Some time ago, Chris Rock submitted a list of his top-25 hip-hop albums of all-time to Rolling Stone magazine. Coming in at No. 16 was Wyclef Jean's The Carnival.
Here is a snatch of what the comedian had to say, The Carvinal is the best Fugees record. It's better than The Score. They're all on there - it's Wyclef Jean, it's Lauryn Hill, it's Pras, it's that John Forte cat who's in jail. ... Go back and listen to this album, and try to block out all his other records. It's like watching ""Rocky."" If you forget about most of the other Stallone films, you have a masterpiece."" Better than The Score? That's not a widely held opinion. Luckily for Rock though, it's the truth. Ten years on, 'Clef has finally released the sequel to his 1997 solo debut in the form of The Carnival Vol. II: Memoirs of an Immigrant.
Unfortunately for the native son of Haiti (and all his listeners), the 2007 version of The Carnival reads like ""Rocky VI."" The album starts spinning with a brief intro followed by the utterly forgettable ""Riot"" featuring Serj Tankian because, as has often been noted, if there is one thing missing from any Wyclef mix it is the nu-metal stylings of System of a Down. It's a case of the former Fugee trying too hard to reaffirm his status as the ""ecleftic.""
This continues to be a distraction on the out of place ""Hollywood meets Bollywood"" that is dominated by an irritating sitar inflected beat. The eerie and ominous tones of The Score and 'Clef's first release are tossed to the curb. This works fine in small doses but ultimately the album might have benefited from a little input from Lauryn Hill and Pras as opposed to Norah Jones and Lil Wayne.
Some of the lyrics falter, offering another stumbling point. There's no verse to rival the description of Clef's run-in with the cops following the Grammy's on the song that marks the commencement of Vol. I. There's no politics in the form of ""Year of the Dragon"" or comedy a la the opening to ""Street Jeopardy."" If uninspired rapping is going to be the status quo here, it'd at least be a nice touch if 'Clef would do it in French.
""Fast Car,"" ""What About the Baby,"" ""Heaven's in New York"" and the fact that the chorus for ""Sweetest Girl"" is ripped directly from Wu-Tang Clan's ""C.R.E.A.M."" do provide a few redeeming qualities. Not coincidentally, these songs are the ones less cluttered by extraneous collaborators and more in tune with Wyclef's signature Carribean styled melodies.
It doesn't matter. After five minutes, it all makes one nostalgic for samples from the Bee Gees and the Neville Brothers. Any extra cash lying around is truly better spent on a second copy of the original The Carnival.
