Source: press handout / Harlem Festival of Culture
The award-winning musician Wyclef Jean is the latest major figure to join the group behind the reboot of the iconic music festival, the Harlem Festival of Culture.
On Thursday (Oct. 27), the Harlem Festival of Culture announced that the Grammy Award-winning rapper, actor & musician would be joining the organization. The role that he has been appointed to is Chair of the Music Advisory Board. As Chair, the Fugees member will be the main person tasked with bringing in artists to bolster support for the festival from the community and be an advisor to the executive leadership of the group.
“I am thrilled to join HFC as Chair of their Music Advisory Board. On a personal note, Harlem has always held a special place in my heart as I have performed there very early in my career and throughout. As a creative who is also an entrepreneur, I’m all about creating opportunities for creatives and professionals in our community and when I heard about this reimagining of what was such a seminal milestone in Black creativity and Black music, I knew I wanted to be involved in some way,” Jean said in the press release.
“As one of the most important artists of our generation, Wyclef is a true visionary and stands as one of the most trusted and respected voices in music. We are grateful to have him lend his expertise and his support for the Harlem Festival of Culture and look forward to working together with him to spread the word throughout the industry and to the artist community,” said HFC co-founder and Technical and Talent Producer Yvonne McNair.
Wyclef is the latest notable figure to join the Harlem Festival of Culture, which was launched in April of this year to honor the original Harlem Cultural Festival that took place over several weeks in 1969. The iconic event was lost to history for 50 years until footage from it became the subject of Summer of Soul (…Or When the Revolution Could Not be Televised), the Oscar-winning documentary produced by Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson of The Roots.
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