Election Time

Album: If I Were President: My Haitian Experience (2010)
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Songfacts®:

  • This is a track from Haitian musician, record producer and politician Wyclef Jean's eighth studio album, If I Were President: My Haitian Experience.
  • On August 5, 2010, Wyclef announced that he was running for the office of the president of Haiti. A fortnight later, his bid for candidacy was rejected by Haiti's Provisional Electoral Council because he did not meet the residency requirement of having lived in Haiti for five years before the November 28th election. Wyclef wrote this song in the wake of his forlorn presidential bid. "This song is inspired by Pink Floyd's 'Another Brick In The Wall,' with the chant, 'We don't need no education,'" he explained. "It is also inspired by (Nigerian multi-instrumentalist) 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."
  • The song's music video was shot in Haiti and co-directed by Wyclef and Haitian director, Steve Halloun. The clip shows the world unfamiliar pictures of his native country. "I have to show all the sides of Haiti," said Wyclef. "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."

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