Interview with LiveDaily

Wyclef Jean's new album "The Ecleftic" begins with a couple of songs that address what Fugee fans everywhere want to know: When's the next record?

While the next 16 songs don't reveal a concrete answer to the question, they do give fans plenty to chew on while they wait for the troubled trio to hammer out a peace agreement and get to writing. Guests on "The Ecleftic" range from the somewhat predictable (Mary J. Blige and Wyclef's little sister Melky Sedeck) to the left field (Kenny Rogers and pro wrestler the Rock).

LiveDaily correspondent Colin Devenish caught up with Wyclef as he was in the final weeks of his MTV Campus Invasion Tour with De La Soul and the Blackeyed Peas.

LiveDaily: You start off "Ecleftic" with the songs "Columbia Records" and "Where Fugees At?", where you're joking about people wanting another Fugees record. How much pressure is there to release another album?

Wyclef: Actually there hasn't been no pressure at all. I think the pressure comes from it doing so well, but it's like I really want to do another Fugees record, I want to set it up. It's like on the record: Pras, Lauryn, if you're listening give me a call. I'm getting the fans charged up for it.

LiveDaily: Have you heard from Pras or Lauryn since that song came out?

Wyclef: I heard from them before that song. The vibe is definitely good.

LiveDaily: There's a line in "Where Fugees At" where you say, "You wanted it so bad you took all the production credit." It's been reported that line is about Lauryn. Was she upset about that?

Wyclef: No. When I say, "You wanted it so bad you took all the production credit," I'm talking about kids that get ganked in the industry. I started off with a production company doing most beats and not getting credit. ... I guess some people are trying to pair me and Lauryn and trying to add to the chaos.

LiveDaily: You put together a pretty varied cast on the album--people like Kenny Rogers and the Rock. What made you want to work with them?

Wyclef: I just thought I needed to come out with an incredible cast, using everybody in a way that's unorthodox. Kenny Rogers, I put him on the hard-core record, I put The Rock on a ska track, rapping to a ska beat. LiveDaily: Had the Rock ever recorded before?

Wyclef: Not to my knowledge. He was incredible. I already had the whole thing written. He delivered it very well.

LiveDaily: "Perfect Gentleman" is all about your love of strip clubs. How does your wife feel about that song?

Wyclef: The thing is, if you have a real woman next to you, then she has to know what you do. Forget about how my wife feels about it, how would your wife feel about it? Are you married?

LiveDaily: No.

Wyclef: We love to go into the land of fairy tales. "Perfect Gentleman," it's the land of fairy tales. My wife knows I'm not going to marry no motherf---ing stripper. Me and my boys go out and get lap dances in the clubs. At the end of the day if you have a wife or girlfriend that can't tell the difference when you're kidding and when you're serious, there's a problem.

LiveDaily: You wrote a song about Amadou Diallo. What was your reaction when you first heard about his case?

Wyclef: I was in the studio doing some recording and I heard about the case. I was shocked for a minute and I just started writing. I just felt the way the law is set up, there's all kinds of things we are supposed to go by. But when something like Diallo happens, it makes us question the Constitution. Are we the people really protected if they [the police--New York police, in this case] shoot Diallo 41 times, then the courts say not guilty? It shows you that it's set up against us not for us.

LiveDaily: Did you ever think it could have been you?

Wyclef: All the time. I think us as individuals, I think that the Diallo case wasn't a black thing or white thing. You know, what I stand for, it's universal. I have white friends, Chinese friends, black friends, it didn't matter. We were looking at each other like, "What if that was us?" The bottom line to it is that the police are really f---ing up now.

LiveDaily: What are your plans for the rest of the year?

Wyclef: I just got my deal for Clef records, my own record company. I just did a deal with Clive Davis. I'm going to put out the G&B Product. They sing 'Maria, Maria' on the Carlos Santana record. Clef producing, writing and now I'm CEO of my own record company.

Interview conducted by Colin Devenish @ lifeDaily.com