Interview with Nmehiphop

nmehiphop.com - 15-12-2000 Wyclef has just released his second solo album, 'The Ecleftic Two Sides II A Book'. nmehiphop.com caught up with him to discuss this, music, style, the internet, travel experiences and the best place to be...

NME: Introduce yourself.

Wyclef: Yo, I did this once and they had like arrested me and they brought me into a room with a bunch of FBI! Which camera do I talk to? Hi, my name is Wyclef Jean; not guilty though!

NME: Can you describe 'The Ecleftic' for those who haven't heard it yet?

Wyclef: My new album 'The Ecleftic' is like a soup, you know like a lot of y'all know how to make soup. Or if you don't know soup, I'ma teach y'all how to make soup. This is soup with a bunch of different vegetables in it, but it's still soup, so the soup for me is hip hop, so inside of the hip hop you've got all forms of different music mixed into it. So I got like The Rock, Mary J. Blige, Earth, Wind & Fire, Kenny Rogers, Youssou N'Dour - you know so it's a mix.

NME: Tell us your favourite track from there and why.

Wyclef: My favourite track on the album is 'Diallo' 41 shots for Diallo, because it's a record talking about police brutality and the way that it needs to stop.

NME: Tell us the follow up single.

Wyclef: Well I mean in the States we're going back and fourth with Europe you know what I mean? This always happens with the Wyclef's music, I don't know why but it does. So there's a debate between two record right now, there's the Earth, Wind & Fire called 'Runaway' and one of my favourite records called 'Perfect Gentlemen', it's strip club record. You know what I'm sayin'? So most likely I want to go with the strip club record, 'cos it's another point of view of strippers you know, and I think it's a very clever and funny record!

NME: Can you tell us about the work you've done for new artists - like with Destiny's Child and how you started with them.

Wyclef: Yeah, I mean with Destiny's Child, I was with them in the beginning, when there was no hype and went with them into the studio and we did the breakthrough record called 'No, No, No' then I've always been working with them since then; they're real cool girls. I work with a lot of people, Simply Red, Whitney, Santana. I got my own record company now, it's called Clef Records, I made a deal with Clive Davis and I'm looking for acts you know, I don't care where they come from, they've just got to be hot. Right now I'm trying to find a girl group, anybody out there I need a girl group, you've got to be hot, ready to blow!

NME: Tell us your Top five songs you're listening to.

Wyclef: My top five joints I'm listening to right now; I mostly listen to obscure stuff. Is that alright? Well, I'll start with something current that y'all'll know; Jill Scott. I think she's hot right now. She's probably the hottest thing out there right now for me, as far as a change in that genre of music. Eminem, I'm a fan of Eminem; that's the new stuff. Then I'm listening to like Miles Davis 'Bitches Brew', 'The Best Of The Beatles' and 'The Best Of Marvin Gaye'.

NME: OK, and where is the best place to be and why?

Wyclef: The best place to be is the toilet! That's the best place! Haha! Yo! That's cool! You're not going to edit this out are you? Ai-ight cool. The toilet is the best place to be because when you're taking a shit it's just so calm, you know what I mean? There's nobody to bother you, you take in the British papers, you read it - you understand what I'm saying? The world seems so calm and the minute you get out of that bathroom you're back to reality. So I'm against... I think congress should pass a law of putting phones in the bathroom. See, 'cos that's messing it up you understand? I'm staying at The Met right now and I got to talk to the owner because there's a phone in the bathroom you see and when I'm taking a shit I don't like disturbance you know what I mean? So the phones should stay outside the bathroom!! Hahahahaha!!! Yo! I be bugging!

Interview conducted by Nmehiphop.com