Wyclef Jean has been hospitalized in New Jersey after suffering stress and fatigue, the former Haitian presidential hopeful confirmed via his Twitter account on Monday (September 27).
The musician, who entered the race in hopes of succeeding the sitting Haitian president only to have his bid rejected by election officials, reportedly has been battling headaches since he last returned from the earthquake-ravaged country. A Haitian music message board first reported the news of ‘Clef‘s hospitalization over the weekend.
Earlier this month, Jean abandoned his appeal of the election board’s decision and set forth on a hectic schedule that included trips overseas, meetings with U.N. officials and work on a new album, according to HaitianBeatz.com.
The Jean family released a statement on Monday afternoon also confirming Wyclef‘s health status; the family said the charismatic former Fugees frontman would be back in the public eye within a week after taking on a “grueling” workload.
“Wyclef Jean has had an extremely grueling three months — truly an exhausting eight months, since the earthquake when he recommitted himself to our homeland and his passion for our people,” the statement read. “He is currently suffering the effects of lack of sleep and stress, global travel, even the endless public eye, and has asked that his fans and supporters bear with him for the next several days as he regains his physical health and stamina. Then he will be back out in front of the crusade to rebuild Haiti and his pledge to make it even better for business.”
Alicia Keys:“I did meet him one time, and it was amazing. “He was just an awesome dad, great with his kids. His kids were so smart and attentive. They were there in the conversation as well. We had a great time. We threw around paper airplanes his son was making – like these really cool ones that were just brilliant. It was just beautiful to meet him. I’m glad I got the chance.”
Wyclef Jean: “He came to see me at the studio and he spent a whole hour with me,” Wyclef Jean said. “We talked Haiti, we talked about Jamaica and we talked about music, and that was one of the greatest times ever in my life”
Smokey Robinson:“He was 10 years old, and he had just come to Motown, and [Motown artist and Jackson 5 mentor] Bobby Taylor and I used to take Michael to the golf course with us. He would ride around in the cart with us and critique our golf game, and when we’d hit a bad shot, he’d laugh. I was absolutely flabbergasted when I saw how talented he was when he was 10 years old. He was 10, but he was 30! He sang like he was 30, he danced like he was 30. He was awesome.”
Berry Gordy: “At home last night, I was looking at some of my old pictures with him, from the early rehearsals to ones with he and my son on the baseball field as we played our weekly Gordy-Jackson baseball games,” he said. “For the world, Michael’s legacy will always be his music and his artistry. But for me it will be so much more. The memories of watching of watching him grow from a mere 9-year-old kid with boundless determination and talent to become perhaps the greatest entertainer of all time – it is a bittersweet moment.”
Rapper Flo Rida sits in an interview and talks about his new album R.O.O.T.S (Route of Overcoming the Struggle), his recording breaking single “Right Round” featuring Ke$ha, his life and the hardships of it growing up, his trip to Africa for the MTV Awards during the Barack Obama presidential election and how it changed and influenced him and more.
As previously reported, Flo Rida’s“Right Round” single broke digital history with 636,000 downloads in one week and over 2 million in total since it’s release .
Flo Rida’s album R.O.O.T.S features artists Nelly Furtado, Pleasure P, Akon, Wyclef Jean and others and production by Drumma Boy, Danja, DJ Montay, The Inkredibles, amongst others.
Flo Rida’s album R.O.O.T.S is scheduled for release March 31, 2009.
According to sources, Flo Rida Smacks Down Chris Brown Track, “It Could Have Been My Next Number 1″….
Flo Rida has decided to remove a collaboration track with Chris Brown from his upcoming R.O.O.T.S album due to the singer’s publicized issues with Rihanna.
The hitmaker revealed his choice to omit the track due to the public perception.
“I recorded a great song with Chris,” Flo Rida said in an interview. “But I won’t be releasing it now because of what’s going on with him and Rihanna. It could have been my next number one.” (Hollyscoop)
Despite the removal, the Florida-bred emcee has tagged additional singers for the project….
Flo Rida and Brown collaborated for the track called “Sweat,” which was supposed to be the second single off the record. The rapper collaborated with Wyclef Jean and Ne-Yo for his new album but the track he recorded with 19-year-old Brown will not be included on the album. R.O.O.T.S is expected to be released in late March. (All Headline News)
Along with music, Brown has also been dropped from the movie promotion of Bone Deep….
Sony Screen Gems will “erase” Brown‘s performance from the promotion of the upcoming film Bone Deep. Also starring T.I., Brown was to be the centerpiece of the film’s promotion in the urban market, appearing in commercials and movie posters. Instead, following Brown‘s alleged assault of girlfriend Rihanna, producers will focus marketing around T.I., who may still be in prison when the film is released in January 2010. Brown‘s role in the film itself will not be reduced. (Rolling Stone)
While Brown has been painted as the “bad guy,” fellow R&B singer Ne-Yo is willing to hear him out.
“I wanted to talk to them before I made a comment,” Ne-Yo said in an interview. “I spoke to Rihanna. She says she’s fine. She didn’t go into detail about what happened. I understand it’s a painful situation…I haven’t had a chance to talk to Chris yet. I just wanna sit down and talk to that dude and just explain if he doesn’t understand: ‘That’s not something that’s excusable, bruh. You have to get a little smarter about whatever it is going on in your relationship. You have to get a little smarter about how you handle certain situations.'” (MTV News)
Source: Various Sources
“In my opinion I think the song should stary. I think it’s a very good song, and if Chris Brown and Flo Rida’s fans are true fans they will support it regardless of what happened between Chris Brown and Rihanna.A Fan is a fan no matter what. I support them both and think the track is hot!.”
