''Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival'', also known simply as ''The Carnival'', is the debut studio album released by Haitian hip hop musician

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, a ...

. The album was released on June 24, 1997, Wyclef Jean also served as the album's executive producer. The album features guest appearances from

Celia Cruz Úrsula Hilaria Celia de la Caridad Cruz Alfonso (21 October 1925 – 16 July 2003), known as Celia Cruz, was a naturalized Cuban-American singer and one of the most popular Latin artists of the 20th century. Cruz rose to fame in Cuba during t ...

, The Neville Brothers and multiple appearances from Jean's former Fugees bandmates, Lauryn Hill and

Pras Prakazrel Samuel Michel (; born October 19, 1972) is a Haitian-American rapper, producer, songwriter and actor. He is best known as a member of the hip hop group Fugees, alongside Wyclef Jean and Lauryn Hill. After the Fugees, he earned two ...

. The album was released to critical acclaim. While commercially it peaked at number sixteen on the US ''Billboard'' 200 chart, and at number four on the US

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated J ...

chart. It garnered Jean three

Grammy Award The Grammy Awards (stylized as GRAMMY), or simply known as the Grammys, are awards presented by the Recording Academy of the United States to recognize "outstanding" achievements in the music industry. They are regarded by many as the most pres ...

nominations, Including two nominations at the

40th Annual Grammy Awards The 40th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 25, 1998, at Radio City Music Hall, New York City. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Rock icon Bob Dylan, Alison Krauss & Union Station, and R. Kelly were the ...

, for Best Rap Album and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for " Guantanamera", and

Best Rap Solo Performance The Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance was awarded from 1991 to 2011, alongside the Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group. Previously, a single award was presented for Best Rap Performance. In 2003, this award was split into separate awa ...

at the

41st Grammy Awards The 41st Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1999, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1998. Lauryn Hill received the most nominations with 10, setting a record for the most no ...

in 1999, for his top ten hit " Gone till November".

Music and lyrics

The album encompasses many musical genres, including hip hop,

reggae Reggae () is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1960s. The term also denotes the modern popular music of Jamaica and its diaspora. A 1968 single by Toots and the Maytals, " Do the Reggay" was the first popular song to use ...

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

, '' Son Cubano'' and

Haitian music The music of Haiti combines a wide range of influences drawn from the many people who have settled on this Caribbean island. It reflects French, African rhythms, Spanish elements and others who have inhabited the island of Hispaniola and minor n ...

. The album features guest appearances from

, The Neville Brothers,

John Forté John Forté (born January 30, 1975) is an American recording artist and producer. He is primarily known for being a member of the musical duo Refugee Camp All-Stars, and his production work on the Fugees album '' The Score''. He has released fo ...

, Jeni Fujita, and Jean's bandmates from The Fugees, Lauryn Hill and

, among others. It also features skits between many of its songs, most of them set in a fictional trial for Wyclef Jean, in which he is accused of being "a player" and a "bad influence". The final three songs on the album are sung in

Haitian Creole Haitian Creole (; ht, kreyòl ayisyen, links=no, ; french: créole haïtien, links=no, ), commonly referred to as simply ''Creole'', or ''Kreyòl'' in the Creole language, is a French-based creole language spoken by 10–12million people wor ...

Critical reception

''The Carnival'' was released to critical acclaim. In a contemporary review for ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture paper, known for being the country's first alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf, Ed Fancher, John Wilcock, and Norman Mailer, the ''Voice'' began as a platform for the crea ...

'', music critic

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most well-known and influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and ...

found the album more R&B than the "diasporan flavors" it uses as "half decoration, half concept", and remarked that Jean uses the

sampler Sampler may refer to: * Sampler (signal), a digital signal processing device that converts a continuous signal to a discrete signal * Sampler (needlework), a handstitched piece of embroidery used to demonstrate skill in needlework * Sampler (surna ...

for "one-dimensional tunes" that showcase his "well-articulated morality tales and popwise carnivalesque." In his review for ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'', Christgau asserted that the album is more likely than any other well-meaning hip hop to impact the demographic it aims at and also works as an attempt to prove Jean is equally worthy of the attention given to Lauryn Hill. Stephen Thompson of ''

The A.V. Club ''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...

