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we were not the first ones to interview mr o. bryan aka elephant man on this sunday morning but we were well aware of him! reasoning with man like danny english, singer j or even the charming crissy d it was the elephant who draws our attention, when he starts to give samples of his variety of lyrics. in the opposite corner of the room but still powerful enough to wake any lion in the jungle and make him run! expecting a star with some funny ways we got a self-confident young man, cool and open minded, always ready for a joke, sitting with us and telling us, how things run for him.
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could you please introduce yourself? |
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| elephant man |
aka energy god aka elephant man. |
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where were you born and raised? |
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| elephant man |
kingston, jamaica! raise in seaview garden, yuh hear dat! |
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how old are you? |
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| elephant man |
i'm 25 now. |
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how you get your stage name? |
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| elephant man |
well, yuh know. growing up in seaview garden as a kid, yuh know, they say my ears were big, they used to call me dumbo elephant... till they start calling me elephant man growing up, yuh know! |
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there are some deejays with animal names like tiger or zebra. is there something those artists have in common? |
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| elephant man |
well, yuh know, de animal name i tink it's special, yuh know, so tiger got a special name zebra got a spe... zebra got his name of tiger. elephant come to me as a gift from de lord, trust me. i didn't know who's gonna name no elephant. it just come as a gift, yuh know. yeah, it just come as a gift so me just work with it! |
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do you like zebra? |
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| elephant man |
de guy in a whole? yuh talking de deejay? yuh talking de artist or de animal? |
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no! the artist! |
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| elephant man |
well, de artist i don't got no beaf against him. he's cool. he's cool but he must stop rape. done: yeah, that is what i meant. there are really rumors about him. i can only say it is rumors thru me never see him rape someone... elephant: well, i know! he must stop rape! |
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so the tune 'bun a fire pon a raperman' is for him? |
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| elephant man |
yeah! bun a fire pon a raperman, me put one in a him head an' draw dem go ah station! yeah, yuh know. bun a fire on those guys who are raping de kids! |
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i hear the same rumor about other artists. jah cure is in jail right now... |
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| elephant man |
they say he molested a girl, yuh know, so he is in jail now! |
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what about frankie paul? |
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| elephant man |
i don't know about frankie paul. |
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what was your first tune you recorded? |
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| elephant man |
my first tune i recorded was the butterfly tune. *sings* yuh know, that was back in the days! *laughs* |
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was that already as elephant man or was there a different name before? |
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| elephant man |
 yeah, with elephant! i was named elephant from i was little growing up in this ghetto... in seaview garden! |
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and the next step was the 'scare dem crew' which was named the seaview crew first. |
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| elephant man |
yeah, we name it de 'seaview family' an' then bounty killer did a tune 'me big gun scare him' an' then he started to call us 'scare dem crew'. so, we took it from dere, yuh know! |
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but one member never come from seaview... |
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| elephant man |
yeah, harry toddler. he came from walton. |
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how come the connection to toddler? |
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| elephant man |
toddler, we meet him at king jammys studio. |
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and the rest of you, nitty kutchie, boom dandimite, they come from your hood? |
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| elephant man |
boom dandimite come from seaview, nitty kutchie, bounty an' me. harry toddler come from walton back round. |
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even you answered the question already how many times: tell me why you left scare dem! |
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| elephant man |
yeah, yuh know, a little beaf broke out, yuh know, an' they disrespected me so i just leave, yuh know. i didn't wanna have part with dat again, so i just leave. |
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and that made the whole crew split up. now there are the scare dem two! |
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| elephant man |
yeah, well yuh know. they doing their ting! |
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what about the connection to them? now you are no good friends no more? |
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| elephant man |
we hail, we friends, we hail an' go thru an' do all a dat but... just dat, dat's it! |
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what was the first tune after scare dem crew? |
