Wyclef Jean featuring Refugee All Stars (John Forte and Pras) "We Tryin' To Stay Alive"

Album: The Carnival (Ruffhouse/ Columbia; 1997)
Songwriters: John Forte, Barry Gibb, Maurice Gibb, Robin Gibb, Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel
R&B Peak Position: #14

"Every step tango'd/ Your beat don't concern me/ I'm eating mangos in Trinidad with attorneys..."

When Wyclef Jean announced the arrival of The Carnival (a surprise to many who had guessed the first Fugee to go solo would be the more obvious superstar, Lauryn Hill), we were well-prepared for the notion that this wasn't going to be your conventional rap release (not coming from a guitar-strumming emcee who held the same idolized appreciation for Rakim as he did the two Bob's: Marley and Dylan). In his worldly vision, folk ballads and exercises in Latin standards made sense, but a hip hop track based on a well-known disco staple? Guess Clef figured if Puffy could sample from the most obvious of pop hits, he could too.

With a looping of the bassline intro of The Bee Gees' "Stayin Alive", "We Tryin' To Stay Alive" saw the Refugee All-Star in the midst of his own Saturday Night Fever, studying the attendees of the hottest nightspot. He scopes the usual mix of college kids, gold-diggers and wannabe pimps all crammed together in one setting with the same goal in mind: to party like rock stars, even if their real-life bank accounts state the exact opposite.

Clef and his co-horts, the nimble-tongued John Forte (remember him?) and fellow Fugee Pras, meld in with the crowd with ease, finding amusement in the fact that they're probably the only ones in the spot whose big baller antics aren't an act. While Pras flashes his American Express at the bar, Forte mocks Mr. "Dirty Cash" who's trying to woo the ladies with faux furs and a Benz he doesn't own: "Brotha do the math/ You ain't half near exotic/...Well recognized/ You a lie tryin' to do it".

Throw in an Audio Two-flipping ragga breakdown just for the hell of it and a Jackson-aping choreographed music video and Jean had successfully accomplished the unthinkable: giving The Bee Gees' some '90's hood relevancy. Who'd a thunk it?

Best Moment: "Check the spelling/ R-E, F-U-G-E/ E get the CD from Sam Goody's (he he)" (0:46)

Wyclef Jean - Stayin Alive
Uploaded by djoik

DL: "We Tryin' To Stay Alive" (YFH)