“When Mirlande Manigat arrived at Collège Frère Ladauceur on Nov. 28 to cast her vote in Haiti’s presidential election, no cheering mob was there to greet her. She pulled up in a bulletproof SUV, surrounded by police flourishing automatic weapons and slowly, ever so slowly, made her way to the entrance.
Short, with gold-rimmed glasses and hair tied back, the 70-year-old former first lady had a vague air of Miss Marple about her, which shouldn’t completely surprise, given Manigat’s outsized admiration for all things Agatha Christie.
Only an hour earlier, in Pétionville, Michel Martelly had similarly cast a ballot, but his arrival at a three-storey high school was all pop-star pandemonium, with mothers pushing their children forward for a glimpse of the politician formerly known as “Sweet Micky,” bad-boy singer of kompas, Haiti’s version of merengue.
In what once seemed the least likely result of a presidential campaign involving 19 candidates, Haiti’s electoral council is now widely expected to announce Tuesday that Manigat and Martelly will go head to head in a runoff slated for Jan. 16.”
CLICK to read the full article, “Unlikely pair seen as Haiti frontrunners.” [Toronto Star]
Sheeeiiiit, if ‘Sweet Mickey’ is in the running to win right now, imagine what woulda happened if the Preacher’s Son had made it onto the ballot?!! Hit the jump for Wyclef Jean‘s track, “Election Time” for his take on that:
Columbia Records will release If I Were President: My Haitian Experience, the new six song EP from Wyclef Jean, available on the iTunes store today.
If I Were President: My Haitian Experience, includes “Election Time,” a provocative new universal song written in the wake of Wyclef’s recent attempt to run for president in Haiti. The track is currently streaming here:
Wyclef Jean – Election Time by Rhyme Hut
“This song is inspired by Pink Floyd’s ‘Another Brick In The Wall,’ with the chant, ‘We don’t need no education,'” says Wyclef Jean. “It is also inspired by Fela Kuti’s ‘Zombie.” It’s the voice of the youth. It is the voice of this generation. It’s the artist once again doing what the politicians should be doing. This is about inspiring the voice of this generation.”
“Election Time” arrives with an extraordinarily powerful and beautiful video lensed in Haiti. Wyclef teams up with Haitian director, Steve Halloun to co-direct the clip. Halloun, a former student of the University of Miami Film School, like Wyclef, is deeply concerned with helping Haiti on all fronts. The video created jobs for local residents, including the actors and technical staff, while showing the world unfamiliar pictures of his native country.
“I have to show all the sides of Haiti,” Wyclef Jean says. “There is still beauty in Haiti and I have to show the beauty and the ugly reality that is going to change. It will change.”
November was “Election Time” in many countries around the world including in both of Wyclef’s countries–the United States and Haiti, where the November 28th general election holds great historic import. “It means the rebirth of my country. It means that the young people can bring about change,” said Wyclef prior to the Haitian general election. “I would want to tell the youth of Haiti to go out and vote. We have had a long history of dictatorship in Haiti. It’s not a Haitian right to vote that we are talking about. We are talking about a world right. Take your right. Your true weapon is your voting card. Use your weapon and use it wisely.”
If I Were President: My Haitian Experience is a family affair, co- executive produced by Wyclef and his brother, Sedeck Jean. The two started together and then went separate ways in their careers until the Earthquake of January 2010 reunited them musically. Sedeck Jean is also featured in the “Election Time” video.
Wyclef describes If I Were President: My Haitian Experience as “the life story of an immigrant. It’s for everyone who has had to leave one place and adapt to another. It’s about the refugee in all of us trying to fit in. But it’s not all sorrowful. In life, there is love and hate, war and peace. It’s both sides. This is the continuation of my music and it represents both sides. It’s for all my fans. It’s for those who love me for ‘Gone ‘Til November’ and ‘Hips Don’t Lie,’ too.
