Celebrating the 100th anniversary of the first jazz recordings, Grammy-nominated trumpeter, composer, and producer Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah will release the third installment of a trio of albums, collectively titled The Centennial Trilogy. The final album in the series, which deals directly with the social and political issues of the day, is The Emancipation Procrastination and will be released on October 20th via Ropeadope. Ahead of its release, he dropped its second single, “The Cypher,” which was first written for a 2016 Complex City Cypher video, featuring Christian alongside A$AP Ferg, Wiki, and Your Old Droog.

According to a press release, “rather than descend into identity politics, Adjuah sees many disparate cultures in New Orleans being underserved and exploited. The scope of The Centennial Trilogy is not limited to the music; Adjuah uses broad strokes to present his vision of the world. Growing up in New Orleans’ Upper Ninth Ward, he witnessed people enduring the same challenges regardless of their race or ethnic background: He saw a community of people undereducated to serve the tourist culture, facing food insecurity, yet viewing each other as different through the lens of race. Seeing this around him, Adjuah came to understand that race is a social construct, and that people could work together to build and move forward.”

“I’m not interested in harming anyone,” Adjuah says. “I have a responsibility as an artist to create a space where people feel welcome. When I walk outside this hotel room, that is not the reality. There is a difference when music is made with love. When people come into my space they are going to feel that. We are trying to figure out a way to treat each other better. We are all responsible for healing each other,” the artist shared in a press statement.

On October 24, Adjuah will perform at the Jazz Market for the kickoff to NOJO’s fall season.