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| elephant man |
 i used to have first tune when i was in 'scare dem', yuh forgot? i used to do a lot of solo tune when i was in 'scare dem': 'sey dem a bad man an' mek...', 'batty man me fire bun dem'! all a those tunes! 'pussy watch man' everyting, when i was in 'scare dem' so, yuh know, i was doing a lot of hit tune when i was in 'scare dem' so i couldn't tell yuh dat i had a solo tune when i leave! |
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but your career really shoot up after you start solo! |
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| elephant man |
yeah, yuh know, we just gotta give tanks to de almighty, beca' yuh done know, him mek it possible, yuh see me! yuh know, he mek it possible so we gotta give tanks. an' yuh know we doing a lot of hard work... yuh know, we're working towards de music cause dat's what i do. i don't do nutten else but music, so i try to keep it dat way! |
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leaving scare dem was the best thing that could happen to you. would you agree with that? |
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| elephant man |
well, yuh done know, de almighty... ah destiny, y'know! ah just my destiny, yuh know! my destiny dat, so i just do my ting, y'know, i was meant to be dat way so i just do my ting. |
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musical influences. like in the early days, who was your favourite singer? |
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| elephant man |
i had a lot of singers. i like buju, like ninja man, a lot of dem, trust me. shabba ranks... |
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and what about hip hop? some tunes contain a good piece of it. |
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| elephant man |
yeah, i love hip hop tune, trust me! |
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like the one tune 'e-l-e-p-h-a-n-t'! |
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| elephant man |
yeah! 'elephant man, tadadada, it's de one an' only e-l-e-p-h-a-n-t... |
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that thing is originally done by dr dre and snoop dog. |
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| elephant man |
yeah! tadadada, it's de one an' only d-r-w-e snoop dog... tadadada it's de one an' only e-l-e-p-h-a-n-t, yuh see me? |
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will there be more like that? maybe even some tunes pon hip hop riddims? |
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| elephant man |
yeah, i like to do it because i can do it! i was doing it a long time. i like to touch de hip hop a little with de reggae, i like it. it got suppn about it. i like doing it! |
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are there plans for colaborations with international artists? |
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| elephant man |
well, yuh know, i just did a new album dat's coming out on the greensleeves label in septemnber an' trust me, i did colaborations with kymani marley, yuh know, a lot of people, buju banton, it's gonna be great, trust me! |
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your last album was released one year ago. do you plan to keep on like that? every year one album? |
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| elephant man |
yeah, this is a bigger bigger bigger level! |
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you made a tune on the intercom riddim. you deejay in a barrington levy style. |
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| elephant man |
'all rude boy oonuh rise oonuh gun, from yuh know seh no guy can suck out oonuh toung. if a boy feel him bad just touch me little some, war nuh done!' when i hear dat riddim i hear barrington so i say i have to use dat melody! |
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what about other foundation artist? you don't listen to that so much? |
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| elephant man |
bob marley... we listen dennis brown, gregory isaacs, beres hammond. a lot of dem! |
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in what category of entertainer would you put yourself or is there nothing that could hold you? |
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| elephant man |
well, right now, i don't pu myself in no category i'm just working for de lord, yuh know, i'm just doing my ting, i'm just being elephant. i'm just working for me an' doing my ting, yeah, trust me! |
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your tunes are already full of energy. what about your stageshow? what you do on stage? |
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| elephant man |
my stageshow is one of de craziest shows. i give yuh your money's worth! elephant man in town? trust me! yuh got it going! yuh got it logged on! |
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so you don't stand still? you jump up and... |
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| elephant man |
i don't stand on stage. i'm all over de place! |
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what type of person is elephant man? how do you see yourself? |
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| elephant man |
i'm a type of person, love de almighty, love people, easy going, nice to reason with. nuh tek bullshit, i'm just keeping it real, y'know! |
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what you do on a day off? |
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| elephant man |
play football, be in de studio, play basketball, yuh know! |
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i heard you once a live session in chris goldfinger's radio show and it seems that you're really jokify... |
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| elephant man |
yeah, i'm dat type of person. i like to give joke i like to be happy. i don't like de serious type of ting an' i ain't into dat. i like when de fans see me an' can relay to me an' talk. i don't want dem to be fraid of me, i don't like dat! |
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like 'truth hurts'? it's all a joke thing. |
