Hip-Hop Artist and Former Haitian Presidential Candidate
Debuts New Track on “They Win. U Lose.” Website

NEW YORK—Oct. 25, 2010—Grammy Award–winning musician  Wyclef Jean has moved from running for election in his home country of  Haiti to writing music about elections. The former presidential  candidate will premiere his new song “Election Time” today on the website of “They Win. U Lose.” (www.theywinulose.com ), where it will be streamed for a limited time.

Like many other Clef songs, this track mixes history, politics, pop  culture, the artist’s life—but this one arrived in the studio fresh off a  rough campaign trail and eyes open even wider to a world of suffering,  change and questions. Witness sample lyrics from one of the verses: “Alternative  energy or oil in your SUV/Tell me what you’re looking for, we about to  have a poll/Gun control, infrastructure, agriculture,  manufacturer/Hip-hop be my culture/Tell me what you think about us.”

“After a month of campaigning for president of Haiti and the first six  months after the earthquake helping the country start rebuilding, I sat  back and looked around. What I saw and felt in the U.S., my second home  country, with all the haters and money craziness in the campaigns, it  almost puts the chaos of Haitian politics to shame, you know? It’s about  making your voice heard. That’s what’s important, and I know that  better than ever, so I want to reach the young people to remind them,”  said Jean. “I asked ‘They Win. U Lose.’ to stream ‘Election Time’  because they’re helping leaders who are doing the right thing and they  are reaching people fast. But unless the people go to cast their  vote, ‘Election Time’ is just another song or protest, gone in the wind.  This generation and we the people feel like something has to be  done—and this starts with stepping up to vote.”

“They Win. U Lose.” is a new campaign designed to get  voters—especially those aged 20 to 40, with a focus on African-American  voters in that age group—to the polls for midterm elections nationwide  on Nov. 2. A project of Campaign Money Watch, part of the nonpartisan  Public Campaign Action Fund, “They Win. U Lose.” is meant to hold politicians accountable for their opposition to campaign finance reform  and help average Americans take greater control over the political and  policymaking process by getting out to vote and not letting  special-interest money choose the next U.S. Congress.

The $750,000 paid- and earned-media campaign will specifically encourage  voter participation in six key states: Colorado, Illinois, Missouri,  New Hampshire, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Many celebrities in addition to Jean are supporting campaign efforts. Visit the “They Win. U Lose.” website  for updates.

Also on the campaign’s website, a Twitter feed (@theywinulose) will help find younger voters where they live—on social media—and drive attention to the campaign. A Facebook  page (www.facebook.com/TheyWinULose) designed as a pledge-to-vote  campaign will help ensure that voters follow through on the commitment  they’ll make there, publicly, to get to the polls.

In the 48 hours before the election, “They Win. U Lose.” will  push into overdrive, with a celebrity satellite media tour and a  Tweetathon—called “Election Time,” after this new Wyclef hit—two days of  continuous tweeting designed to get people who are tweeting to meet in  real life, to significantly up awareness and visibility for the need to  get out and vote on Nov. 2, 2010.

About Wyclef Jean

The Haitian-born  Grammy-winning musician and record producer first hit the public eye as  part of the Fugees. He has released eight solo albums since 1997, with  another due to be released at the end of 2010. In 2005,  Jean was the main force behind establishing the Yéle Haiti foundation.  The NGO has helped Haitians continuously since that time, with programs  ramped up significantly after the January 2010 earthquake that left  230,000 people dead and more than 1 million homeless. Among many other  programs, Yéle Haiti delivers food and water, runs a job-creation and  job-training program, collects and delivers clothing, repairs schools,  plants trees, builds temporary homes, and organizes sports and arts  activities for youth. On Aug. 5, 2010, Jean relinquished his leadership role in the organization to make  a bid for the presidency of Haiti. Less than a month later, Haiti’s  electoral council announced that Jean (along with 14 others) had been  disqualified as a candidate. Jean has won the Vanguard trophy from the  NAACP for his humanitarian efforts on behalf of his native Haiti and was  named 2010 Artist of the Year by the Harvard Foundation of Harvard  University. He is currently a visiting fellow in Africana studies at Brown University.

About Campaign Money Watch

Campaign Money Watch is a project of  the nonpartisan Public Campaign Action Fund. The organization works to  hold politicians who are against comprehensive campaign finance reform  accountable for where they get their political donations. Contact  info@pcactionfund.org with any questions or go to campaignmoneywatch.com for more information.