Elephant Man takes music by storm

By PHILIP MWANIKI

As the Ragga euphoria continues to enjoy popularity in Kenya, a new Jamaican artiste has burst into the scene and seems to be taking over from the likes of Sean Paul, Shaggy and other local and international artistes. Elephant man is causing quite some ripples.

He was nicknamed Elephant at age of 13 supposedly for having larger than average ears. The name stuck with him until manhood when it evolved into Elephant Man.

This Year has been dubbed the "Year of the Elephant" and the irrepressible Elephant Man is preparing to unleash his VP Records debut, 'Good 2 Go'.

Already in Kenya, he is picking up very well as is indicated by requests made to FM stations. His exclusive dancing styles 'of rocking the boat' and 'give them a run,' are also quite popular.

With his catchy "Pon de River, Pon de Bank" single heating up the airwaves of FM radio, Elephant Man is well poised to take the dancehall music to another level.

You will recognise him by his trademark yellow-orange hair, his custom-designed ride, outlandish jewellery and a stew of signature utterances - "You know how we roll"!

Already dubbed the ‘Energy God’ for his high-spirited stage shows, he plans on running the dancehall charts with the 'Good to Go' set, which includes hot new rhythms and Elephant Man’s unique vocabulary.

It is Bounty Killer however that Elephant credits with launching his career. Killer who was already riding high with his own career, encouraged four fellow performers to harness their individual talents into one entity; single -handedly creating the new phenomenon.

Elephant Man, along with other artistes were first called the Seaview Family, but were re-named 'Big Guns Scare Dem' which then became a force to reckon with. They tore up dancehalls with staccato deejaying styles.

But he had discovered his talent at 15, when he beat out rhythms and rhymes. Soon, he decided deejaying would be his ticket to success. Despite threats from his mother, who preferred him to 'go look for work', Elephant persevered because he believed in deejaying.

But what really fuels Elephant Man? Is it the touring, the love he receives from the islands, stateside and international masses, or does it lie in the joy of just making smash hits? For Elephant, it’s a mixture of all these elements, seasoned with a healthy amount of self-respect and peer-to-peer support.

On stage Elephant is a whirlwind of activity: launching himself high into the air, climbing monitors and running from stage side to stage side in an attempt to express himself to his people.

There's never a dull moment with Elephant Man. With a seemingly inexhaustible energy source, he throws himself into everything he does: whether its playing football, deejaying on the corner or in front of 10,000 screaming concert goers - Elephant Man does it with abandon.

Currently, the busy Elephant Man has wrapped up recording tracks with R&B sensation Mariah Carey and hip-hopper Da Brat for Mariah’s up-coming album. Making further forays into urban music, Elephant also appears on Lil’ Jon’s "Get Low" remix with rapper Busta Rhymes.

Elephant Man has enlisted a crew of his own to assist in his latest urban airwave blitz. "I have Rayvon, Lil Jon, Bone Crusher, Jimmy Cosier, and Killah Priest," Elephant said. "Yes, there are a few collaborations."

 "I wish for more unity among the artistes. Everyone is arguing, and that’s the problem," he says. "I want to change that through song and action, as do the other artistes."

philipmwaniki64@hotmail.com