Rapper Rakim, who staged a triumphant return last year after a four-year hiatus and a split with his longtime partner Eric B., is already hard at work on the follow-up to that effort.

For his next outing, Rakim will lay his rhymes on tracks from the likes of DJ Premiere, Clark Kent, Ron 'Amen Ra' Lawrence, Pete Rock, and Kid Capri. Fans hoping for more of the style Rakim brought on last year's "The 18th Letter" will have to wait to see what the rapper does this time around, because he's not quite sure yet himself.

"It's hard to say," Rakim told the MTV Radio Network recently. "Because on 'The 18th Letter,' being gone for four years, I had to keep everything in the minimum, because I'm known as a rapper that goes strictly left. But on this album, I feel more free to do what I want. People greeted me with open arms, so I fell I can do what I like without no problems."

Rakim hopes to have a single out by the new year, and a full album sometime in the first quarter of next year.