The Vault Reviews: "Comin' 4 You" by Elephant Man

I’m always pretty perturbed by the kind of ‘backlash’ certain artists seem to receive from the Reggae & Dancehall community once they’ve attained a distinct level of international popularity. In some cases - In many cases - it almost seems like many fans, and myself definitely included at times in the past, would like the music to retain much the kind of ‘regional’ historical and current statuses which it has enjoyed instead of spreading to audiences who may not even be able to appreciate it as we do. For me personally, however, that unfortunate regret was always for selfish reasons (so the music would not end up diluted which tends to happen quite frequently) and NEVER because I had some rising problem with the artist. ‘Exhibit A’ is definitely Sean Paul who many hardcore Dancehall fans seemed to collectively turn their backs on after he dropped ‘Gimmi Di Light’. I’ve always contended that it was actually that backlash which pushed tunes like Beenie Man’s ‘Toy Friend’ and ‘Press Trigger’ from Mad Cobra (get well soon) to even bigger heights and made Sizzla’s ‘Pump Up’ even that much more controversial - Almost as if it were like ‘because the rest of the world is focusing on ‘Gimmi Di Light’, we’re going to hype up these tunes instead - as they all rode the same now immortal Buzz Riddim. Sean Paul has received, and continues to receive, so much flak as an artist for his progress and it’s really a damn shame because I STILL and WILL STILL on the day I die contend that his debut album, ‘Stage One’, is one of the greatest Dancehall albums of all time. EVER. And while you may not see it consistently these days, that kind of monotonous (in a good way) SKILL is still there, he’s still an excellent and world class DJ in my opinion. Beenie Man has also received quite a bit of backlash as an artist for his more global musical exploits. Beenie’s situation is different, however, but his status amongst the hardcore heads is pretty much unquestionable at this point and Sean Paul hadn’t achieved that type of standing at the time when the ‘light’ came on. Mavado similarly got such bad reviews just last year when he decided to tell us just how special he was and don’t even get me started on Shaggy who kind of exists in this bubble outside of the genre of music that he makes because he just so happens to have sold ten million albums or so. There have been curious exceptions such as Wayne Wonder (in whose case, I believe the fact that he wasn’t THE most active of artists helped him) and [Baby] Cham whose rise to international prominence included arguably one of the greatest Dancehall songs ever made and thus made hating him for it VERY hard.

Another ‘victim’ of this phenomenon has definitely been ‘The Energy God’, Elephant Man and I’ve been guilty of it, in his case, also. But again, I should say that I was only critical of the output, not of his skills. His last album (whatever it was called, that purple/blue one) was awful. It was a bad album and the one before it, (the red one) wasn’t very good either. However, should I attempt to sit here and, in full, denigrate Elephant Man’s SKILL as a DJ; I might as well just stop writing, right now. Elephant Man, beneath the craze, beneath the hysteria and beneath the hair is probably one of the most TALENTED Dancehall DJ’s ever born. The way this man plays with the spoken word when at his best is ridiculous and yes, he has years and years full of coming up with gimmicky tunes and wherever he is tonight, he’s probably trying to come up with another and people can continue to say that he’s effectively passed his prime. I don’t care, I know WICKED when I hear it and Elephant Man has been a WICKED artist for the majority of his career and if WE don’t think so, then WE are wrong (as shit). Want an example? If the majority of what you know about Elephant Man comes from the blue and red album days (the “blue album” is called Let’s Get Physical and despite the fact that the red one is in a box about eight inches away from my hands, I don’t remember what it was called off the top of my head) and the time from since, you may want to dig up his solo debut from Greensleeves Record back in 2000, Comin’ 4 You!. This ridiculously large album (TWENTY FOUR tunes) was much anticipated as the former member of the Scare Dem Crew had struck out on his own and done so with a great deal of initial fanfare and I believe he had been going for just a little while as a solo artist at the time on the highest level (Scare Dem’s own album, Scared From The Crypt released just a year earlier and only nine days short of exactly a year, apparently). Going back to those times, although he ran in the crew with the likes of Harry Toddler, Boom Dandimite and Nitty Kutchie (and Bramwell, if you remember Bramwell . . . Damn), to me it was CLEAR who the biggest talent of the group was at the time. And perhaps that might explain why the man could drop an album with entirely too many songs on it, from a variety of producers and only have one or two (ABSOLUTE) clunkers and pieces of rubbish in the entire lot.

