Elephant Man (musician)

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Elephant Man
Birth name O'Neil Bryan
Also known as The Energy God
Born (1975-09-11) 11 September 1975 (age 37)
Origin Kingston, Jamaica
Genres Dancehall, reggae fusion, comedy rap, dirty rap
Occupations DJ, singer
Years active 1997–present
Labels Bad Boy/Atlantic, VP, Greensleeves
Associated acts Scare Dem Crew
The Alliance
Kat DeLuna
Website www.elephant-man.net

Elephant Man, also known as the Energy God (born O'Neil Bryan; 11 September 1975; Kingston, Jamaica) is a dancehall musician.

Contents

Career [edit]

Bryan's stagename stemmed from his large ears, which led to the nickname Dumbo in his youth. He started out his musical career as a member of the Scare Dem Crew, later continuing as a solo artist. He was later characterised for several trademarks, such as his dyed yellow-orange hair, his unique low-key voice, and his stage performance, which included jumping and running, or even climbing on stage props and monitors. His acoustic trademark is marked by a light lisp.

Bryan had his first international recognition when he and Puma settled a contract for using his single "All Out" for its Olympics commercial campaign in 2004.

He also had a song called "Willie Bounce" that appeared on several mixtapes in early 2006. It sampled the first few bars from "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor.

Recently, Bryan signed with New York-based label Bad Boy Records and released Let's Get Physical on 6 November 2007. The first single is called "Five-O" and features Wyclef Jean. Another track on the album will feature Diddy and Busta Rhymes, and it was produced by Cipha Sounds and Solitair.[1]

Many of his songs are found on various Riddim Driven albums by VP Records and Greensleeves Records's Rhythm Album series. He performs on popular riddims such as "Diwali", "Coolie", "Stepz", and "Bubble Up".

The Gully Creeper dance, for which Bryan created a song, was danced by Usain Bolt at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing after winning the gold medal and breaking a world record in the 200 meter sprint.

Legal issues [edit]

Bryan has been criticised for his lyrics calling for violence against gay people. In 2003 British LBGT group OutRage! called for the arrest and prosecution of several dancehall stars including Elephant Man, Bounty Killer and Beenie Man for violation of hate crimes statutes. In 2004, he was dropped from the MOBO awards.[2] Since then pressure from his record company and agreement with gay rights groups to avoid songs with lyrics deemed to incite homophobic violence have allowed him to perform in the UK. In 2009, his scheduled appearance at Toronto's Caribana festival was cancelled for similar reasons.[3]

In January, 2012, Bryan was arrested on allegations for the grievous assault and rape of a 31-year-old woman who accused him of raping her in his home in Jamaica.[4] He has since been released on J$ 400,000 (roughly $4,600 in American currency).[citation needed]

Discography [edit]

Albums [edit]

  • 2000: Scooby Away
  • 2000: Comin' 4 U
  • 2001: Log On
  • 2002: Higher Level
  • 2003: Good 2 Go
  • 2007: Monsters Of Dancehall
  • 2008: Let's Get Physical
  • 2011: Dance & Sweep

Singles [edit]

Year Title Chart positions Album
US Hot 100 US R&B/Hip-Hop Hot Rap Tracks
2003 "Pon De River" 86 68 19 Good 2 Go
2004 "Jook Gal" (featuring Twista, YoungBloodZ and Kiprich) 57 20 15 Good 2 Go (Remix to its album version)
2007 "Five-O" (featuring Wyclef Jean) – 87 – Let's Get Physical
"Willie Bounce" – 51 –
2009 "Nuh Linga" – 84 – Dance & Sweep

As a featured guest [edit]

Year Title Chart positions Album
US ? ? ?
2004 "Get Low (Remix)" (Lil Jon featuring Ying Yang Twins, Elephant Man & Busta Rhymes) 2 1 1 10 Part II
2007 "Whine Up" (Kat DeLuna featuring Elephant Man) 29 – – – 9 Lives
"China Wine" (Sun featuring Wyclef Jean, Elephant Man and Tony Matterhorn) – – – – Non-album single

Appearances [edit]

The following is a list of songs Elephant Man appears with other artists, usually remixes:

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Featured Artist: Solitair". HipHopCanada.com. 5 April 2007. Retrieved 11 December 2011. 
  2. ^ "Entertainment | Mobo drops 'homophobic' artists". BBC News. 8 September 2004. Retrieved 11 December 2011. 
  3. ^ Reggae's Elephant Man nixed from Toronto concert, CBC News
  4. ^ "Police: Elephant Man charged with rape". Associated Press. Retrieved 31 January 2012. [dead link]

External links [edit]


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