At a studio on New York’s Upper East Side, I’ve just met up with Wyclef Jean, ostensibly to talk about new music, but at the moment, Clef’s mind is 1,500 miles away, in his native land of Haiti—and understandably so. Only a day before, Hurricane Matthew had become the latest disaster to befall the Western Hemisphere’s most hard-luck nation, striking Haiti’s isolated southern peninsula, leaving tens of thousands homeless and claiming hundreds of lives. 

Wyclef has been one of Haiti's most visible ambassadors in the past two decades. He’s repeatedly drawn on his Haitian roots in his music; he organized a hugely successful telethon in response to the nation’s devastating 2010 earthquake; and he even fielded a short-lived run for president of the country, until his candidacy was ruled ineligible.

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