Wyclef Jean on feud with Sean Penn: 'We are cool now. We made up'

Wonderwall, Tuesday, February 15, 2011, 5:47pm (PST)

By Michelle Lanz, with reporting by Ericka Goodman

Making the rounds at New York Fashion Week didn't keep Wyclef Jean from talking about music and politics. Wonderwall caught up with the musician at the Diesel Black Gold Fall-Winter 2011 runway presentation to talk about his feud with Sean Penn and his thoughts on the Egyptian revolution.

Wonderwall: You're very much involved in politics, what are your feelings on the Egyptian revolution?

Wyclef Jean: I did a Youtube.com video on Egypt concerning freedom that I put out before Mubarak left office, and the song concerns the fact that I'm on the side of the people. I'm from Haiti, and dictatorships, like what we Haitians had with Baby Doc, is very similar to what was going on in Egypt. But overthrowing [it] is the most important part.

WW: Tell me about your online efforts to help Egypt?

WJ: We have the Twitter; we have the Facebook. You know, social media plays a big part of what I do. My music … and in [the] range of my politics, we have the whole world. We have our news website, where we bring bipartisan views [from] around the world. And I'm just bringing a voice to the people!

 

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WW: Will you be bringing more politics into your music?

WJ: I'm bringing a voice to the people. I'm actually working on a solo studio album called "Feel Good Music." And it's going to come out pretty soon.

 

WW: What are your thoughts on Haiti, a year later?

WJ: I'm headed back down there tomorrow to endorse one of the candidates. And we got to put a new president in place. I'm going to help do it.

 

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WW: You got into a little disagreement concerning Haiti with Sean Penn. What happened? And did you both bury the hatchet?

WJ: I was never no enemy of his. I have no reason to dislike Sean Penn. I don't have an enemy in anyone. It should have just been about Haiti. He made his comments, and I hit him back with some things that I said. The good thing is that we are cool now. We made up. So it is what it is. It should never have been about us and what we got going on; it's about Haiti. It's all good. And it's all love. I encourage people like Sean Penn to keep coming into my country.