Mr. Jean is not the most naturally gifted musician. Although he’s a fluent rapper, his voice can be thin or off-pitch when he sings, and his guitar playing is usually rudimentary. But he has an ear for hooks  whether he writes or borrows them  and a determined sense of uplift.

Between his own albums Mr. Jean has worked extensively as a producer for groups including Destiny’s Child and Santana. And in 2006, collaborating with the Colombian singer Shakira, he created the worldwide hit “Hips Don’t Lie.” Credited to Shakira featuring Wyclef Jean, it reworked “Dance Like This,” an earlier song by Mr. Jean. With Shakira’s lead vocal and new lyrics, it became the No. 1 single in the United States and more than two dozen other countries from Guatemala to Israel to Singapore. It is among the Top 10 best-selling singles of all time.

Typical of Mr. Jean’s music, “Hips Don’t Lie” pulled together a musical coalition and headed for the dance floor, including a fanfare from a Puerto Rican salsa song and elements of hip-hop, Dominican bachata and Colombian cumbia. Combinations like that are Mr. Jean’s way of consolidating a broad African diaspora; they are also bids to appeal to multiple potential audiences.

And more often than not, Mr. Jean directs his listeners back to Haiti. Before the earthquake he was already raising money to aid Haitians, some of it through his own charity. The Yéle Haiti Foundation, founded by Mr. Jean in 2005, has been the subject of questions about its finances and poor accounting. In the aftermath of the earthquake that struck Haiti in January, it has raised more than $9 million in donations since the disaster and will receive a share of the $70 million raised through the “Hope for Haiti Now” telethon on MTV on Jan. 22.

Increased scrutiny of the foundation after the earthquake revealed payments made to Mr. Jean and his businesses. The Web site The Smoking Gun reported in January that according to newly filed tax forms the charity in 2006 paid $250,000 to a television station controlled by Mr. Jean and his cousin Jerry Duplessis, who also serves on the charity’s board. It also paid $100,000 for a performance by Mr. Jean at a 2006 benefit concert. On Wednesday, The Smoking Gun reported that the Internal Revenue Service had levied tax liens totaling more than $2.1 million against Mr. Jean for the years 2006, 2007 and 2008.

In a video message posted on YouTube in January, Mr. Jean defended himself against reports that he benefited personally from his charity, saying “Not only do I denounce all of that, I’m disgusted by that.” The Foundation hired a new accounting firm.