A son of the Philippines longs for family, home and his old neighborhood where “everyone’s helpin’ each other whenever they can” (“The Apl Song”). He prays for self-control amidst stressful paranoia (“Anxiety”). “Where Is the Love?” condemns gangs (including the KKK), discrimination, violence, selfishness and harmful media that is “infecting young minds faster than bacteria/Kids wanna act like what they see in the cinema.” The cure lies in love, faith, God’s leading and better communication.
Harsh language mars several cuts. S-words fly on the vain, crass “Smells Like Funk.” A lover’s quarrel gets heated and profane (“Shut Up”), while a leering bad boy makes improper references to a woman’s breasts and posterior (“Hey Mama”). “Labor Day (It’s a Holiday)” celebrates the three-day weekend by getting “wasted” and picking up girls for casual sex. Mindless partying also takes the fore on “Let’s Get Retarded,” “The Boogie That Be” and “Hands Up.” “Sexy” and “Latin Girls” suffer from hormonal overload. On the former, the singer makes a graphic proposition to his acrobatic “Kama Sutra girl.” The latter treats an entire ethnic group as a “kinky” sexual buffet to be sampled.
Elephunk is a Jekyll-Hyde CD that’ll seduce teens with virtue, then smack them around with vice. A few solid tunes give way to sex, drugs and profanity. The Peas’ last disc bore a warning label. This project deserved one.
