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Elephunk

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Not to be confused with Elefunk.
Untitled

Elephunk is the third studio album by American group The Black Eyed Peas. It was released on June 24, 2003, by the will.i.am Music Group and A&M Records. The album charted at number 14 on the American Billboard 200 albums chart and was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, and has gone on to sell more than 9 million copies worldwide, with 3.2 million in the United States alone.[3] This is the first album with Fergie on vocals.

Recording

Development of the album began on November 2, 2002 and was released just under one year later in 2003. At the time of development, only will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo were to feature on the album. During the production of "Shut Up" (the second single released from the album), they realized that a female vocal would work well with the song. Originally, Nicole Scherzinger (lead singer of The Pussycat Dolls) was approached to make a guest appearance on the record, but was forced to decline because she already was signed to a contract with Eden's Crush. Danté Santiago then introduced Fergie to will.i.am who was impressed with her vocal talents. She immediately formed a bond with the band and became a permanent member of the Peas and her photo was printed onto the album cover.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic(66/100)[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Alternative Press[4]
The A.V. Club(positive)[6]
Blender[4]
Drowned in Sound(9/10)[8]
Entertainment WeeklyC[9]
Mojo[4]
PopMatters[4][7]
Robert ChristgauA-[2]
Rolling Stone[10]

John Bush from AllMusic said that Elephunk "possesses some of the most boundary-pushing productions in contemporary, (mostly) uncommercial hip-hop" and gave the album a 4/5 star rating.[5][11] Chris Nettleton from Drowned in Sound complimented the album saying: "This record is full of first rate rapping, first rate tunes, first rate instrumentation. Look on the surface, and you've got an album full of memorable songs, hooks that lodge in your mind... but look in depth, and it's quality from the top down."[8] In his consumer guide for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau commented that the group "remain unbelievable, but in pop that's just one more aesthetic nuance", and stated, "In which the unbelievably dull El Lay alt-rappers fabricate the brightest actual rap album of 2003."[2]

Entertainment Weekly had more of a negative view on the record: "They try dancehall ('Hey Mama'), salsa ('Latin Girls'), even nu-metal ('Anxiety' with Papa Roach), but the biggest offense for a once smart-sounding rap collective is 'Where Is the Love?', the horrifyingly trite single. It's enough to make longtime fans wonder, 'Where are the Peas?'" The album received a C grade.[9] At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 66, based on 15 reviews indicating generally positive reviews.[4]

Commercial response

In the United States, Elephunk reached number 14 on the Billboard Top 200 and is their first album to chart in the top 15. It gained even more commercial success in the UK Album Charts where it reached number 3. It has sold over 1.6 million copies in the UK and 8.5 million copies worldwide.[12] The singles "Where Is The Love?" and "Shut Up" reached number 1. "Hey Mama" has been used for several advertisements including advertisements for Apple and iTunes. A cover version of "Let's Get It Started" was also featured in the film Hot Tub Time Machine.[13]

After the success of Elephunk, the Peas were approached by EA games to feature some of their music on the 2004 game The Urbz. They remixed some of the tracks on Elephunk and translated it into Simlish and created new tracks for the game. They also feature in the game as playable characters.[14]