♦ Click here to listen to the track, “Sweat”.
Enjoy!
The Fugees were a critically-acclaimed New Jersey hip hop group that rose to fame in the mid-1990s, whose repertoire included elements of soul and Caribbean music, particularly reggae. The members of the group are rapper/singer/producer Wyclef Jean, rapper/singer Lauryn Hill, and rapper Pras Michel. Deriving their name from the term refugee, Jean and Michel are Haitian Americans, while Hill is African American. The group recorded two albums — one of which, The Score(1996), was a multi-platinum and Grammy-winning success — before disbanding in 1997. Hill and Jean each went on to successful solo recording careers; Michel focused on soundtrack recordings and acting, though he found commercial success with his song “Ghetto Supastar”.
History…
The trio released their first LP, Blunted on Reality, in 1994. The album spawned two underground hits, “Nappy Heads (Mona Lisa)” and “Vocab”, but failed to live up to the reputation of the group’s live shows and gained little mainstream attention.
The Score became one of the biggest hits of 1996 and one of the best-selling hip hop albums of all time. The Fugees gained attention for their cover versions of old favorites, with the group’s reinterpretations of “No Woman No Cry” by Bob Marley & the Wailers and “Killing Me Softly with His Song” by Roberta Flack, the latter being their biggest pop hit. The album also included a re-interpretation of The Delfonics’ “Ready or Not Here I Come (Can’t Hide From Love)” in their hit single, “Ready or Not”, which featured a prominent sample of Enya’s Boadicea without the singer’s permission. This prompted a lawsuit resulting in a settlement where Enya was given credit and royalties for her sample. The Fugees have continuously thanked and praised Enya for her deep understanding of the situation, for example in the liner notes for The Score. The Fugees won two 1997 Grammy Awards with The Score (Best Rap Album) and “Killing Me Softly” (Best R&B Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group).
The Fugees on the cover of Rolling Stone.
In 1997, the Fugees all began solo projects: Hill started work on her critically acclaimed The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill; Jean began producing for a number of artists (including Canibus, Destiny’s Child and Carlos Santana) and recorded his debut album The Carnival; Michel, with Mya and Ol’ Dirty Bastard, recorded the single “Ghetto Supastar” for the soundtrack to the Warren Beatty/Halle Berry film Bulworth.
Refugee Camp, while a name sometimes credited to the trio, also refers to a number of artists affiliated with them, and particularly Jean. John Forté was an early member, rapping and drum programming on two of The Score’s tracks, and was currently serving a 14-year prison sentence for cocaine trafficking. His sentence was commuted in November of 2008 by President George Bush.
Short-lived reunion…
The three Fugees reunited and performed on September 18, 2004 at the concert in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn featured in the film Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, headlining a star-studded bill that included Kanye West, Mos Def, Jill Scott, Erykah Badu, The Roots, Talib Kweli, Common, Big Daddy Kane, Dead Prez, Cody ChestnuTT and John Legend. Their performance received mostly positive reviews, many of which praised Hill‘s near a cappella rendition of “Killing Me Softly with His Song”.
The Fugees would make their first televised appearance in almost ten years at BET’s 2005 Music Awards on 28 June, opening the show with a twelve minute set. With a new album announced to be in the works, one track, “Take It Easy”, was leaked online and eventually released as an Internet single on September 27, 2005. It peaked at #40 on the Billboard R&B Chart and was met with poor reviews, noting its radical departure from the Fugees‘ sound.
In 2005, the Fugees embarked on a European tour – their first together since 1997 – from November 30 to December 20, playing in Finland, Austria, Norway, Germany, Italy, France, England, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland and Slovakia. The tour received mixed reviews. On February 6, 2006, the group reunited for a free show in Hollywood, with tickets given away to about 8,000 fans by local radio stations. Later that month, a new track called “Foxy” leaked, a song dubbed the “REAL return of the Fugees” by several online MP3 blogs. Dave Chappelle, the Fugees and the rest of the film’s line-up also toured several cities in February and March, under the moniker Block Party All-Stars featuring Dave Chappelle, in promotion of the film’s release.
However, following the reunion tour, the album that was said to be in the works did not materialize and was postponed indefinitely as relationships between band members apparently deteriorated. During an interview with SOHH.com, Michel confirmed that the group was “straight dead”. He indicated this was due to Hill having “some things she needs to deal with.” In August 2007, he reiterated this, stating, “Before I work with Lauryn Hill again, you will have a better chance of seeing Osama Bin Laden and [George W.] Bush in Starbucks having a latte, discussing foreign policies, before there will be a Fugees reunion […] At this point I really think it will take an act of God to change her, because she is that far out there.” On March 4, 2008, Jean admitted on the Howard Stern Show that he believed that Hill suffered from bipolar disorder and stated that “she needs meds”.
Sources: Wikipedia, Tinypic, YouTube
Check out their video below: Fugees – “Killing Me Softly”
JNEL & J. Magazine 