'', in a favorable review, called ''The Carnival'' "a stunning solo album that's light years beyond '' The Score''". He also wrote "In his universalist embrace of music of all forms, Wyclef Jean makes a more powerful call for peace and unity than a thousand East Coast–West Coast 'Stop the violence, y'all' intros put together." ''The Carnival'' was voted the sixteenth best album of the year in ''The Village Voice''s annual

Pazz & Jop Pazz & Jop was an annual poll of top musical releases, compiled by American newspaper ''The Village Voice'' and created by music critic Robert Christgau. It published lists of the year's top releases for 1971 and, after Christgau's two-year abse ...

critics poll for 1997. Christgau, the poll's creator, ranked it twentieth on his own list. In 2011, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'' ranked ''The Carnival'' the 69th best album of the 1990s.

Commercial performance

''The Carnival'' debuted at number sixteen on the US ''Billboard'' 200, selling 52,000 copies in it first week. It also debuted at number four on the US

chart. The album spawned the singles " Gone Till November", "

We Trying to Stay Alive "We Trying to Stay Alive" is the first single released from Wyclef Jean's debut solo album, '' The Carnival''. The song features raps by John Forté and Pras (of the Fugees) and samples the 1977 Bee Gees hit "Stayin' Alive" and Audio Two's " Top ...

", " Guantanamera" and "To All the Girls". On December 16, 1998, the album was certified double platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA), and sold approximately two million copies worldwide.

Track listing

Personnel

– guitar, keyboards * Rita Marley – background vocals * Judy Mowatt – background vocals * Marcia Griffiths – background vocals * Sonny Kompanek – arranger *

Salaam Remi Salaam Remi Gibbs (born May 14, 1972) is a Grammy winning American record producer known for his association with Nas, Amy Winehouse, Robby, Fugees, Fergie, Estelle, Black Thought, and Miguel, and for his reggae-tinged (often referred to as ...

– producer, engineer, mixing * Warren Riker – mastering, mixing * Rudy – assistant engineer * DJ Skribble – scratching * Funkmaster Flex – scratching * Crazy Sam & Da Verbal Assassins – performer * Manuel Lecuona – mastering * Rawle Gittens – mixing assistant * Tony Gonzales – assistant engineer * Lauryn Hill – arranger, performer, executive producer *

Jerry Duplessis Jerry "Wonda" Duplessis (born 9 August 1975) is a Haitian music producer, film score composer, entrepreneur and philanthropist. His first major success was as a producer for the Fugees' 1996 album '' The Score''. He also played the bass guitar w ...

– guitar, bass, producer * Alex Olsson – mixing assistant *

– performer * Jay Nicholas – mixing assistant *

– performer, executive producer *

Melky Sedeck Melky Sedeck is a Haitian-American R&B hip hop sibling duo. The name of the group is drawn from the names of singer Blandinna Melky Jean and her multi-instrumentalist brother Farel Sedeck Guerschom Jean. The name of the group (and of the sibli ...

– performer * New York Philharmonic Orchestra – performer * Tomas Muscionico – photography * Mike Roach – mixing assistant * Storm Jefferson – mixing assistant * Paul Epworth – assistant engineer * Brian Dozoretz – engineer, mixing assistant *

Jocelyne Béroard Jocelyne Béroard (born 12 September 1954) is a Martinican singer and songwriter. She is one of the lead singers of the Zouk and Compas band Kassav'. As a solo artist, she helped create zouk Beton, a music genre started by Kassav'. The main membe ...

– performer * Sweet Micky – performer * The Neville Brothers – performer *

– performer

Charts

Weekly charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Carnival 1997 debut albums Albums produced by Wyclef Jean Concept albums Wyclef Jean albums Albums produced by Jerry Duplessis