I’m going to try really hard not to overrate this album, but I just have to remark that the very fact that it’s actually a DANCEHALL album is, in and of itself, a plus in my book because I find myself inundated with crazy Hip-Hop sounding hybrid tunes these days and frankly I just MISS a lot of the vibes on this album, so do bear with me and take that into consideration if I slap a ‘5/5’ on this one (and I won’t). So on to business, after the intro we IMMEDIATELY get into one of the biggest tunes on Elephant Man’s debut album, Comin’ 4 You, ‘Replacement Killer’. This tune, on Shocking Vibes’ big Scarface riddim, is subtle MADNESS. Ele lyrically jumps all across the board and goes after his friends a bit (even namedropping Bounty Filla, who I’m pretty sure is deceased now, but big him up) and just has a nice bit of tempered fun on one of the best lyrical pieces on the album to get things going (only 22 more to go!). Next in is the even stronger (in my opinion) and HILARIOUS ‘Caan Trick Me’. The song (ripping the Speed Riddim) was BRILLIANT and I’m not exaggerating at all (but would I know if I was???) as it finds Ele examining the truth of certain situations presented to him. “You gyal Britney, claim seh you a virgin and you have twenty pickney. Mek mi tell yuh summin - Dat deh jacket deh no fit mi”, he says later on the tune and I’m laughing and so are you. And speaking of “truth”, the next tune up ‘Truth Hurts’ is probably my least favourite of the opening lot (but only because I don’t like the Orgasm Riddim on which it stands). Lyrically the tune is another hilarious one as Ele finds himself in the position of having to be matter of fact and frank with his some of his famous peers - “Ward 21 dem! What dem ahgo do wit di likkle fat one den?”

So having now well talked up the album, I thought I’d slow things down and go ahead and warn you about the soft (and softer) spots on Comin’ 4 You. While it does have its fair share of them, thankfully they don’t dominate in any respects. I remember really disliking the title track, but it honestly isn’t as bad as I remember it. Still I’m not to the point (at least not yet), where I feel anywhere near comfortable recommending the very strange Hip-Hop vibed track and its lame chorus (the verses on the other hand? May be a different story, give it a glancing listen if you must) (as I quickly change the track before I start liking it and have to cut out this entire section). I’m not TOO impressed with Ele and Beenie who joins in on ‘Mama’ across that Jennifer Lopez riddim thing that Capleton and Moses I used. It certainly isn’t a bad tune, but you’d think they may’ve done better together and a different subject matter probably would’ve helped to be honest. ‘2000 Began’ is another questionable one and I’m pretty confident I won’t start liking this one, even though it cuts across the same paralyzing riddim Spragga used alongside Foxy on the damaging ‘Too Stoosh’. The tune ‘What’s Up’ certainly takes the play from some R&B tune and it features Vegas on a pretty uneventful and flat track (although Vegas makes up for it later) (and that riddim is CRAZY) (and I’m damn sure that’s Ce’Cile saying “please don’t stop” on the tune) (I won’t). And I’m sitting here struggling with ‘Elephant Man’ because it most certainly is LAME, playing off of the Spiderman theme song, but there’re (MUCH) worse tunes on Comin’ 4 You. ‘Bow City’ (you know what that’s about) is horrible and skeletal and ‘Go Look A Life’ while decent certainly doesn’t fall in with the finest efforts on the album. And lastly, I should mention that ‘Headache’, popular yeah, came in the timeframe where I just wasn’t a very big supporter of Delly Ranks’ style (who guests on the tune) and although it’s not too bad, I’m not spending too much time on it either.

