Artist: Elephant Man
Album: Dance and Sweep: Adventures of the Energy God
Genre: Reggae/Dancehall
Label: VP Records
Release Date: Feb 14, 2011
RIYL: Beenie Man, Bounty Killer
Rating: *****
After 2008's rather disappointing crossover attempt, "Let's Get Physical" (released on Sean Comb's Bad Boy records), Elephant Man returns with a purely Jamaican effort for 2011. The album immediately benefits from being shorter than your average dancehall outing (compared to his 2002 album "Higher Level", which had a total of 23 songs clocking in at 76 minutes). These are almost entirely strong tracks--five of which are produced by Jamaica's current hottest producer, Stephen "Di Genius" Mcgregor, including the utterly addictive "Party Up In Here", and the dance anthem, "Step Ova". Also featured is Elephant Man's absolutely crucial island hit from 2008, "Nuh Linga", another massive dance anthem. "How We Do It" is a party boast featuring dueling vocals with fellow dancehall veteran, Bounty Killer. The album stays true to the current dancehall scene, with the only pure hip-hop elements being provided by the rapper, Kardinal Offishall, on the mediocre track, "Clear". Lyrics tend to stay party oriented which has the benefit of Elephant Man avoiding saying anything offensive (likely a well calculated marketing move by VP) but it is a shame one doesn't get any real content from the artist concerning island issues (which is fairly common among his recent island singles). What's left is an album of pure escapism. 40 minutes solid of excellent dancehall music and one of Elephant Man's best records to date.
- The Genisis (The Energy God's Introduction) [Intro]
- How We Do It (feat. Bounty Killer) *****!
- Party Up In Here ****
- In Jamaica *****!!
- Nuh Linga *****!!
- Dance and Sweep ****
- Clear (feat. Kardinal Offishall) ***
- Sweep **
- Wine and Dip ***
- Dip Again *****
- Swing ****
- Step Ova *****
- Shake It ***
- Let Me Be the Man ****
No comments:
Post a Comment