*By Michael Teich* Music artist and producer Wyclef Jean is a three-time Grammy winner, cannabis entrepreneur, and a former presidential candidate of Haiti. Now, he's looking to create the world's first hip-hop guitar. "It's a whole new instrument," Jean said Wednesday in an interview on Cheddar. "It's software-based with actually real strings." When Jean isn't piloting his latest projects, he's acting as a mentor for up-and-coming artists. The music mogul recently partnered with Fiverr, a digital marketplace for freelancers, and will offer his advice to users of the company's new platform, Fiverr Pro Music and Audio. Freelancing is a delicate balance –– one that many Americans are forced to strike in a gig economy. A recent study from the [Department of Labor](https://www.bls.gov/news.release/conemp.nr0.htm) found that 10.1 percent of workers earn their keep in "alternative environments," like temp agencies or freelance industries. And the music business isn't exactly hospitable: In 2017, recording artists only earned [12 percent](https://www.businessinsider.com/musicians-received-12-percent-43-billion-generated-by-music-industry-study-2018-8?utm_source=reddit.com) of the income produced by the industry, a marginal piece of a $43 billion market in the U.S. His latest partnership with Fiverr allows Jean to help artists and enter a classroom, albeit a virtual one. “If I wasn’t going to be famous, I was going to be a teacher.” For more on this story, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/wyclef-jean-2).

Share:
More In Technology
Skype shut down for good, but users still have these alternatives
Skype users are scrambling to find an alternative after Microsoft shut down the pioneering internet phone service which let people make cheap long distance calls and chat with other users. Google Voice lets users make calls from a smartphone or a desktop web browser but it's only available to people in the U.S. Viber users can call phone numbers but can't get a number to receive calls. Zoom offers phone options too. You could get a number from a low cost virtual carrier or try other internet phone services. Microsoft says some Skype features will migrate to Teams, but its Teams Phone feature is only for businesses.
Load More