“Every great album to me is inspired by real events. It’s about what you’ve seen and experienced. They were done by the greats who came before me: Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, Fela Kuti. The music has to be real. Fela Kuti used his music as a tool for development of his people. You need to relate to the culture. If I Were President: My Haitian Experience is about relating to the culture of Haiti which translate to the world.”
Wyclef Jean plans a world tour in 2011. “The Haitian Experience ” tour will include, “the music, the art, the culture and definitely the carnival,” says Jean.
Haitian-born Wyclef Jean is a Grammy Award-winning songwriter/musician/producer, humanitarian, Goodwill Ambassador to Haiti, and founder of Yéle Haiti. A founding member of the pioneering hip-hop group Fugees and prolific solo artist, Wyclef has effortlessly crossed genres, generations and geographic boundaries with his music.
In 2005, Wyclef Jean created Yéle Haiti to provide aid and assistance to his native Haiti. Yéle Haiti is a grassroots movement inspiring change in Haiti through programs in education, sports, the arts and environment. Their community service programs include food distribution and mobilizing emergency relief. Wyclef coined Yéle in a song and means “a cry for freedom.” The organization has been garnering international attention for its work including being featured in the Associated Press, USA Today, CNN, Fox News, NBC’s Today show, and on 60 Minutes. After the devastating earthquake in January 2010, all programs now focus on the relief and reconstruction of the island nation.
Wyclef Jean
“Election Time”
My Generation like
We Ok
As long as we got music we gonna dance all day
He gon’ vote Taylor Swift she gon’ vote Kanye ye ye
Election time is coming.
Come On
We Ok
As long as we got music we gonna party all day
She gon’ vote U2 he gon’ vote Coldplay play play
Election time is coming.
Come On
Immigration, Socialism, Capitalism, Racism
Health Care, Welfare, Seems like nobody cares (Come on)
Big Business, Corporation
Small business, Taxation
Unemployment, Education, My Generation
Built a space station so when you google earth
You can see all the Haitians as they rebuild they nation
With fair trade, everybody trades
You trade, I trade and everybody gets paid
Election time around the corner who you gon’ a vote for
(We Ok)
Election time around the corner what you gon’ a fight for
(We Ok)
Election time around the corner who you gon’ a vote for
(We Ok)
Election time is coming do you want peace or War
(Come on)
Alternative energy or oil in your SUV
Tell me what your looking for, we about to have a poll
Gun Control, Infrastructure, agriculture, manufacturer
Hip Hop Be My Culture
Tell me what you think about us
Technology and foreign policy
I need the bailout money to stimulate the economy
Raised on family values
My life be my testament
King had a dream and you too can be the president
Election time around the corner who you gon’ a vote for
(We Ok)
Election time around the corner what you gon’ a fight for
(We Ok)
Election time around the corner who you gon’ a vote for
(We Ok)
Election time is coming do you want peace or War
But the kids like we Ok
As long as we got music we gonna dance all day
He gon’ vote Taylor Swift she gon’ vote Kanye ye ye
Election time is coming.
But them kids like we Ok
As long as we got music we gonna party all day
She gon’ vote U2 he gon’ vote Coldplay play play
Election time is coming.
Gramps was a voodoo priest, Dad was a preacher
Uncle was a mason, I was raised Christian
Best friend muslim AL-SALAM-ALAKUM
My manager was jewish, he taught me Shabbat Shalom
Flatbush Rastas taught me the scriptures
Haile Selassie, Marcus Garvey
Saint L’ouverture Haitian Revolution
Napoleon’s Army got spanked by them Haitians
Toussaint St. Jean with the info
Did you know that a haitian founded Chicago
If I Was President
The first thing I would do is get my people out them tents
My Generation like
We Ok
As long as we got music we gonna dance all day
He gon’ vote Taylor Swift she gon’ vote Kanye ye ye
Election time is coming.
But them kids like
We Ok
As long as we got music we gonna party all day
She gon’ vote U2 he gon’ vote Coldplay play play
Election time is coming.
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