Fresh off of releasing his latest single, “Hendrix,” Wyclef Jean has announced his intention to release a new EP called J'ouvert. Scheduled for a September 30th release date, the EP is named after the start of Carnival in the Eastern Caribbean.
“My goal for J’ouvert was to pick up where I left off after ‘Sweetest Girl’ and [Shakira’s] ‘Hips Don’t Lie,'” said Jean in a recent interview with Rolling Stone. “I had these Caribbean sonics haunting my brain and I knew this EP would be the start to what would become the Carnival 3 album.”
In addition to “Hendrix,” Wyclef also recently released a new single called “My Girl” and a revamped version of “Hendrix” called “Hendrix (Spanglish Remix).” The later track features guest appearances from Farina, Bryant Meyers, and Anonimous. “Hendrix” addresses the issue of coming of age in an environment that is bereft of opportunities, as Jean described it as speaking “'to the neighborhoods I grew up in and how it didn’t look like much. The devil, or the streets, offered drugs and cartel and I chose music. Some homies chose the NBA, or we would see people like Shaq who are from Newark and see how they made it out the danger zone.”
Wyclef's upcoming full-length album, Carnival III: Road to Clerification, is slated to come out next summer, a date that will, interestingly, fall right around the 20th anniversary of Wyclef's first solo album, The Carnival. Thus far, Afrojack, Avicii, and Emeli Sande have been confirmed as making contributions to the album. Wyclef's last release was 2010's If I Were President: My Haitian Experience, an EP whose release coincided with his Haitian presidential campaign, and his last full-length album was 2009's From The Hut, To The Projects, To The Mansion.
By Ryan Donberg for RAPstation.com
