How goes it folks?! This salute goes to an album that is in hip-hop in spirit but reached out to several other genres and influences of music. At a time where the group this artist was with was unquestionably the hottest selling group in all of music at this time, his solo was almost as anticipated as his former group mate's was by a lot. From world music to reggaeton to salsa, this was a truly musical album and that was likely the point of the album: to include all different cultures into this project and it ended up a huge smash. It became the official start to quite the intriguing career, and with that we salute Wyclef Jean's The Carnival.
In '96, The Fugees were the household group of not just hip-hop but music as a whole. Their sophomore album, The Score, took over everything in the game, and sold over six million in the States, eleven million worldwide. Accolade after accolade was chasing after the trio from Jersey. It became one of hip-hop's all-time greatest masterworks and put The Fugees as official superstars. Unfortunately, the house was no longer a home as turmoil, primarily between founder Wyclef Jean and member Lauryn Hill, and the result was a split. Lauryn was the first to drop, and the result, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, became an album of legend and landmark status. Not one to be outdone, Clef was waiting in the wings to drop his debut, The Carnival. While Ms. Hill was changing the landscape of music as we knew it at that time, Clef was discovering ways that he could make his own substantial impact. The buzz started with his debut single, the Saturday Night Fever-jacked "We Tryin' To Stay Alive" to favorable acclaim. Soon afterwards, the album dropped and it was clear, he was in his element. While The Fugees was mostly boom-bap with organic production and minimal sampling, this was an album that flirted with all kinds of different styles. It wasn't just hip-hop, it incorporated Haitian music, salsa, disco, soul, and folk music as well. This was never an album meant for solely a hip-hop crowd as was aforementioned. Clef wanted to be a master of ceremonies and wanted to be inclusive rather than exclusive. The follow-up single, "Guantanamera" was a hip-hop twist to a Cuban anthem, as the Cubano spirit was all over it.
From there, he released the ballad, "Gone Til November" and it was apparent that Clef was going all out to make sure this was a memorable album. Apart from the singles, there were a number of highlights that were every bit as crucial to the acclaim of this album. The opening cut, "Apocalypse", is a dark subject track with a stellar operatic sample, plus all wasn't totally lost with Lauryn, as she was featured on a few cuts on the album including the previously mentioned "Guantanamera". Blatant hip-hop cuts like "Bubble Goose" and "Street Jeopardy" sounded like they belonged on The Score, or maybe even their previous effort, the underrated Blunted On Reality. However, to put this album in one complete box would be criminal, as we see the world through Clef's eyes, more so as a world traveler than someone who was speculating on how he thought the world was from a street corner in Jersey.
In some cases seen as one of the most non-hip-hop hip-hop albums to exist, Wyclef put together an album celebrating differences, yet still acknowledging his own community and the its own struggles. Throughout his career, he would drop other albums such as the equally eccentric, The Ecleftic, Masquerade, The Preacher's Son, and the sequel to Carnival, Carnival II: Memoires of an Immingrant that were mostly acclaimed and practically every bit as ambitious. While we never did see The Fugees reunite except once during Dave Chappelle's Block Party movie, each member (including Pras) became stars. While Lauryn basically left the game on a full-time basis, and Pras was just seen as the third Fugees member, Clef continued to deliver effort after effort. A true musician and lover of music, Wyclef made The Carnival a moment in hip-hop where everybody could be a part of the same party in the midst of the darkest time ever in hip-hop with the deaths of Pac and Biggie. Happy twentieth to Clef and his massive debut.
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