Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival

Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival, also known simply as The Carnival, is the debut studio album released by Haitian hip hop musician Wyclef Jean. The album was released on 24 June 1997, Wyclef Jean also served as the album's executive producer. The album features guest appearances from Celia Cruz, The Neville Brothers and multiple appearances from Jean's former Fugees bandmates, Lauryn Hill and Pras.

Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival
Studio album by Wyclef Jean
Released	24 June 1997
Recorded	1996-1997
Genre	Hip hop^[1]
Length	73:51
Label	Columbia^[2]
Producer	Wyclef Jean, Jerry Wonda
Wyclef Jean chronology
Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival (1997) The Ecleftic: 2 Sides II a Book (2000)
Singles from The Carnival
"We Trying to Stay Alive" Released: 27 May 1997 "Anything Can Happen" Released: 22 September 1997 "Guantanamera" Released: 8 October 1997 "Gone till November" Released: 25 November 1997 "Cheated (To All The Girls)" Released: 28 July 1998 "Gunpowder" Released: 28 September 1998

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 chart. It garnered Jean three Grammy Award nominations, Including two nominations at the 40th Annual Grammy Awards, for Best Rap Album and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Guantanamera", and Best Rap Solo Performance at the 41st Grammy Awards in 1999, for his top ten hit "Gone till November".^[3]

Music and lyrics

The album encompasses many musical genres, including hip hop, reggae, folk, disco, soul, Son Cubano and Haitian music. The album features guest appearances from Celia Cruz, The Neville Brothers, John Forté, Jeni Fujita, and Jean's bandmates from The Fugees, Lauryn Hill and Pras, 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.

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[4]
Chicago Tribune	^[5]
Entertainment Weekly	A^[6]
The Guardian	^[7]
Los Angeles Times	^[8]
NME	8/10^[9]
Pitchfork	8.0/10^[10]
Rolling Stone	^[11]
Spin	8/10^[12]
The Village Voice	A−^[13]

The Carnival was released to critical acclaim.^[14] In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau found the album more R&B than the "diasporan flavors" it uses as "half decoration, half concept", and remarked that Jean uses the sampler for "one-dimensional tunes" that showcase his "well-articulated morality tales and popwise carnivalesque."^[13] In his review for Playboy, 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.^[15]

Stephen Thompson of The A.V. Club, in a favorable review, called The Carnival "a stunning solo album that's light years beyond The Score".^[16] 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."^[16] The Carnival was voted the sixteenth best album of the year in The Village Voice's annual Pazz & Jop critics poll for 1997.^[17] Christgau, the poll's creator, ranked it twentieth on his own list.^[18]

In 2011, Rolling Stone ranked The Carnival the 69th best album of the 1990s.^[19]

Commercial performance

The Carnival debuted at number sixteen on the US Billboard 200, selling 52,000 copies in its first week.^[20] It also debuted at number four on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album spawned the singles "Gone Till November", "We Trying to Stay Alive", "Guantanamera" and "To All the Girls". On 16 December 1998, the album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), and sold approximately two million copies worldwide.^[21]

Track listing

The Carnival – Standard edition

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Court Clef" (Intro)	Wyclef Jean	Jean	3:15
2.	"Apocalypse"	Jean	Jean	3:49
3.	"Guantanamera" (featuring Celia Cruz, Jeni Fujita, and Lauryn Hill)	Jean Jerry Duplessis Lauryn Hill Pete Seeger Julián Orbón Joseíto Fernández José Martí	Jean	4:30
4.	"Pablo Diablo (Interlude)" (featuring Crazy Sam and Talent)	Jean	Jean	0:39
5.	"Bubblegoose" (featuring Melky Sedeck)	Jean Salaam Remi	Salaam Remi	3:49
6.	"To All the Girls (Prelude)"	Jean	Jean	0:29
7.	"To All the Girls"	Jean Al McKay Albert Hammond Ben Liebrand Guy O'Brien Hal David Henry Jackson Maurice White Michael Wright Philip Bailey Sylvia Robinson	Jean	4:18
8.	"Down Lo Ho (Interlude)" (featuring Talent and Wil Shannon Briggs)	Jean	Jean	1:13
9.	"Anything Can Happen"	Jean Duplessis	Jean	4:36
10.	"Gone till November"	Jean Duplessis	Jean	3:27
11.	"Words of Wisdom (Interlude)"	Jean	Jean	0:45
12.	"Year of the Dragon" (featuring Lauryn Hill)	Jean Duplessis Hill G. Summers	Jean	4:07
13.	"Sang Fézi" (featuring Lauryn Hill)	Jean Alan Price	Jean	4:02
14.	"Fresh Interlude"	Jean	Jean	1:45
15.	"Mona Lisa" (featuring The Neville Brothers)	Jean	Jean	4:30
16.	"Street Jeopardy" (featuring John Forté and R.O.C.)	Jean Duplessis John Forté	Jean	3:57
17.	"Killer M.C. (Interlude)" (featuring Pras)	Jean	Jean	0:32
18.	"We Trying to Stay Alive" (featuring John Forté and Pras)	Jean Forté Pras Michel Barry Gibb Maurice Gibb Robin Gibb	Pras	3:11
19.	"Gunpowder" (featuring Lauryn Hill)	Jean	Jean	4:24
20.	"Closing Arguments (Interlude)" (featuring Talent and Wil Shannon Briggs)	Jean	Jean	1:35
21.	"Enter the Carnival (Interlude)"	Jean	Jean	0:24
22.	"Jaspora"	Jean	Jean	4:03
23.	"Yele" (featuring Joel Servilus and Lauryn Hill)	Jean	Jean	5:24
24.	"Carnival" (featuring Jacob Desvarieux, Jocelyne Béroard, and Sweet Mickey)	Jean Duplessis	Jean	5:06

