Elephunk

Elephunk is the third studio album by American group 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 group's first album with Fergie, as well as their first album where the band is credited as The Black Eyed Peas. Album cover art by Markus and Indrani Pal-Chaudhuri).

Not to be confused with Elefunk.
Elephunk
Studio album by
Black Eyed Peas
ReleasedJune 24, 2003
Genre
Length59:29
Label
Producer
Black Eyed Peas chronology
Bridging the Gap
(2000)		 Elephunk
(2003)		 Monkey Business
(2005)
Singles from Elephunk
  1. "Where Is the Love?"
    Released: June 16, 2003
  2. "Shut Up"
    Released: November 4, 2003
  3. "Hey Mama"
    Released: January 12, 2004
  4. "Let's Get It Started"
    Released: June 22, 2004

Critical reception
Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic66/100[4]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[5]
Alternative Press4/5[6]
Blender[7]
Drowned in Sound9/10[8]
Entertainment WeeklyC[9]
HipHopDX4.0/5[10]
Rolling Stone[11]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[12]
SpinB+[13]
The Village VoiceA−[2]

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] John Bush from AllMusic said that Elephunk "possesses some of the most boundary-pushing productions in contemporary, (mostly) uncommercial hip-hop".[5][14] 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?'".[9]

Commercial response

In the United States, Elephunk reached number 14 on the Billboard Top 200 and was their first album to chart in the top 15. On the UK Album Charts it reached number 3. It has sold over 1.6 million copies in the UK and 8.5 million copies worldwide.[15]

The band was 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 appear in the game as playable characters.[16]

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"
  • Adams
  • Antonio Carlos Jobim
  • Vinícius de Moraes
will.i.am4:43
9."Fly Away"
will.i.am3:35
10."The Boogie That Be"
will.i.am5:12
11."The Apl Song"
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[17]
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[18]
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)[19]
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[20]
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
Black Eyed Peas
  • will.i.am - vocals on all tracks except 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
  • Taboo - vocals on tracks 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9 and 13
  • Fergie - vocals on all tracks except 6, 7 and 12
  • Dante Santiago – backing vocals on tracks 1, 3, 4, 6, 10, 14, and 15; vocals on track 7
Black Eyed Peas Musicians
  • George Pajon – guitar on tracks 1, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 13 and 15
  • 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
  • Printz Board – horns on track 2; trumpet on track 7; Moog synthesizer and clavinet on track 13
  • Tim Orindgreff – horns on track 2; saxophone and flute 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 damaged by clipping.[21]

Charts

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Argentina (CAPIF)[40] Gold 20,000^
Australia (ARIA)[41] 4× Platinum 280,000^
Austria (IFPI Austria)[42] Gold 15,000*
Brazil (Pro-Música Brasil)[43] Gold 50,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[44] 7× Platinum 700,000^
Denmark (IFPI Denmark)[45] Platinum 40,000^
Finland (Musiikkituottajat)[46] Gold 23,541[46]
France (SNEP)[47] Platinum 300,000*
Germany (BVMI)[48] Platinum 200,000^
Ireland (IRMA)[49] 2× Platinum 30,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[50] Gold 100,000^
Mexico (AMPROFON)[51] Platinum 150,000^
Netherlands (NVPI)[52] 2× Platinum 160,000^
Norway (IFPI Norway)[53] Gold 20,000*
Russia (NFPF)[54] 3× Platinum 60,000*
Spain (PROMUSICAE)[55] Platinum 100,000^
Sweden (GLF)[56] Gold 30,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[57] Platinum 40,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[58] 5× Platinum 1,598,599[59]
United States (RIAA)[60] 2× Platinum 3,190,000[61]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[62] 2× Platinum 2,000,000*

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

Release history
Country Date Edition Label
Canada[63] June 24, 2003 Standard Universal
Germany[64] July 1, 2003
United Kingdom[18] August 7, 2003 Polydor
United States[17] May 26, 2004 Re-issue A&M

References
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  2. Christgau, Robert (January 27, 2004). "Parts of the Elephunk". The Village Voice. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  3. "Week Ending Aug. 29, 2010: Life's Ups & Downs – Chart Watch". New.music.yahoo.com. September 1, 2010. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
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  5. Bush, John. "Elephunk – The Black Eyed Peas". AllMusic. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  6. "The Black Eyed Peas: Elephunk". Alternative Press (182): 118. September 2003.
  7. Patel, Joseph (August 2003). "The Black Eyed Peas: Elephunk". Blender (18): 120. Archived from the original on August 20, 2004. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  8. Nettleton, Chris (May 10, 2004). "Album Review: Black Eyed Peas – Elephunk". Drowned in Sound. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  9. Serpick, Evan (June 27, 2003). "Elephunk". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on November 29, 2018. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  10. Tindal, K. B. (July 24, 2003). "Black Eyed Peas – Elephunk". HipHopDX. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  11. Hardy, Ernest (June 18, 2003). "Elephunk". Rolling Stone. Retrieved May 24, 2011.
  12. Weingarten, Christopher R. "Black Eyed Peas: Album Guide". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on April 24, 2013. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
  13. "Breakdown". Spin. 19 (8): 119. August 2003. Retrieved June 2, 2017.
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  15. "Amazon Elephunk Information".
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  17. "Elephunk: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
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  19. "Elephunk [Bonus CD] - The Black Eyed Peas | Release Information, Reviews and Credits". AllMusic. 2004-05-25. Retrieved 2014-08-10.
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  51. "Certificaciones" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Retrieved 23 May 2019. Type Black Eyed Peas in the box under the ARTISTA column heading and Elephunk in the box under TÍTULO
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