The good? The good on Comin’ 4 You, even on the lower levels is pretty damaging. The finest moment, still, in my opinion, comes when Mr. Vegas makes his triumphant return on the FUCKING RIDICULOUS herbalist tune, ‘Bun It’. KNOCKING all over is the tune across Vegas’ own Crash Riddim (you know from Sean Paul’s ‘Check It Deeply’ tune) and it’s been one of my quieter favourites from both over the past decade or so. It sounds kind of clumsy and just thrown together, but we’re not exactly dealing with technicalities with Ele, now are we? I do favour that tune by the slimmest of margins over others like ‘Caan Trick Me’ and definitely ‘$1000 Bill’ on which Elephant Man makes it known where his allegiances lie. That song is madness and it is a more immediately well done tune than ‘Bun It’ and it’s just crazy as well. Going back, there’s a tune called ‘Elephant’ (not to be confused with ‘Elephant Man’) which is also on the album and it’s probably very bad, but it has literally seduced my ears. The song, I’m sure, plays with the melody of some old song from Puffy (!), but it’s only on the choruses (which are horrible). The verses, however, are ridiculous and some of the finest straight forward deejaying (in a few different styles, of course, it is Elephant Man) to be found on the album. You go and listen to that and tell me that there is a talent problem with Ele. There wasn’t one ten years ago and he’s even better (when he chooses to use it) these days to my ears. ‘Watchie Pum’ was certainly not the biggest tune over the death defying Bellyas Riddim from Ward 21, but there aren’t too many tunes on that riddim which weren’t big songs and Ele’s effort wasn’t one of those. It’s probably more of a gimmicky vibes (which may be my hesitation with it), but it works as Ele turns his attention to that dude . . . You know that dude (I don’t know, I’m married). ‘Somebody’ is another gimmicky tune, but it’s one which I’ve thoroughly enjoyed over the years. I also think that it may be one of the most popular tunes from Comin’ 4 You as the punchline of the tune, “somebody looking for a war? No! No! No!” was pretty popular for quite awhile. ‘Betta Deal’ is the definitive changeup on the album and it finds Ele trying to get a little conscious and a little social across the most colourful, Buckle Up Riddim. I REALLY like this tune and largely because its kind of ‘rough around the edges’ type of vibes. It clearly makes a few ‘mistakes’ and Ele kind of drifts off topic a couple of times, but by its end, it’s a very strong track and one of the better on the album to my ears. It’s not as good, however, as the tune which it immediately precedes on the album, the HUGE ‘One’ which comes thumping through on Annex’s dangerous Doorslam Riddim (seriously one of the hardest Dancehall riddims you’ll ever hear anywhere). Again, you’re simply NOT going to be able to convince me that this isn’t a very talented artist with deejaying like this. The tune is worldclass material, most certainly controversial as hell, but that notwithstanding (hell you can focus on it if you like), the skill there is extremely high. Later, Ele hilariously tackles his good friend Richie Stephens’ Busta Riddim with another top shelf tune in ‘Out Of Order’. The song, although not as crazy as some of the others, may just be THE most funny on the album and again, the skillset is so ridiculously high on the tune as well. Not too surprisingly ‘Pum Pum’ skates through over the Ward’s Punanny Riddim and it certainly isn’t anything special, but there’s something about the call, “All who love pum pum put up your hand and say ‘Pum Pum’ “ which just really gets my attention and the tune does pickup later on as Ele finds himself in (yet another lyrical style) detained by pum pum police and ultimately placed under Punanny custody (that’s what I said). Given its VERY controversial nature, I think Ele is happy that most of the world has forgotten about ‘Hype’ and I’m not about to remind them; instead I’ll turn your attention to the once corny (as hell), now quite wicked ‘You Slacker You’. There was a helluva lot going on with this tune and it still sounds like there’re three or four tunes going on at one time, but the one in ‘the middle’ sure is impressive. The interlude separating ‘You Slacker You’ from the final tune ‘One More [Start A War]’ is so repetitive that its hilarious (if I hear Ele yell “suck unuh mumma” one more time, this apple cider I’m currently enjoying may find its way out of my nose), but there’s nothing about the SCATHING track which follows it. The Ward 21 produced tune (Volume Riddim) features both the Ward (even ‘the fat one’, as Ele says) and Wayne Marshall and it has a very hot and cold type of feel to it (not terribly unlike Ele’s later tune ‘Tall Up, Tall Up‘) (not quite that ridiculous, however) and it is HUGE. The tune has a kind of solemn anger to it and of course it’s violent as hell, but if by twenty-four tracks deep into Comin’ 4 You you haven’t learn to appreciate, first and foremost, the skill shown on the tunes, then really you’ve just wasted a lot of time by reading all of this.

Overall, while I can’t quite put this album into the line of OUTSTANDING Dancehall albums from around the same time such as the aforementioned Stage One from Sean Paul or Spragga’s Fully Loaded or maybe even Ward 21’s own debut, Mentally Disturbed from just a year later, it’s definitely somewhere in there in terms of the vibes. Comin’ 4 You is a REALLY fun release and it’s one which features such a powerful sound and a high level of ability that it’s kind of unfortunate that it’s just sort of faded away. Part of the reason that it has, however, may have to do with the fact that unlike Ele’s later work (even his immediate later work like Log On and Higher Level) (and don’t even get me started on the red and the blue albums again), this one was far less accessible to my ears. As close as you’ll get to ‘crossover’ material here is when Elephant Man plunders the melodies from a few Hip-Hop and R&B tracks, but I’d definitely question the notion that such a fan would be willing to dig through twenty-four tracks of HEAVY Dancehall just to get to that. As for me (and probably you), however, I have no problem with it whatsoever. Although the world may now look at Elephant Man in such a way that because of what he has done he’s no longer great, a VERY brief scan through his debut album can shut that notion down, once and for all.

Rated 4/5

Greensleeves Records

2000

CD/Digital

Elephant Man @ Myspace