Track listings

No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Hands Up"
will.i.am3:35
2."Labor Day (It's a Holiday)"
will.i.am3:58
3."Let's Get Retarded"
  • Adams
  • Pineda
  • Gomez
  • Terence Yoshiaki
  • Fratantuno
  • George Pajon, Jr.
will.i.am3:35
4."Hey Mama"
  • Adams
  • Anthony Henry
will.i.am3:34
5."Shut Up"
4:56
6."Smells Like Funk"
will.i.am5:04
7."Latin Girls"
will.i.am6:17
8."Sexy"
will.i.am4:43
9."Fly Away"
will.i.am3:35
10."The Boogie That Be"
will.i.am5:12
11."The Apl Song"
  • Adams
  • Pineda
2:54
12."Anxiety" (with Papa Roach)
  • Adams
  • Pineda
  • Papa Roach
will.i.am3:38
13."Where Is the Love?" (featuring Justin Timberlake) (includes hidden track "Third Eye")
  • will.i.am
  • Fair
8:29
2004 reissue bonus track[15]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
13."Where Is the Love?" (featuring Justin Timberlake)
  • Adams
  • Timberlake
  • Gomez
  • Pineda
  • Board
  • Fratantuno
  • Pajon, Jr.
  • Curtis
  • will.i.am
  • Fair
4:32
14."Let's Get It Started" (includes hidden track "Third Eye")
will.i.am7:33
UK bonus tracks[16]
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
13."Where Is the Love?" (featuring Justin Timberlake)
  • Adams
  • Timberlake
  • Gomez
  • Pineda
  • Board
  • Fratantuno
  • Pajon, Jr.
  • Curtis
  • will.i.am
  • Fair
4:32
14."Third Eye"Adamswill.i.am3:44
15."Rock My Shit"
  • Adams
  • Jamie Munson
  • Board
  • will.i.am
  • Poet Named Life
3:52
16."What's Goin' Down"Adamswill.i.am2:41
Asian special edition (Bonus AVCD)[17]
No.TitleLength
1."Where Is the Love?" (video) 
2."Shut Up" (video) 
3."Where Is the Love?" (instrumental) 
4."Shut Up" (instrumental) 
5."Sumthin for That Ass" (non-LP version) 
6."Tell Your Mama Come" (live) 
France bonus tracks[18]
No.TitleLength
15."Hands Up" (Live from the House of Blues, Chicago)5:07
16."Fly Away" (Live from the House of Blues, Chicago)3:09
German bonus track
No.TitleLength
15."The Elephunk Theme"5:05

Personnel

The Black Eyed Peas
  • will.i.am – vocals on all tracks except 11; backing vocals on track 11; Moog synthesizers on tracks 1, 4, 5, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 13; drum programming on tracks 1, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10; clavinet on tracks 12 and 13; drums and piano on track 2; Wurlitzer electric piano on track 4; synthesizer on track 10; executive production; production; engineering on tracks 2, 3, 4, 8, 9, 12 and 14; mixing on tracks 10 and 14
  • apl.de.ap – vocals on tracks 1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 11, 12 and 13; drum programming and production on track 11
  • Fergie – vocals on all tracks except 6, 7 and 12
  • Taboo – vocals on tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 13; guitar
Main session musicians
  • George Pajon, Jr. – guitar on tracks 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13 and 15
  • J. Curtis – guitar on tracks 5, 7, 11 and 13
  • Mike Fratantuno – bass on tracks 1, 2, 3, 6, 13, 14 and 15; guitarrón on track 7; double bass and acoustic guitar on track 13
  • Dante Santiago – backing vocals on tracks 1, 3, 4, 6 and 10; vocals on track 7
Other contributors

The album is considered a victim of the Loudness war, with the worst possible ranking in the Hall of CD Clipping Shame, as 1 minute 19 seconds of the CD's audio has been destroyed by clipping.[19]

Charts

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
Argentina Gold[37] 50,000
Australia 4× Platinum[38] 280,000
Brazil Diamond[22] 500,000
Canada 7× Platinum[39] 700,000
Finland Gold[40] 23,541
France 4× Platinum[41] 413,000
Germany Platinum[42] 200,000
Indonesia Gold[43] 45,000
Japan Gold[44] 100,000
Canada 7× Platinum[45] 700,000
Europe 2× Platinum[22] 2,000,000
Mexico Platinum[46] 100,000
Spain Platinum[47] 100,000
Switzerland Platinum[48] 40,000
Sweden Gold[49] 30,000
United Kingdom 5× Platinum[50] 1,500,000
United States 2× Platinum[51] 3,190,000[52]

Release history

Country Date Edition Label
Canada[53] June 24, 2003 Standard Universal
Germany[54] July 1, 2003
United Kingdom[16] August 7, 2003 Polydor
United States[15] May 26, 2004 Re-issue A&M

