AllHipHop.com Interview with Elephant Man

Elephant Man: Physical Education
By Donna Marbury

Dancehall music is all about sweating and grinding. So it's a no-brainer when one of its biggest stars, Elephant Man, names his current release Let's Get Physical. The Jamaican born and bred entertainer, know as The Energy God, has gotten plenty of partygoer's blood pumping with hits like "Pon di River, Pon di Bank," "Get Low Remix" with Lil Jon and collaborations with R. Kelly, Janet Jackson, and Daddy Yankee.

With a Source Award and a MTV Award nomination under his belt, Elephant Man was signed to Bad Boy Records while sharing a dressing room with Diddy on the Usher Confession's tour in 2005.

Elephant Man went to release Let's Get Physical during the height of his buzz in June of 2007. After almost a year of being pushed back, are fans still as excited to hear the dancehall star?
A chameleon of hair color, Elephant Man says that the album, chock full of star power collaborations, will be like a Red Bull to the music industry. Here, the singer talks about his high stamina on and off the stage, why he's not a good candidate for Making The Band and his favorite ways to get physical.

AllHipHop.com Alternatives: Are you excited about your album being out?

Elephant Man: Yeah, I'm excited, and the truth is a lot of fans have been waiting. The album is crazy!

AHHA: Yeah, I heard. I'm going to start working out to it.

Elephant Man: [laughs] I'm feeling good to know that! It's an album that was worth the wait, you know? It's got some good songs.

AHHA: What was the hold up on the album?

Elephant Man: The hold up is because we have Chris Brown, Rihanna, Busta Rhymes and many others [on it]. We had to get clearances, you know? We wanted to have singles, and videos right?
We had to make sure everything would go well and we wouldn't have any problems with lawyers and all of that. We had to make sure everybody and everything was OK.

AHHA: You've done a lot of collaborations in your career. Who's your favorite artist to collab with?

Elephant Man: Chris Brown, Rihanna and Busta Rhymes. With this album, I went for my favorite rapper, my favorite singer, male and my favorite singer, female.

AHHA: You are on Bad Boy, and as you know Danity Kane and Day 26 just finished up another round of reality shows. Do you ever see yourself doing reality TV?

Elephant Man: Well, I'm not making the band, I'm already out there. I'm already past that level. If Puffy wants me to come over and talk to them, I would.

AHHA: Would you do a show about your own life?

Elephant Man: Of course! The show would be about taking these people to Jamaica and showing them about the dancehall, show them about what we go through, just showing them our culture in Jamaica.

Like, take them to the house and show them the lifestyle we live. Show them what we like to do, show them how we enjoy ourselves. It would be crazy, trust me!

AHHA: Your album is called, Let's Get Physical. What's your favorite way to get physical?
Elephant Man: My favorite physical activity is football.

AHHA: Is that soccer or American football?

Elephant Man: Soccer! I'm not putting no ball under my arm and being chased by nobody! We Jamaicans don't play that! No, we kick the ball and take some punches every now and then.
We don't run from nobody! A lot of people thought I was born to be an athlete, but I was born to be an entertainer.

AHHA: If you weren't in music, what do you think you would be doing?
Elephant Man: I wouldn't be doing anything, because it's not like I want to do this. I was chosen, understand?

When I was a child I was performing in school, competing against other schools. People had known for years what I did. They already knew I was an artist.

AHHA: What color is your hair today?

Elephant Man: One side is green and one side is blue. I gotta keep up the image, you know? I like to look cool. I like to look entertaining.

You can't be a star and not want to be seen and stand out. I gotta take care of this skin and this sexy body. So when the girls see me they say, "Damn boy...damn kid!"

AHHA: Where did you get your name from, by the way?

Elephant Man: The ladies gave me that name. Because I'm tall and I'm long and I'm strong like an elephant.

http://allhiphop.com/stories/alternatives/archive/2008/04/15/19643260.aspx