The Energy God has returned to claim his throne atop the dancehall universe. His rainbow colored hair is his trademark, but his ability to make you move will be his legacy. Partygoers rejoice, for the Energy God is here to save your summer festivities. In this interview with HHNLive.com’s Derek Phifer, Elephant Man sat down to talk about his new album, why he signed to Bad Boy, and much more.
Derek Phifer: So what’s the name of your new album?
Elephant Man: Let’s Get Physical
DP: When did you sign with Bad Boy? I don’t even remember hearing anything about that until I heard Puffy talking on Five 0.EM: We went on BET 106 & Park, and like yesterday he had a press release on it ya know? We have to get the album going and make sure everything is great and all. Plus, you know Puffy album was out. Everybody knows right now. Worldwide.
DP: Out of all of the labels that you probably could’ve signed with, what made you choose Bad Boy?
EM: Bad Boy is a label that I love for a long time. You know Bad Boy got a lot of promotion going you know?
DP: Yea. So how many albums are you signed to Bad Boy for under your current deal?
EM: Three.
DP: So are you worried about the perception that there really hasn’t been an artist that’s been able to stay afloat over there since Biggie Smalls died, or is that not even an issue?
EM: That’s not an issue. I’m a Dancehall artist; I’m not a hip-hop artist. So you know, I’m not a hip-hop artist; I’m a dancehall artist. I just know that I’m representin. I’m making some good albums and makin everybody happy.
DP: So Five 0, that’s the first official single off the album right?
EM: Yea we just shoot the video; I’m here (Bad Boy offices) watching it right now. It’s crazy.
DP: Some people have said that your last album (Good to Go) wasn’t up to normal Elephant Man standards. Do you think that’s true?
EM: Well, you can’t believe everybody you know? Because that last album was very good. I didn’t go in the studio and write for the album, I didn’t really do any work for it you know? I didn’t know it was gonna cross, I didn’t know it was gonna be so big ya know? I just know that “Pon De River” was the biggest song at the time. I spent like 2 years working on this album (Let’s Get Physical). Before I signed with Bad Boy, the album was supposed to come out, then they pull it back because we had a deal with Bad Boy, so ya know, we were in the studio working on it and finally right now ya know?
DP: So do you think that the work you put into this one is going to separate how this album is received?
EM: This album is gonna separate every album that I did up to right now, believe me. Crazy.
DP: Was Puffy really hands on with this album, or did he just throw you out there and say “do what you normally do and I’ll just trust you on it”?
EM: He let me do what I wanna do, but he kind of put some things in it too, because you know Puffy like to put a little thing to it, but we keeping the dancehall flava, that’s what we representin. He gave me things like Swizz Beatz producing and I told him (Swizz Beatz) what I wanted and all of that ya know?
DP: I definitely heard that you’ve got an all-star line-up of collaborations and things on this album. Other than Swizz Beatz, who are a couple of the other people that you got on there?
EM: I got me and Rihanna, me and Mya, me and Mario Winans, me and Busta Rhymes, and Shaggy, it’s crazy.
DP: Wyclef has been behind a ton of hits in this industry. What was it like working with him on the Five 0 remix?
EM: Yo Wyclef is the man right now, like trust me. You wan make hits, just go see Wyclef man, he got it on lock.
DP: Have you started touring already?
EM: I just came off tour in Europe, so after the album we gonna do a U.S.
DP: This may be a stupid question, but are you bigger in the United States, or back home?
EM: I’m bigger in Jamaica than in the U.S. You know Jamaica is small, so you couldn’t compare Jamaica with the U.S. In the U.S., when you got this much love in the U.S., it’s crazy and everywhere I been in the 52 states, they know Elephant Man. WE MAKE JAMAICA MAN.
DP: You’re obviously one of the best Dancehall artists to ever do it, but who do you see as your main competition as far as that goes?
EM: Well, for me, I don’t deal with competition. My talent is different, that’s why I don’t do competition ya know? I just do what I do best. I make everybody enjoy themselves and I make the music from my heart. I don’t deal with competition.
DP: This is something, personally, and that a lot of people that I’ve talked to always wanted to see. Is there a chance that we’d see a dancehall all-star track with you and Beenie Man and whoever else is doing it big?
EM: Well right now you got Sean Paul, you got Jr. Gong, you got Shaggy, you got a lot of artists doin it. That isn’t really for me to say. I leave that to the fans and the reporters, like you. You’re the ones that say, “Sean Paul is my favorite artist.” I can’t say, because that’s your decision. If another reporter say, “Elephant Man is their artist”, that’s their decision. So you know, you all are the ones that know what’s poppin, what you like, and what’s goin down for you.
DP: What joints did you perform at Summer Jam this year?
EM: “Signal The Plane,” “Willy Bounce", “Five 0.”
DP: So do you have your own label that you’re working on? I know a lot of artists are always trying to do their own thing and bring up their own people. Are you doing anything like that?
EM: Well I’m just trying to get the album out. I got Animal House, but I haven’t recorded and put out nothing on that label. You know, I just try to get the album out and I’m good to go. After that I’m good.
DP: So what do you have going on besides that album?
EM: Different from the album , you know we got a lot of shows in Jamaica, we got a lot of shows in the U.S., we just did a big show in Miami, so we gonna be all over the place.
DP: Anything else you can tell me about Elephant Man that we might not know?
EM: If you don’t know something about Elephant Man, remember this. Elephant man is a people person and Elephant man is somebody you can relate to and I’m a God fearing person.
DP: Any shout outs or anything else you want to say before we’re done?
EM: Yea, I want to shout out to all my fans, keep it jiggy ya don know, and my Myspace is http://myspace.com/elephantmandj
DP: Thanks for sitting down to do the interview and good luck with that album.
EM: Don’t forget to checkout Elephant Man at www.elephant-man.net
SOURCE:HHNLive.com Technorati Cosmos: related links jamaica reggae soca hiphop dancehall caribbean party pop gossip rumours
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