Elephant Man turns to the hip-hop herd

Pop culture has moments of prophecy -- and one of them is the 1986 video for “Walk This Way” by Aerosmith and Run-DMC.

In it, dividing wall between rock band and rap act comes crashing down; rabble-rousing rappers take center stage, and literal turns metaphorical: where multiplatinum rock had been, hip-hop -- then on the cusp of mainstream -- would be.

It’s hard, then, to ignore a current video that breathes new life into “Walk This Way”: the remix for Lil’ Jon and the East Side Boyz’s hit “Get Low,” in which clashing music scenes -- divided, a la “Walk This Way,” by a collapsing wall -- merge into unified bacchanal. Rehashing Aerosmith’s role -- and thus representing the musical mainstream -- are Lil’ Jon, the East Side Boyz and the Ying Yang Twins, all part of hip-hop’s popular “Dirty South” movement.

Wearing Run-DMC’s underdog mantle and commanding his side of the screen with orgiastic frenzy is an up-and-coming Jamaican dancehall artist, Elephant Man.

With his vivacious single “Pon de River, Pon de Bank” earning radio and MTV rotation, Elephant Man -- like dancehall reggae itself -- is eager to do today what hip-hop did circa 1986: emerge from underground.

They thus need a little help from their friends. Lil’ Jon and Elephant Man, teaming for appearances and duets, are the latest in a series of links between America’s germinating reggae scene and its unshakable hip-hop one.

This alliance has produced a growing list of hot -- and not-so-hot -- hip-hop-dancehall hybrids: Sean Paul and 50 Cent’s mixtape single “Real Rude Boys,” Paul and Beyonce’s smash “Baby Boy” and the “Def Jamaica” album, which pairs Def Jam rappers with reggae stars.

Plus, Haitian-born Wyclef Jean gave Buju Banton, Wayne Wonder and Elephant Man cameos on “The Preacher’s Son”; P-Diddy enlisted a dancehall artist, Dylan, to give Da Band a much-needed dose of Caribbean zing.

But of all the crossbreeding among the musical cousins -- in the mid-’70s, hip-hop was born of reggae -- the one between Elephant Man and Lil’ Jon has proved most compelling.

“The ‘Dirty South’ vibe is just like the Jamaican vibe: Both are all about hype and craziness,” says the 28-year-old Elephant Man, born O’Neil Bryan in Kingston’s Seaview Gardens ghetto. “Lil’ Jon -- he’s like the hip-hop version of me.”

A good time for dancehall

Elephant MAN has recorded four albums, but his latest, “Good 2 Go,” had the good fortune of reaching stores in December -- a time when dancehall hit lucrative new heights. Released via the partnership between Atlantic Records and reggae label VP that gave us Sean Paul’s “Dutty Rock” -- which sold 1.84 million copies -- “Good 2 Go” boasts respectable sales, by dancehall standards: It debuted in Billboard’s Top 100 and has moved more than 80,000 units.

These numbers, however, understate Elephant Man’s presence in the Miami, Jamaica and New York reggae markets, where his album and singles have consistently topped charts and playlists. Racking up his share of collaborations, Elephant Man duets with Missy Elliott on her “Keep It Moving” and with LL Cool J on an as-yet unreleased Timbaland track.

Hip-hop-reggae fusions are dancehall’s attempt to bypass the key obstacle to crossover glory: Jamaican patois lyrics that are difficult for untrained ears to decipher. Good hip-hop/dancehall teamwork is the musical equivalent of a word-for-word translation.

Like Sean Paul’s, Elephant Man’s songs also market themselves via easily understandable, irresistibly joyful hooks. And as reggae’s chief promoter of over-the-top dance moves -- including the “log on,” the “higher level” and the “give them a run” -- Elephant Man has the clout to make action speak louder than words.

“Right now we need to have fun and enjoy ourselves in the dance, and that’s what I’m here for,” says Elephant Man, whose silly-sounding moniker -- earned when he was a big-eared teenager -- duly connotes a cartoon character (which, on his website, www.elephant-man.net, he is).

Known as the “energy god,” Elephant Man earned a reputation, starting in the early ‘90s, for an intoxicating stage presence. Enormous sombreros or full baseball regalia are his favored attire; he’ll climb more rafters than a punk-rocker and dance with more passion than a pop vixen.

“When I get onstage, I’m not just getting up there to sing -- I’m giving you entertainment,” he says by phone from Jamaica, with every bit of dynamism he delivers in the flesh. “I was born with the energy, man, and I’m giving it to the people.”

Both dancehall and “ Dirty South” music are club music -- about energy and partying, says Gil Green, who directed the “Get Low” video. “No one’s dropping deep lyrics; they’re talking about being in the dance, up on a girl, having a good time.”

It seems fitting that both genres fell into chart favor in 2003, the year that resurrected gangsta rap. Substituting riotous dance moves and fluorescent-hued fashion for gunshots and bulletproof vests, Lil’ Jon and Sean Paul -- hip-hop’s much-needed comic relief -- were antithesis and antidote to 50 Cent.

Nothing, after all, is more incongruous than the fantasy of the bulletproof rapper performing Elephant Man’s most popular dance, named for a song on “Good 2 Go.”

Dancehall’s success hinges on the triumph of mood over matter -- on the vigorous spirit of a music trumping its literal meaning. They might never deduce what he’s talking about -- but, Elephant Man exclaims, barely containing his anticipation, “every kid in America will soon know how to ‘signal di plane’!”

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Elephant Man

Who: Elephant Man at the 23rd Annual Ragga Muffins Bob Marley Day Festival 2004.

When: Feb.14-15, noon

Where: Long Beach Arena, 300 E. Ocean Blvd., Long Beach.

Price: $36-46 advance purchase; $42-$50 day of show.

Contact: (562) 436-3661.