Did you know Wyclef is an accomplished mixed martial artist? Or that he performed with a lion on stage? Well, read all about it! One time, or two times.
One of the most embarrassing was with the Fugees. It was our first time playing Japan, and we were playing this huge stadium. We were introduced to sake. I didn’t know what it was, and to me and Pras, the shit looked just like water. We drank sake until we couldn’t drink sake no more and totally underestimated its power. The stage for our show was elevated about ten feet off the floor, so the crowd was below us. We opened with “Ready or Not,” and I was looking for Pras, who was nowhere to be found. He was so drunk that he had fallen off the stage. I was dizzy, wobbly, and felt like hurling. Lauryn didn’t drink. She was the smart one. There was no worse feeling, but I couldn’t escape. I had to keep it going with the crowd, who were going crazy because they thought Pras tumbling off stage was part of the show. I was about to throw the fuck up all over that stage the entire set. It was the worst, but also kinda cool.
There’s been violence at our shows. We got into a scuffle in Germany, and I had to fight. I’m a really nice guy, which makes me a great fighter, because I fight calm. This was sometime in the early ’90s when promoters would pack shows with 6,000 kids. Hip-hop had just started coming, and we were having problems with some skinheads that night. After the show, they came at us with a vibe on the street, and we got into it. I had to whoop some ass. I grew up watching Royce Gracie, and I fell in love with the UFC when I was nineteen, before it was even the UFC. I love the art of fighting and mixed martial arts. I will never instigate violence unless it’s in the act of self-defense. That night in Germany, I felt that we were being threatened. If you watch my video “The Ring,” you’ll see how I fight. They hit the fucking ground.
I’m a showman. I play with a sixty-four-piece orchestra. People don’t know that I performed off-Broadway when I was younger. I love theatrics and putting shows together. One of my craziest shows as a soloist was when I was working with the artist Canibus, who was a battle rapper. He said to me, “I wanna be the hardest rapper. I want people to fear me.” I said, “That’s cool. In order for them to fear you, we gotta show up on stage with an uncaged lion. If you’re rapping fearlessly with a lion, it doesn’t get more hardcore than that.”
I got introduced to big cats by Mike Tyson, who was moving with three cats at the time. They were in his house. When I was younger, I was obsessed with the circus. I was flipping off trampolines, doing gymnastics, and breakdancing. That was my culture. I was also obsessed with animals and had a sensitivity towards them. I felt like the fucking Jungle Book with them. For the song, “2nd Round Knockout,” we brought the lion out on stage with no cage. We didn’t sedate the lion or anything because I love animals. When I say cat, I’m not talking about a baby Siamese. This was a full-blown, massive lion.
This was on the Smokin’ Grooves Tour in 1998, and I always believe in bringing the arena the show. Even during the Fugees, I was always the one who would coordinate the show because I have big vision and imagination as a showman. That was one of the most memorable on-stage memories. If you talk to Busta Rhymes or Q-Tip for this book, they’ll be like, “Yo, Wyclef came out with a fucking lion. Ain’t no topping that.” We had two trainers on stage for the lion. One night, the lion got loose, but my bodyguard Beast was able to control it. The lion was a little frustrated, but we were able to contain it. The lion was totally cool most of the time.
This was a professional show lion, so it wasn’t like I went to the jungle and snatched him up. I don’t know if PETA is against brothers, because it was just like watching the circus or going to the zoo. Every level of proper code was followed. You don’t just bring a wild lion to a venue, so we respected and followed every protocol. No one was offended because the lion was not used in any way that was cruel or dealt with in any way that could be considered animal cruelty. It was the circus on stage. It was dope.