Welcome to the Funeral -- Artist Profile Elephant Funeral
Ambient Vibes own DeAndre had the pleasure of sitting down and chatting with Pittsburgh's Caleb Lemond who's hip-hop project is known as Elephant Funeral. We like to highlight artists that you haven't had the pleasure of discovering yet and putting them on your radar. Elephant Funeral has been pumping out conscious, lyrically rich hip hop for a few years now, and it's about time you hear about him.
Caleb's personal career path that's been fueling his project, AKA his day job, has led him into the realm of human services as a behavioral technician working with children with Autism. This is a clear reflection of the emphatic heart of this up and coming artist who repeatedly speaks of the need for us to come together, the potential of humanity, the tragic trajectory of current events, and the desperate necessity of us to speak our truth.
Elephant Funeral shines by expressing such an intense degree of emotional and topical range. Deep relationship dynamics and that touch on loss, regret, self-reflection, growth, and communication branch out from a genre that has the unfair reputation to fixate on sex, romance, and resentment, Elephant Funeral has a grasp of the human condition that surely has come from a rocky trial-and-error process. A perfect example of this masterful understanding of the ebb and flow of a failing relationship can be found in the single Fuckingggggg Leaveeeee off of 2019s We Swore in Blood. The track closes with a heartfelt reflective monologue explaining the inspiration for the track that has already taken the listener through a whirlwind roller coaster ride of raw emotion.
Elephant Funeral - Fuckingggggg Leaveeeee
Local File: Fucking Leave Mp3.mp3
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Most artists shy away from embracing labels that have a tendency to back one into a creative corner but Elephant Funeral adds intellectual clarity and conscious revelation to the pool of modern underground hip hop. Evading ego flexing topics that are hyper-focused on pleasure, fame, money, and success, Elephant Funeral touches on deep human currents. Elevating oneself above our primal nature, treating one and another with respect, and seeing the reflection of our souls, finding meaning in a world in a state of decay and finding your art within are just a few themes touched upon in his works. Shake the dust Feat. December Rose handles these themes with finesse and shows that collaboration isn't something outside of his creative grasp.
Caleb explained that he's not really out for fame or glory, he's not trying to be some kind of rock star although he would love to be able to create his art for a living full time. Rather, he's in it to speak his voice and wave his flag. He's committed to adding something meaningful to the conversation. You can't blame someone for not wanting to continue grinding away in the shadows. Touching on this he explained that "You got to be true to yourself. You can grind away forever unnoticed and nobody is going to notice. But you got to be true to yourself." He's an artist that is hellbent on not giving up who he is or selling out to the masses. "This is the stuff that makes us feel alive. If you treat it like a job, then you're going to hate it."
We asked Caleb what his musical influences were for Elephant Funeral to which he quipped that they are all over the place and a bit out there. Elephant Funerals music is far from one-dimensional. One part conscious rap one part indie-folk Avant-Garde with a splash of jazz and a whole lot of heart and soul. "I grew up listening to Tupac...especially his storytelling. He spoke with emotions and put you in the space he was going through at the time." he added in regards to his songwriting influence. This is clear in tracks that convey a very coherent narrative like January's single Unholy Things.
Elephant Funeral - Unholy Things
Local File: Unholy Things Mp3.mp3
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"I'm really into Mumford and Son and the Lumineers." he said touching more on his musical influences. Folk music has a unique blend of sounds that allows for more comprehensive storytelling. The music rises and falls. It's more dynamic." He added that a bit of this influence is going into his current project which is about halfway completed.
Lupe Fiasco and Talib Kwali are two other artists that he cited as influencing Elephant Funeral's sound. Rich meaningful storytelling, conscious lyricism, and eclectic production are clear run-offs from these influences. Elephant Funeral doesn't avoid getting a bit political from time to time either but where he really shines is with his flow and delivery which fully embraces his spirit of individuality while paying respect to the greats that came before him.
Unexpected musical diversity and layers of sophistication highlight Elephant Funerals' production. This is all the doing of Caleb who writes, produces and mixes all his own content. He doesn't shy away from taking risks or experimenting with new sounds and ideas. It's that kind of freshness that makes the underground scene so important to the Hip Hop scene. You got fresh voices and faces bouncing novel ideas, flow, and imagery around. This is the lifeblood of Hip Hop.
We discussed COVID-19 and how it's affected his music. " COVID-19 has hit me with forced reflection. Mortality, the fragile nature of life. Our days are all numbered. Tell the stories that are the most important to tell." He said. This theme of telling the most important stories and the value of the artist's ability to get their lyrics into the ears, minds, and hearts of there audience came up time and time again in our interview as well as in his work. There is no denying that we live in turbulent unprecedented times. Elephant Funeral reminds us that we are not powerless. We have a voice. We can paint. We can rap. We can sing. but the last thing we can do is give up. It's time to get together and be good to each other.
Elephant Funeral’s latest album is We Swore in Blood and you can check out his latest single releases on Spotify and Jamendo.