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| elephant man |
yeah, when i do de 'truth' i do dat tune for de fans to laugh an' yuh know, relay to it an' say: 'yeah, we like dis!' cause everybody was on one topic. battyman dat, battyman dis... so i was like, ok, i gonna turn it around. |
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but you talk about battyman too. |
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| elephant man |
yeah, but yuh can't stay on one topic. if i talk about dat thru de whole year everbody would be boring so i gotta change de topic. yuh haffi change de topic one time. you can't stay on one ting for ever. |
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you have tunes named like 'replacement killer' and 'romeo must die' which are titles of john who movies. do you like john woo? |
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| elephant man |
yeah, well yuh know, dat's using your head. cause when i say 'badda dan de replacement killer' yuh had a show named 'replacement killer' so i'm getting to de point with de topic. when i say 'romeo must die' i'm getting to de point but i explain it 'him an' de boy julio ah gay, molest de little youth...' child-molester, yuh see me? so dat's de child-molester romeo! |
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well, you're not easy with your lyrics. was there never someone who get it wrong? |
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| elephant man |
well, when i do i do my lyrics for de fans to feel it. so if i'm gonna do a tune for someone to take it personal, i'm gonna mek dem know dat i'm doing suppn for yuh to take personal. so when you hear me send a tribute like: 'well, me come fi big up every warriors from de present an' de past all who know dem fight fi a cause - cause! well, some seh dem ah bad man an' know de half ah it...' when i do dat, i'm bigging up all of de gangsters dat were in de business who die an' fought for a cause or a reason or whatever. ca everyone allthough they are gangsters they got family too they're human beeing too. so when yuh hear me do dat tune everybody been like: 'yeah elephant, dat guy was my dad an' dat one was my uncle an' dat one...', yuh see me! trust me, i'm a type of guy who do tunes, if i gonna do dem yuh gonna know what i'm talking about. i ain't gonna go under an' try to cover up. i'm gonna give it to you straight! |
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do you take yourself serious? |
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| elephant man |
well, i don't go for crab but... i'm a nice guy, trust me! |
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on get mad now riddim you have a second tune where you take the spider man theme... |
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| elephant man |
'warn dem once, me warn dem twice, dis elephant an' it nah go nice. warn dem once, me warn dem twice, dis badman an' it nah go nice. watch out, awooh! here come de elephant man. capisce! elephant man, elephant man! an' when i did dat i'm like, i'm gonna do dat tune for me an' then i did another one deh: 'nuff a dem a fassy waan fi dis me an' me possee when me rock an' pop off dem only mek wi get mad now! two man ina bed ah rub down one another leg de fassyhole dem fi dead beca dem mek mi get mad! all de boys thief, thief me ten pound ah weed, family haffi go leave beca dem mek me... some say dem ah friend but dem ah enemy, nah left me head careless fi dem go duppy me. everywhere me go me see de fassy dem go penny me, thru we ah shotta none a dem can study me. wha me do? hold a flight an' gone down ah miami, deejay fi dead mi fans ready fi hire me.' i like those kind of deejay, i like get to de point, i like to talk what's going on. cause, if yuh thief me camera yuh mek mi get mad now. so i like to talk about what's going on. dat's me! |
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cecile called your name in 'changez' and you counteract with 'wrong application' but you did not take that personal? |
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| elephant man |
well, when cecile said 'changes', i was like: 'ok, she doing changes!' 'changes' is one of de tune dat i like but when she say, she don't see what girl runing down on elephant, i got to correct her an' say: 'listen! yuh check de file wrong, read back your application. bad man nuh ramp from woman fi get slam. pick so much artist an' still nuh choose one, wait till me hold yuh ina me dive pan. yuh gal cecile...', yuh see me! so we haffi mek she know seh we ah man! whe y'ah do? yuh check your file wrong. read back your application. how yuh ah pick so much artist an' still no choose one. ca yuh saying dat yuh would use dat guy, yuh saying dat yuh would use dat guy an' dat guy, yuh still don't take one of us. yuh find fault with everybody! so, i'm saying, read back your application, y'hear dat! |
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you heard the tune and said: 'alright, i will response on that!' |
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| elephant man |
yeah, i was driving to trelawny an' i heard de tune an' i'm like: 'ok!' an' i went to new york for de carneval an' i was like: 'woman yuh check your file wrong, read back your application...', yuh see me! an' i'm saying i'm going to jamaica to record dis tune an' she call me an' said, she heard about de tune an' want me to record it for her. an' she pay me! |
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...and she said: 'elephant, you have an answer to my tune and so...' |
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| elephant man |
cause seh know, dat would mek her tune a big too. she know, dat would mek her tune a very big tune. so i just do what i gotta do, yeah, yuh know! |
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did someone ever try offend you in a way that you thought it's too much? |
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| elephant man |
