Phunky! (Elephunk - Black Eyed Peas)

Member Name: gillyman

Product:	Elephunk - Black Eyed Peas
Date:	04/01/04 (383 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Where is the Love, eclectic, funky, all round good fun

Disadvantages: -

Unless you slept through 2003, you surely can't have failed to hear a ridiculously catchy offering by The Black Eyed Peas called "Where is the love". Aside from its infectious chorus and funky loop, its lyrics reflect the despair that many people feel when they look at the world today in much the same way as Marvin Gaye captured the spirit of the times in his seminal album "What's going on?".

Where is the Love was a huge hit in the UK and worldwide and I have been catching the follow up single "Shut up" quite a lot on MTV, VH1 and my local radio station recently. I really like the eclectic style of rap that the Black Eyed Peas demonstrated on these two hits and went out the other day to buy the album "Elephunk" (kudos for a cool name!)

Elephunk is the Peas third album but represents their break through into the main stream (and certainly into my consciousness). It is a well constructed and very well rounded album which draws from many styles to complement the dominant hip hop theme. In the main it is a combination of highly intelligent and well observed rap lyrics, mixed with funky bass lines and R 'n' B bits thrown in for good measure but also includes some far heavier stuff, particularly "Anxiety" which you would not normally expect to find on a Hip Hop record.

The album has a real summer vibe to it; certainly ideal party music and perhaps surprisingly for a hip hop record, it has very little foul language, no reference to killing (unless in a negative, pro-peace sense) and could really be listened to quite happily but any child whose parents are sick of the profanities and macho posturing of Eminem, Dre et al.

Track Listing:

Hands Up
Labor Day (It's a Holiday)
Let's get retarded
Hey Mama
Shut Up
Smells like funk
Latin Girls
Sexy
Fly Away
The Boogie that be
The apl song
Anxiety
Where is the Love

Third eye

The first ten tracks are funky. The apl song and Anxiety have a far harder edge to them before the standout track Where is the Love which is the reason why most people will be buying this. Even without the big hit however, this album stands on its own two feet with plenty of material which will have you boogying down in the clubs for a while to come.

Summary: