I was looking for Quincy Jones, that's who I was obsessed with. Watching Mike [Jackson], I always knew that I had to be a showman on stage, because when people come to you live you always want them to come back. You gotta give them something to remember.

Wyclef Jean

I always want to know what's wrong with you, why you ain't smiling. That's just my character; I just love people and want to see people having a good time.

Wyclef Jean

smile character people

It's important, when you see darkness, to understand that there's light ahead of that, and I'm the living testimony of that, you dig?

Wyclef Jean

important light darkness

It was important that I became successful. People say they do it for the love, and yes, you do it for the love, but you want to be successful

Wyclef Jean

important successful people

The first thing you must learn is to always treat a man and a woman with total respect and honor, 'cause if you do that, the legacy you will leave behind will be work.

Wyclef Jean

legacy honor men

The reason why we're warriors is that we rise to the occasion; anyone that's felt like the system put them down, and then they rose to the occasion, they're a warrior. It's not about whether you come from the hood or you come from the suburbs, you know what I mean? It's about reality and life.

Wyclef Jean

warrior mean reality

I come from a hut, from a hut I went to the projects, from the projects I went to a mansion so you out there you have ABSOLUTLY NO EXCUSE!

Wyclef Jean

mansions no-excuses projects

America is a melting pot of immigrants. So actually, if you took all of the immigrants outside of America, you'd be missing a lot of flavor, starting with the food, with the culture, with the dance, with everything.

Wyclef Jean

missing culture america

I'm not going away fast; I've been around for a while, and plan to be around for a while more.

Wyclef Jean

plans going-away

I'm the hip-hop Quincy Jones of today

Wyclef Jean

hips hip-hop today

I like to go against the grain, against what's out there. Every day is like a challenge.

Wyclef Jean

grain challenges

For everybody who lost somebody out there and stuff, when you need therapy, music is the best way.

Wyclef Jean

stuff way needs

When I'm rhyming it's all in my head... Like the slaves, when they were picking cotton, they would block out their minds. They would sing.

Wyclef Jean

cotton block mind

If I can't take five years out to serve my country as president, then everything I've been singing about, like equal rights, doesn't mean anything.

Wyclef Jean

rights mean country

At the end of the day, just know that God made you, so you can be your own individual, and don't let people give you that peer pressure.

Wyclef Jean

the-end-of-the-day giving people

Once we revolutionize the music industry, then we can revolutionize our communities and everything in the world, 'cause what happens is, the communities are listening to the music.

Wyclef Jean

community listening world

I haven't accomplished nothing yet - I have a long way to go.

Wyclef Jean

accomplished long way

No matter what I'm goin' through, I could still exist.

Wyclef Jean

no-matter-what stills matter

I lived in the projects and the ghetto, and turned the negative into a positive.

Wyclef Jean

projects ghetto negative

My grandfather was a voodoo priest. A lot of my life dealt with spirituality. I can close my eyes and remember where I come from.

Wyclef Jean

spirituality eye grandfather

Haiti is my country. The same way the Beatles are received in England - that's how Wyclef Jean is received in Haiti, do you know what I mean?

Wyclef Jean

haiti mean country