Wyclef Jean - We Trying To Stay Alive (Remix) ft. John Forté, Pras

What this video is

Released in 1997 as the lead single from Wyclef Jean's debut solo album The Carnival, this video arrived at the height of post-Fugees cultural momentum. The Fugees' The Score (1996) had made Wyclef, Pras, and Lauryn Hill global superstars, and Wyclef's solo pivot signaled hip-hop's expanding ambition toward genre-blending eclecticism. By sampling the Bee Gees' 'Stayin' Alive' — the anthem of 1970s disco — the video…

Why it matters

A landmark artifact of the hip-hop/R&B crossover era, demonstrating how late-1990s rap videos began embracing cinematic homage and genre-history literacy. Roman Coppola's directorial involvement signals the growing prestige economy around music video production, attracting indie-film-adjacent…

The director

Roman François Coppola (born April 22, 1965, Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, and music video director. Son of Francis Ford Coppola and Eleanor Coppola. In the 1990s he established himself as an influential music…