Wyclef Jean Presents The Carnival
Template:Use dmy dates {{safesubst:#invoke:Unsubst-infobox||$params=italic_title,name,type,longtype,artist,cover,border,alt,caption,released,recorded,venue,studio,genre,length,language,label,director,producer,compiler,chronology,prev_title,prev_year,year,next_title,next_year,misc|$extra=italic_title,longtype,border,caption,language,director,compiler,chronology,year,misc|$aliases=italic title>italic_title,Italic title>italic_title,Name>name,Type>type,image>cover,Cover>cover,Border>border,Alt>alt,Caption>caption,Longtype>longtype,Artist>artist,Released>released,Recorded>recorded,Venue>venue,Studio>studio,Genre>genre,Length>length,Language>language,Label>label,Director>director,Producer>producer,Compiler>compiler,Chronology>chronology,Misc>misc|$flags=override|$B={{#ifeq:{{#invoke:Is infobox in lead|main|[Ii]nfobox [Aa]lbum}}|true|{{#if:Template:Has short description | |{{#if: 24 June 1997 | Template:Short description}}}}}}{{#invoke:Infobox|infobox}}Template:Template otherTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Main other{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|unknown=Template:Main other|preview=Page using Template:Infobox album with unknown parameter "_VALUE_"|ignoreblank=y|italic_title |type |name |image |cover |border |alt |caption |longtype |artist |released |recorded |venue |studio |genre |length |language |label |director |producer |compiler |prev_title|prev_year|next_title|next_year|chronology|year|misc}}{{#if:{{#invoke:String|match|error_category=Music infoboxes with Module:String errors|A|1=The Ecleftic: 2 Sides II a Book2000studioWyclef Jean Presents The CarnivalThe Carnival (Wyclef Jean album).jpgWyclef Jean24 June 19971996–1997Hip hop<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>73:51Columbia<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>RuffhouseWyclef Jean, Jerry Wondax|2=</?t[drh][ >]|nomatch=}}|Template:Main other}}Template:Main other}} 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 and The Neville Brothers and multiple appearances from Jean's former Fugees bandmates, Lauryn Hill and Pras.
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".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
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
The Carnival was released to critical acclaim.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> 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."<ref name=Christgau/> 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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
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".<ref name="AV Club Review">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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."<ref name="AV Club Review"/> The Carnival was voted the sixteenth best album of the year in The Village VoiceTemplate:'s annual Pazz & Jop critics poll for 1997.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Christgau, the poll's creator, ranked it twentieth on his own list.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2011, Rolling Stone ranked The Carnival the 69th best album of the 1990s.<ref>Template:Cite newsTemplate:Dead linkTemplate:Cbignore</ref>
Commercial performance
The Carnival debuted at number sixteen on the US Billboard 200, selling 52,000 copies in its first week.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> It also debuted at number four on the US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart. The album spawned the singles "We Trying to Stay Alive", "Guantanamera", "Gone Till November", "Cheated (To All the Girls)" and "Gunpowder". 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.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
Track listing
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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
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Weekly charts
| Chart (1997–1998) | Peak position |
|---|
Year-end charts
| Chart (1997) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200<ref name="year-end1">Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 88 | |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)<ref name="year-end1997">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
38 |
| Chart (1998) | Position | |
|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200<ref name="year-end2">Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 91 | |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)<ref name="year-end1998">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation | CitationClass=web
}}</ref> |
81 |
Certifications
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