Wyclef Jean has been teasing the first installment of his Quantum Leap series, Clef Notes, the hip-hop focused chapter of the project. He's already previewed tracks with Rapsody and G Herbo, but there's more in store. He tells ABC Audio that Andra Day and Lil Wayne also appear on the album, which pays tribute to the genre that launched his career.
"Starting it with hip-hop is like paying tribute to what made me who I am today. Coming to America from the islands, growing up in a project, you know, started off [with] church music and a jazz major and found myself through hip-hop. If it wasn't hip-hip I wouldn't be here, so it's important," he explains.
He says the project will first spotlight his lyrical genius before reminding fans of his production style.
"I know y'all haven't heard me produce in a minute, so this is back to that Wyclef production," he says. "1996 mixed with 2030, the sonics are crazy. Y'all gonna love it."
Clef Notes is scheduled to arrive on June 26, marking the first of Quantum Leap, a seven-album series Wyclef will release over the next year, each centered on a genre that's shaped him as an artist. He hopes listeners take away at least one message from the ambitious project: "never put yourself in a box."
"When you listen to seven albums or you listen to one album, always remember once somebody starts categorizing y'all and saying, 'Oh, you're this, or you're that, or you're this,' no, I am all things. Like, why you trying to belittle me? That's what I want y'all to get out of that," he says.
"Mr. October" featuring G Herbo, the lead single off Clef Notes, is due out Friday.
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