Wyclef Jean has announced the release of his first full-length album in eight years,
Carnival III: The Fall and Rise of a Refugee, out
September 15 via
Legacy Recordings. The album features contributions from Emeli Sandé, Supah Mario, The Knocks, and Lunch Money Lewis. The release coincides with the 20
th anniversary of Wyclef's critically acclaimed debut album
The Carnival.
In addition
, Wyclef Jean has released two new tracks "
What Happened To Love" produced by
The Knocks via
CNN and "
Fela Kuti" produced by
Supah Mario via
XXL today. Listen to "
What Happened To Love" and "
Fela Kuti" and pre-order the album
here.
Ahead of the Carnival III rollout, Wyclef partnered with
Certified Classics,
an extension of Legacy Recordings, to commemorate the 20th anniversary
of the Carnival and the 10th anniversary of the Carnival II. Certified highlights
the impact of key anniversaries of classic Hip Hip and R&B albums,
all in an effort to preserve the culture. Learn more at:
www.thisiscertified.com
"My
Carnival albums have always been about celebrating music culture from all parts of the world and
Carnival III is no different," says Wyclef.
"It's outside the box. There's genre-bending. There's new talent on there.
Carnival III is more
than just an album. It's a celebration of what I love about music:
discovery, diversity and artistry for art's sake... It's about
putting music together that will outlive me and live on for generations
to come that is full of emotion, vibration and fun. Get ready."
In 2016, Wyclef was back yet again with another hit, "Hendrix," the first single off of his EP,
J'Ouvert.
"Hendrix" garnered over 20 million streams worldwide. Wyclef's
influence on the new generation is evident with the creative connection
with Young Thug, who named a track on mixtape, JEFFERY, "Wyclef Jean." The two musicians teamed up to record the
Caribbean-inspired "I Swear," the third single off of
J'Ouvert.
As big a comeback as "Hendrix" and "I Swear" have proven to be, one should not count on
Fall and Rise of a Refugee
as being an entire album full of mid-tempo tracks. "Do I have anything
for the clubs?" he asks. "You're talking to The Carnival Man! I've done
the biggest dance records of all time! I plan to put them on the
dancefloor more so than ever. I know people want that dancefloor bounce
from me — that hip hop thing."
The music that Wyclef Jean has written, performed, and
produced — both as a solo superstar and as founder and guiding member of
the Fugees — has been a consistently powerful, pop cultural force for
over two decades. In 1996, the Fugees released their monumental album
The Score. As a solo artist, he has released six albums that have sold nearly nine million copies worldwide, including his 1997 debut
The Carnival and 2000's aptly titled
The Eclectic: 2 Sides II a Book.
Carnival III: The Fall and Rise of a Refugee Tracklist:1. Slums2. Turn Me Good3. Borrowed Time4.
Fela Kuti5. Warrior6. Shotta Boys7. Double Dutch8. What Happened To Love9.
Carry On10. Concrete Rose11. Trapicabana12. Thank God For The Culture