Monocolumn: Rock Stars And Politics

Monocolumn is Monocle’s daily bulletin of news and opinion. Catch up with previous editions here.

On 28 November, the perpetually beleaguered and misruled Caribbean nation of Haiti will choose a new president. There is at least a possibility that they will elect a man who hasn’t lived there full-time since he was a child, and whose greatest claim on the popular consciousness is having mumbled in the background of a cover of an old Roberta Flack hit.

This is an admittedly crass and unfair reduction of the life and works Wyclef Jean, the Haiti-born, US-based former Fugee turned vastly successful producer, songwriter and record label boss, who declared his candidacy yesterday: Jean, still only 37, has been a dedicated advocate for his homeland, as frontman of the Yele Haiti charitable foundation, and as a roving ambassador for Haiti, a position to which he was appointed in 2007 by incumbent president Rene Preval. That terse introduction does, however, reflect the widespread cynicism and unease that exists about artists, even politically engaged ones, becoming politicians.

It’s a phenomenon we’re going to have to get used to. Jean might win.

To continue reading, click here.

Monocolumn is Monocle’s daily bulletin of news and opinion. Click here to read more, or here to subscribe to the monthly magazine.

Image by Veer.

Veer has recently relaunched its site, Veer.com, with a simplified, easy to use interface allowing for enhanced and simplified image search. The site, which is a go-to source for creative and affordable stock photography, illustrations, fonts and merchandise, helps people add style to business, marketing, and personal design projects.