yeah, well yuh know, yuh got player haters out dere an' yuh got niggers getting bad mind an' dem ting! but, yuh know, i don't watch dat, cause i'm living for de lord an' i know he's watching over me an' he's protecting me, yuh know, what has to be must be, i can't fight dat. my destiny lies in his hands so i don't worry. i know it's all great from i put my trust in him, so i don'Ät worry about dem! |
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you seem to be a religious man but you don't have too many religious tunes. |
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| elephant man |
well, i'm just one dem deejay dat, yuh know, i gotta show my appreciation to de lord, for all dat he did for me an' for beeing de lord. he answered my prayers from i was a kid growing up, so yuh know, i gotta show him back dat i care an' i appreciate what he did for me, yuh know. in everyting i do i gotta talk about him, yeah... cause i believe! |
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what truth would hurt germans? anything you experienced where you say: 'damn! that's funny!'? |
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| elephant man |
well, de truth dat would hurt germans, would be dat... right now... i don't have no truth dat would hurt dem. i love dem because, de germans dem crazy an' i'm crazy. they're loving an' dat's de key. love! yuh gotta have love! an' when yuh loving nutten can beat dat, trust me! so, yuh know, it's all good though! |
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tell me something about your upcoming album! |
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| elephant man |
well, i gotta new album coming out on de greensleeves label! september! an' dat is de bomb! thumbs up! about ten thumbs up for dat one! a lot of thumbs up for dat one! trust me! |
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how many tracks will be on it? |
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| elephant man |
well, when i'm gonna sit in with chris [chris cracknell, day-one member of greensleeves] an' i'm gonna ask him how many tracks him want us to put on. de last time it was 23. i wonder if i gonna put 23 or 25 dis time. cause trust me, i got a lot of great tunes for de fans, trust me! some nice exclusives! |
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combinations? |
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| elephant man |
me an' kymani marley, me an' buju banton, me an' ward, yuh know! a lot of great tunes, trust me! |
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what is the buju tune about? |
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| elephant man |
him ah say... yuh know it's a girls tune. he say suppn an' me say dat: 'me tek a sip offa mi guiness stout. oonuh fi know seh man ah go all out. under mi kinki rocking between pamela palm tree!' deep! bad! bad! bad! |
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will it be a dancehall album or will you come with some... |
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| elephant man |
yuh got 'my girl lolly pop, panapapap, yuh mek my heart go giddy up!', yuh got like 'changing love mmhhmmhhmmhh, mr lover girls call me - elly! night an' day girls want me - elly!' a lot, trust me! deep! yuh got 'earth angel, earth angel, waahhouuh, would yuh be mine' me an' lukie d. yuh got... i did a cover version but i did it in de ghetto way: 'full time we make a change for once in our live. it would feel real good if we make a difference treat de youths dem right... ...some a dem don't know bout god an' ah brag bout whe dem have, worship vanity. dem wine up dem window tell de youths dem: no! when de youths dem don't got nuh fucking where else to go. full time some man start help poor people, oh yeah! |
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that tune will be on the album? |
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| elephant man |
i did it myself. i had to do dat! trust me! |
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so you turn singer now? |
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| elephant man |
no really but i'm just expressing my talent! rum blood: for variety of tune, y'know! people gonna say: 'wow, elephant can sing!' elephant: shizzlemynizzle, i'm in de dizzle, i don't like de chicken with de grizzle! *lauhgs* |
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did you play in a movie? |
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| elephant man |
yeah, third world cop! done: what did you play there? elephant: i was a gangster! i was a shotta! trust me! |
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are there more movies to come? |
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| elephant man |
part two! |
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where you get that 'capisce' from? |
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| elephant man |
de 'capisce' i got it from a lizard! in a movie... no my friend snow corn give it to me, the argument. 'capisce' it mean 'yuh understan' me' in italy! an' yuh got a lizard in eddie murphy movie de only ting him talk bout is 'capisce, capisce'! shizzlemynizzle, what's up my nigger?`so, i got dat from snoop, yuh know. dat's weh me get it from! |
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alright, thanks for the interview. give me some of your style now! |
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| elephant man |
elephant styles backed by rum blood (ward 21) |
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| and for those who were never in the position to see the elephant performing live: you lost! what a show! this blond cain-rowed energy god turns the stage in a zero gravity laboratory. he spents more times about 1 foot over the stage than any other artist in the whole music biz. stage-climbing and stage-diving, busting through the audience like tornado. maybe those who saw once good old tiger can imagine what this performance was about. impressive without beeing pushed by special effects or other bling bling. man ah animal. CAPISCE!? |
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| additional information on the elephant man myspace site www.myspace.com/elephantmandj |
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| interview by done for sound-everest.com |
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