The Carnival – Bonus tracks

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
25.	"Imagino (Creole version)"	Jean	Jean
26.	"Bubblegoose (Bakin' Cake Mix)"	Jean Remi	Salaam Remi	3:30
27.	"No Airplay (Men in Blue)" (featuring Youssou N'Dour)	Jean	Jean	4:46
28.	"Cheated (To All the Girls) (R&B Remix)" (featuring Queen Pen)	Jean Remi Hammond David	Salaam Remi	4:05
29.	"What's Clef?" (featuring Naomi Campbell)	Jean Remi	Salaam Remi	4:17
30.	"Chickenhead (Icerider Remix)" (featuring Spragga Benz)	Jean Remi Hammond David	Salaam Remi	4:31

Personnel

• Wyclef Jean – guitar, keyboards
• Rita Marley – background vocals
• Judy Mowatt – background vocals
• Marcia Griffiths – background vocals
• Sonny Kompanek – arranger
• Salaam Remi – 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 – guitar, bass, producer
• Alex Olsson – mixing assistant
• John Forté – performer
• Jay Nicholas – mixing assistant
• Pras – performer, executive producer
• Melky Sedeck – 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 – performer
• Sweet Micky – performer
• The Neville Brothers – performer
• Celia Cruz – performer

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1997-1998)	Peak position
Canadian RPM Albums Chart^[22]	42
Dutch Albums Chart^[23]	48
German Albums Chart	81
New Zealand Albums Chart^[24]	31
Norwegian Albums Chart^[25]	24
Swedish Albums Chart^[26]	16
Swiss Albums Chart^[27]	38
UK Albums Chart	40
US Billboard 200	16
US Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums	4

Certifications

Region	Certification	Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)^[28]	Platinum	100,000^^
United Kingdom (BPI)^[29]	Silver	60,000^*
United States (RIAA)^[30]	2× Platinum	2,000,000^^
^* Sales figures based on certification alone. ^^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

1. Nelson, Havelock (3 January 1998). "The Rap Column". Billboard. p. 85. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
2. "All Music Label". AllMusic. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
3. "Awards Nominations & Winners". GRAMMY.com. 30 April 2017. Retrieved 6 November 2020.
4. Stanley, Leo. "Presents the Carnival – Wyclef Jean". AllMusic. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
5. Kot, Greg (27 June 1997). "Wyclef Jean: Wyclef Jean presents the Carnival featuring Refugee Allstars (Ruffhouse)". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 5 April 2020.
6. Bernstein, Jonathan (18 July 1997). "The Carnival". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 27 October 2021.
7. Sullivan, Caroline (4 July 1997). "Wyclef Jean: Presents the Carnival Featuring Refugee Allstars (Sony)". The Guardian.
8. Johnson, Connie (21 June 1997). "Presenting a Daring Solo 'Carnival' Ride". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
9. Batey, Angus (21 June 1997). . NME. Archived from the original on 17 August 2000. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
10. Zeichner, Naomi (8 October 2017). "Wyclef Jean: The Carnival". Pitchfork. Retrieved 8 October 2017.
11. Morales, Ed (26 June 1997). . Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 1 April 2007. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
12. Michel, Sia (August 1997). "Wyclef Jean: Presents the Carnival featuring Refugee Allstars". Spin. 13 (5): 111. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
13. Christgau, Robert (23 September 1997). "Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
14. Morgan, Joan (2018). She Begat This: 20 Years of The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 978-1-5082-6878-9.
15. Christgau, Robert (July 1997). "Doc Cheatham & Nicholas Payton, Wyclef Jean, Strip Jointz". Playboy. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
16. Thompson, Stephen (29 March 2002). "Jean ventures far beyond the places he knows". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
17. "The 1997 Pazz & Jop Critics Poll". The Village Voice. New York. 28 February 1998. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
18. "Pazz & Jop 1997: Dean's List". The Village Voice. New York. 28 February 1998. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
19. "100 Best Album of the Nineties". Rolling Stone. 16 May 2011. Retrieved 5 June 2017.^{[dead link]}
20. Harris, Chris (12 December 2007). "Josh Groban Rules Billboard Chart For Third Straight Week: Blake Lewis Barely Cracks Top 10". MTV. Retrieved 1 June 2017.
21. Mitchell, Gail (24 November 2007). Billboard. Nielsen Business Media, Inc.
22. "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 66, No. 26". RPM. 23 March 1998. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
23. "Dutch Album Top 100". 11 April 1998. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
24. "New Zealand Album Top 40". 31 May 1998. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
25. "VG Lista - Album Top 40". Retrieved 2 June 2017.
26. "SVERIGETOPPLISTAN - ALBUMS TOP 60". 25 July 1997. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
27. "SCHWEIZER HITPARADE - ALBEN TOP 100". 3 August 1997. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
28. "Canadian album certifications – Wyclef Jean – The Carnival". Music Canada.
29. "British album certifications – Wyclef Jean – The Carnival". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 19 March 2023.
30. "American album certifications – Wyclef Jean – The Carnival". Recording Industry Association of America.