BARCELONA, (Reuters):
HIP HOP superstar Wyclef Jean would love to get The Fugees back together again - the problem is persuading fellow singer Lauryn Hill.
Both have gone their different ways with highly successful solo careers but he still dreams of a reunion for the group whose album The Score sold 17 million copies to become one of the biggest Hip Hop chart successes of all time.
"The Fugees still didn't break up. We are still trying to make stuff and work stuff out," he told reporters.
"But an album is very important. You can't just throw a garbage album out there. That is not good for The Fugees," he added in Barcelona where he is rehearsing for his performance on Thursday night at the MTV Europe Awards.
"If the Fugees are going to do an album, it has to be excellent like the last one or they had better not do an album, you understand," he said.
"I want to do a Fugees record. You have to talk to Lauryn Hill. You have to talk to the girl. The girl is the problem - not me," he added in a very public plea to the singer who achieved enormous solo success with her award-laden Miseducation of Lauryn Hill album.
Wyclef Jean, the son of a Haitian preacher, who was taken to America as a child, has branched out in his career since the heyday of The Fugees. Now he is a rapper, writer, producer and record-label owner.
He has helped to boost the careers of Whitney Houston and Carlos Santana and produced Sinead O'Connor and Mary J. Blige. He even persuaded Bob Dylan to appear in the video for one of his hits.
His latest collaboration has been with Tom Jones, the hip-thrusting singer who has now attracted a whole new generation of pop fans.
"Tom Jones is incredible. He still sounds great. His voice sounds the way it sounded 20, 30 years ago. I have just collaborated with him and did his whole new album."
Two years ago Jean hosted the MTV Europe Awards in Stockholm. This time he will be doing his stuff on stage and leaving the host's role to Sean 'P.Diddy' Combs, formerly known as Puff Daddy.
"Performing is my tool," he said. "I love to perform - I am a musician. I like to make people laugh too, especially women."
The huge potential audience for the international music channel held added appeal.
"It's a chance to reach a billion people," he said. "Make sure you shoot me well on my good side," he told the cameramen.
Asked who he would hand out an award to, he said: "If I had the Wyclef Jean award, I would probably give it to Bono (lead singer of the Irish supergroup U2) because he has done a lot for charity. That's my heart. That is what I support."
He himself founded the Jean Wyclef Foundation to get children from deprived inner-city backgrounds to develop an interest in music, science and reading.
