Wyclef Jean Drops ‘Carnival III: The Fall and Rise of a Refugee’ Album
Wyclef Jean is officially back in action in the music world, and he's finally releasing the third installment of his Carnival series, Carnival III: The Fall and Rise of a Refugee. The latest project, arriving through Legacy Records, completes his trilogy from the past two decades.
The new album from the Haitian musician contains a total of 12 tracks, with features from the likes of Emeli Sandé, Lunch Money Lewis, D.L. Hughley, Riley and many more.
Wyclef previously took a lengthy musical hiatus, during which time he ran to be elected as President of Haiti, and participated in a slew of philanthropy work. Now, he's back and more focused on his music than ever as a solo artist, having dropped his new single, "Fela Kuti," off of the album back in June.
Earlier this year, XXL spoke with Jean, where he admitted why he decided to drop Carnival III this year, as opposed to releasing it sooner.
"Because it’s the rebirth of like everything," he said. "Y’all done seen me run for president, y’all seen the downs. Y’all seen the comebacks. It’s like the rise of the phoenix. It’s almost like the Road Back to Clefication. The road back to the music. And to be fortunate and to be able to do that in this time was… and it’s named Carnival III because it’s a cultural experience. Like when I did Carnival 2 I had a record called “Sweetest Girl” and then the next single I wanted was the record with me and T.I. at the time and I felt, I got so much into Haiti, that I left that alone. So this is like a return to where I left off."
The new album also follows in the footsteps of his Jouvert EP from earlier his year.
Along with the new LP, ’Clef drops off the new video for "Borrowed Time," which finds him playing the piano in the desert. Words like "unity," "fluidity" and "anti-supremacy" appear in the cracked earth as the former Fugees member sings over a beat that incorporates sounds from Jupiter. The song was created as part of a collaboration with NASA's Juno project.
Take a listen to the new album from Wyclef in the stream below to hear his musical comeback.
1. "Slums" Feat. Jazzy Amra, H1DaHook & Marx Solvila
2. "Turn Me Good"
3. "Borrowed Time"
4. "Fela Kuti"
5. "Warrior" Feat. T-Baby
6. "Shotta Boys" Feat. Stix
7. "Double Dutch" Feat. Eric Nimmer & D.L. Hughley
8. "What Happened to Love" Feat. Lunch Money Lewis & The Knocks
9. "Carry On" Feat. Emeli Sandé
10. "Concrete Rose" Feat. Hannah Eggen & Izolan
11. "Trapicabana" Feat. Riley
12. "Thank God for the Culture" Feat. Marx Solvila, J'Mika & Leon Lacey
See New Music Releases for September 2017