References

  1. ^ Sawyer, Terry (July 17, 2003). "Black Eyed Peas: Elephunk". PopMatters. Retrieved July 10, 2016.
  2. ^ a b c Christgau, Robert (January 27, 2004). "Parts of the Elephunk". The Village Voice. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ "Week Ending Aug. 29, 2010: Life's Ups & Downs – Chart Watch". New.music.yahoo.com. September 1, 2010. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "Critic Reviews for Elephunk". Metacritic.
  5. ^ a b Bush, John. "Elephunk - Black Eyed Peas". AllMusic.
  6. ^ Rabin, Nathan (July 14, 2003). "Black Eyed Peas: Elephunk". The A.V. Club. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  7. ^ Sawyer, Terry (July 18, 2003). "Black Eyed Peas: Elephunk". PopMatters.
  8. ^ a b Nettleton, Chris (May 10, 2004). "Black Eyed Peas - Elephunk". Drowned in Sound.
  9. ^ a b Serpick, Evan (June 27, 2003). "Elephunk Review". Entertainment Weekly. {{cite news}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  10. ^ Hardy, Ernest (June 18, 2003). "Elephunk". Rolling Stone. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  11. ^ "Elephunk - Black Eyed Peas". Billboard.
  12. ^ "Amazon Elephunk Information".
  13. ^ "Hot Tub Time Machine Interview".
  14. ^ "Black Eyed Peas To Feature In The Urbz: Sims In The City".
  15. ^ a b "Elephunk: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  16. ^ a b The Black Eyed Peas. "Elephunk [Explicit Lyrics]: Amazon.co.uk: Music". Amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  17. ^ "Elephunk [Bonus CD] - The Black Eyed Peas | Release Information, Reviews and Credits". AllMusic. 2004-05-25. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  18. ^ Black Eyed Peas. "Elephunk: Black Eyed Peas: Amazon.fr: Musique". Amazon.fr. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  19. ^ "CD Hall of Clipping Shame". Retrieved 9 April 2013.
  20. ^ "Australiancharts.com – The Black Eyed Peas – Elephunk". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  21. ^ "Austriancharts.at – The Black Eyed Peas – Elephunk" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  22. ^ a b c d e "Chart Data: Black Eyed Peas". Mariah-charts.com. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  23. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – The Black Eyed Peas – Elephunk". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  24. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Black Eyed Peas – Elephunk" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  25. ^ "The Black Eyed Peas: Elephunk" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  26. ^ "Lescharts.com – The Black Eyed Peas – Elephunk". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  27. ^ "Italiancharts.com – The Black Eyed Peas – Elephunk". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  28. ^ "Charts.nz – The Black Eyed Peas – Elephunk". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  29. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – The Black Eyed Peas – Elephunk". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  30. ^ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry.
  31. ^ "Portuguesecharts.com – The Black Eyed Peas – Elephunk". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 27, 2016.
  32. ^ promusicae. "Spanish Albums Chart" (PDF). promusicae. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  33. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – The Black Eyed Peas – Elephunk". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  34. ^ "Swisscharts.com – The Black Eyed Peas – Elephunk". Hung Medien. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  35. ^ "The Black Eyed Peas | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  36. ^ "The Black Eyed Peas Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  37. ^ "Argentine Sales and Certification". Capif.org.ar. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  38. ^ "Australian Sales and Certification". Aria.com.au. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  39. ^ http://musiccanada.com/gold-platinum/?fwp_gp_certification=32&fwp_gp_format=25
  40. ^ http://www.ifpi.fi/tilastot/kplista.html?action=vapaa&tyyppi=ulko&haku=artisti&julkaisuntyyppi=albumi&teksti=black+eyed+peas
  41. ^ "French Sales and Certification". Fanofmusic.free.fr. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  42. ^ German Sales and Certification Archived 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
  43. ^ "Indonesian Sales and Certification". Indonesianalbum.blog.com. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  44. ^ Japanese Sales and Certification(in Japanese)
  45. ^ "Canadian Sales and Certification". Cria.ca. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  46. ^ "Mexican Sales and Certification". Amprofon.com.mx. August 14, 2003. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  47. ^ PROMUSICAE. "Spanish 2004 Sales" (PDF). PROMUSICAE. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  48. ^ Steffen Hung. "Swiss Sales and Certification". Hitparade.ch. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  49. ^ "Swedish Sales and Certification (Week 15, April 9, 2004)". Hitlistan.se. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  50. ^ "Certified Awards". Bpi.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  51. ^ "U.S. Billboard 200 Sales and Certification". Riaa.com. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  52. ^ Grein, Paul (September 1, 2010). "Chart Watch Extra: Life's Up's & Down's". Yahoo!. Retrieved September 2, 2010.
  53. ^ Black Eyed Peas (Artist). "Elephunk: Black Eyed Peas: Amazon.ca: Music". Amazon.ca. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
  54. ^ The Black Eyed Peas (2009-09-09). "Elephunk: Amazon.de: Musik". Amazon.de. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
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