Wyclef Jean hits Kingston with his first full-length Reggae album on the way

KINGSTON, Jamaica — International recording artiste Wyclef Jean is now in Kingston on a whirlwind press junket to talk up his first full-length reggae album. On Tuesday, he’ll take the stage at The Compound studio where he made the One Night in Kingston album. Executive producer of the project and reggae artiste Tom 'Panic' Jones discussed the album with Observer Online. "The writing credits for the album is split between me and Wyclef, we sat down and went through each song, and decided this song to be about this or that. This is the brotherhood that me and him had from I was a teenager until now, he respects my musicality and he is one of the greatest, if you ask me," Jones said. The album is expected to drop at the end of November. "We have been doing this for almost three years, but it took one night in Kingston, it took pretty much less than a week to write and record the songs but as Clef would say, we're playing chess, not checkers. Everything is timing, he had a lot to do, this is part of his seven-album Quantum Leap project," Jones said. The reggae album is third in line. "After this, Clef will be doing a country album and a gospel album. It is not a rush, it is chess, not checkers, we're looking to release at the end of this month," he said. Jones is featured on the Guns Guns Guns track alongside Wyclef Jean. "It's a very seamless blend of Clef's hip hop vocals over modern dancehall reggae, what I think if a Junjo Lawes were here today, or what a Sugar Minott production would sound like in this modern age. This is what this record is...it is a new age, new version of what a Bobby Digital would do in the early 1990s," he said. The track tackles the spectre of gun violence and its impact on Caribbean countries and even firearm-related mass shootings in the United States. "It's a track about the reign of terror that guns has been over time, whether it is gang violence, whether it's political violence, even the mass shootings all over the US where kids do unthinkable things with guns; that's what that track discusses," Jones said. The Fugees star is in Jamaica for a press blitz - organised by One876entertainment.com Publicity Relations - ahead of One Night in Kingston, due by the end of 2026. Recorded with live Jamaican musicians at The Compound in Kingston, the album pairs roots reggae with contemporary sounds. Jada Kingdom, Luciano and Ghana’s Stonebwoy are among the guests, while Grammy nominee Lila Iké joins Wyclef on “One in the Chamber,” one of the project’s earliest recordings. Grammy-nominated musicians from the Dub Squad, including Nicolas Groskopf (lead guitar), Ottmar Campbell (keyboards), Keneil Delisser (drums), and Kawayne Williamson (bass), join forces with The Compound Squad with Evan Mason, N'namdi Robinson, Oliver 'Bliva' Thompson and Oneil Dacres to create the album's unique modern reggae sound. The album grew out of a friendship more than 20 years in the making. Jamaican artiste and producer Jones encouraged Wyclef to make a full reggae record and came aboard as executive producer. The pair developed it at The Compound, a gathering place for established and emerging Jamaican talent. Wyclef will join Jones there for a special edition of Tuesday Service on November 17 at 8:00 pm. The Kingston live-music gathering offers an intimate setting to hear the artiste whose work with the Fugees helped introduce another generation of listeners to Bob Marley’s No Woman, No Cry. That cover is one chapter in Wyclef’s long relationship with Jamaican music. The Haitian artiste has worked with generations of Jamaican performers, and One Night in Kingston continues a career spent drawing connections between Haiti, Jamaica, Africa and the wider diaspora. The record is the next instalment in Quantum Leap, his multi-album series spanning hip-hop, jazz, reggae, R&B, country and Caribbean music. It follows Q Theory, a jazz project that pays tribute to his mentor Quincy Jones. Next year brings another milestone. Wyclef is planning new music and live performances to mark the 30th anniversary of his solo debut, The Carnival.