclef Jean has been his commitment to rebuilding Haiti since his homeland's devastation by an  earthquake  in 2010. And one of the more interesting things he's done is run for president of the island nation. But his fund-raising efforts resulted in a financial scandal and his political aspirations were cut short by an unsuccessful run for office. However, in his new autobiography, “Purpose: An Immigrant's Story” (out Tuesday)

Wyclef Jean's candidacy for president of this rubble-strewn country gives a charge of electricity to what so far has been feeble interest in upcoming elections. But the heroic narrative he's pitching — hip-hop superstar returning from America to rescue his homeland — will quickly get battle-tested in the fractious, murky and often violent world of Haitian politics. Jean's humanitarian organization, Yele Haiti Foundation, and his status as the most famous member of Haiti's diaspora give him immediate prominence.

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Cries of adulation -- and hunger -- followed Haitian-born singer Wyclef Jean and actor Matt Damon as they toured flood-ravaged Gonaives to call attention to suffering there. Tropical Storm Hanna and Hurricane Ike submerged the Haitian city and cut off roads. Damon and Jean encouraged help for the United Nations to raise more than $100 million for 800,000 Haitians in need. Jean's Yele Haiti charity is helping to distribute food.

As a live performer, Wyclef Jean runs strictly on instinct and adrenaline, and while the results can be wildly erratic, the Fugees-member-turned-solo-artist is rarely dull. With no new album to support and his birthday to celebrate, Wyclef was free to indulge himself during his late set at the House of Blues on Saturday, playing both MC, party host and Lothario while roaming freely among different styles. Wyclef could be hip-hop's Attention Deficit Disorder poster boy.

Score another hit for a Fugee member--Wyclef Jean has the highest-charting debut in the country this week with his second solo album, "The Ecleftic--2 Sides II a Book." "Ecleftic" sold 95,000 copies during its first week in stores to debut at No. 9 on the nation's tally of album sellers, compiled by SoundScan's retail monitoring service. At the top of the chart, meanwhile, St. Louis rapper Nelly, speaking to fans with the huge radio hit "Country Grammar," logs its third consecutive week at No.

Saving what had threatened to be a stay-in-the-seats night at the Hollywood Bowl, hip-hop's Haitian ambassador Wyclef Jean deftly tore open the slick surface of popular rap to deliver an irrepressible performance tapping storytelling skills, intelligent freestyling and deep roots in Caribbean and R&B music. By the end of his too-short set, he had transformed the polite crowd to hip-hop carnival revelers, with many stripping off their shirts and whirling them overhead.

Jean's vision of himself as a musical revolutionary doesn't exactly jibe with the shout-out he gives to Armani and Calvin Klein on his liner notes. But then revolutionaries are sometimes as contradictory as politicians. If Jean has his way about it, they'll apparently be better-dressed too. The Fugees member's ambitious stance on this solo project takes him from the symphony to the streets, and the classical underpinnings of "Apocalypse" actually serve to give that track a funkier bite.

Hip-hop soul queen Erykah Badu and rap jack-of-all-trades Wyclef Jean both emphasize personal and cultural empowerment in their work. But on Sunday at the Hollywood Bowl, these acclaimed artists took very different approaches to getting their messages across. Headliner Badu took the stage wearing a huge straw hat, floor-length grass vest, long emerald dress, thigh-length tiny braids and tall platform boots.

Mike Mills' semi-autobiographical drama "Beginners," about a young man whose widower father comes out of the closet, and Terrence Malick's mystical family epic, "Tree of Life," tied for best film of 2011 at the 21st annual Gotham Film Awards given out Monday evening in New York City. "Beginners," which stars Ewan McGregor and Christopher Plummer, also won for best ensemble cast. Felicity Jones took home the breakthrough actor award for her role as a lovestruck British woman in "Like Crazy.

First Wyclef Jean urged his supporters to respect last week's decision by Haiti's electoral council that he cannot run for president of the earthquake-hobbled Caribbean nation. Then this week, after announcing he would appeal the council's ruling, the Haitian American hip-hop singer sent out a message in Creole accusing the council of trickery. "Do you intend to continue supporting people who have no respect for Haiti's Constitution?" read the message on his Twitter account, which was later translated into English.

Grammy Award-winning hip-hop singer Wyclef Jean isn't going to be president of Haiti. Not now, anyway. The country's Provisional Electoral Council has rejected his candidacy along with 14 others and issued a list of 19 approved contenders for the Nov. 28 vote. Unfortunately, the commission did not explain its ruling, but it is widely understood that Jean and a handful of the others were declared ineligible to run because they had not lived in Haiti for five consecutive years as required by law. Jean initially accepted the decision, then backtracked on Twitter, saying he would challenge it. His first instinct was the right one. He can help Haiti most now by ending his bid with grace.

Haitian American hip-hop star Wyclef Jean is not on the list of approved candidates who satisfy legal requirements to run in Haiti's Nov. 28 presidential election, an electoral official said Thursday. The presidential bid by the 39-year-old singer-songwriter and international celebrity had triggered widespread enthusiasm in his poor, earthquake-ravaged Caribbean homeland. But it had been challenged on the grounds that Jean, whose primary residence is in New Jersey, did not fully meet the requirements, including a key one on Haitian residency.

Some Haitians have serious reservations about Wyclef Jean's candidacy for president. ( Los Angeles Times ) Sean Penn is suspicious too. ( Pop Eater ) TLC will give polygamists the "Jon and Kate" treatment this fall with "Sister Wives. " ( Los Angeles Times ) Rosie O'Donnell will join Oprah's cable network. ( Los Angeles Times ) Corbin Bernsen injured in bar brawl in Ohio. ( Huffington Post ) Laurence Fishburne's friends tried to buy up all of his daughter's porn DVDs.

Wyclef Jean's candidacy for president of this rubble-strewn country gives a charge of electricity to what so far has been feeble interest in upcoming elections. But the heroic narrative he's pitching — hip-hop superstar returning from America to rescue his homeland — will quickly get battle-tested in the fractious, murky and often violent world of Haitian politics. Jean's humanitarian organization, Yele Haiti Foundation, and his status as the most famous member of Haiti's diaspora give him immediate prominence.

Lilith Fair isn't the only groundbreaking pop tour of the late '90s. Though less ambitious in terms of the number of acts and the size of the venues, Smokin' Grooves is opening doors for rap artists much the same way Lilith has for women.

The answer was a commanding yes around 10 p.m. Wednesday the first time Wyclef Jean asked the audience if it was having a good time at his concert. The response was even more resoundingly positive half an hour later when he posed the same question again. But many fans at UC Irvine's Bren Events Center were surely wavering when Jean asked it a final time around 11:30. It's not that he had run out of good songs--he had simply abandoned them.

Programs like Friday's "Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief" do not exist to further musical careers, introduce new material or birth fruitful collaborations. Tragedies like last week's seismic disaster necessitate such urgent media efforts, and fundraising is their primary objective. Important information may also be transmitted; perhaps someone's consciousness will be raised. The pleasure, surprise or release that art can offer is merely added value. That said, several of the major names who came on board for Haiti went beyond the expected heartstring tugs.

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