Coming Around Again Podcast: Robyn’s ‘Robyn Is Here’ and Wyclef Jean’s ‘The Carnival’ Turn 20
Welcome to the Coming Around Again podcast, part of the Pop Shop family, where host Andrew Unterberger and a variety of guests will be discussing notable anniversaries being celebrated in the music world.
This week, we look at a pair of albums turning 20: Robyn‘s Robyn Is Here debut LP, which was released in the U.S. on June 21st, 1997 (after coming out in Europe a couple years earlier), and Wyclef Jean‘s The Carnival, which dropped three days later.
More from Billboard
Billboard contributor Dan Weiss joins the podcast first to talk about Robyn Is Here, as well as the excellent 20-year remembrance he wrote for Billboard earlier this week. We discuss the way the album served as a relatively modest bow for one of the most audacious pop talents of the last few decades, how the album’s core sound is different from what modern-day fans might’ve expected from her debut, and what signs there were from the then-teenager that she would be capable of singular greatness later in her career.
Then, regular Billboard cover story writer Chris Martins comes on the line to remember The Carnival, the first solo album by Wyclef Jean, and the first full-length release from any of The Fugees following their blockbuster 1996 LP The Score. We talk about the many ays the album has proven ahead of its time (and the couple ways in which it’s become rather badly dated), as well as discussing personal favorites and how the public image of Wyclef has evolved over the years.
Listen to both discussions below, and be sure to check back every Thursday to see which classic artists, albums and songs are Coming Around Again!
Best of Billboard