wyclef jean

Music, not politics, made a household name Wycliffe Jean in Haiti and a mulch-million record-selling international star, who has always proclaimed his Haitian roots. But that was before he announced he would run for president of Haiti.

Mr. Jean, 37, has from the beginning of his career as a champion of Caribbean culture as an extended family, Reaffirming his Haitian roots, but also mixes styles from the entire American continent. "The future of the world's eclecticism, and it's either you contact us, or we can swallow," he told the British magazine Blues & Soul.

His announcement on Wednesday that he is running for the presidency him in a crowded field, Raymond Joseph, his uncle, the Haitian ambassador to the United States has had covers since 2005 before resigning to seek the presidency.Mr. Jean's positions him as a cultural unifier, merging Pan-American sounds - particularly hip-hop, Jamaican reggae, Haitian compas and other Caribbean rhythms - the party tunes with a mix of political justice.