Production of the album commenced in August 2001, and was affected by the September 11 attacks, which both caused anxiety to the group members and inspired the songwriting.

The first album to have the group credited as The Black Eyed Peas, Elephunk is a hip hop and pop record incorporating an array of genres, such as R&B, Latin, funk, dancehall, rock and dance.

[3] In order to make them more commercially successful, Fair suggested a musical direction change: "I asked them, 'How would you feel about taking a leap and going more into the pop world?'

will.i.am stated in 2018: "On our last day [of recording sessions in San Francisco], as I was packing my equipment, I saw the first plane fly through the World Trade Center.

[5] The Black Eyed Peas begun recording Elephunk as a trio; original member Kim Hill departed the group in 2000.

[9] Elephunk is a hip hop and pop album which incorporates an array of genres, such as R&B, Latin, funk, dancehall, rock and dance.

[14][15] "Let's Get Retarded" encourages its listeners to party with lines such as "Lose your mind, this is the time / Y'all can't stand still, twist and bang your spine / Bob your head like epilepsy / Up inside the club or in your Bentley".

[11][21] "Fly Away" is a rock-influenced hip hop track which encourages a former lover to leave, while "The Boogie That Be" is a "vintage early 1980's electro-funk" song.

[18][23] "Anxiety", featuring Papa Roach, is a rap metal track in which the protagonist seeks "self-control amidst stressful paranoia".

Although initially intended as a vessel to post-September 11 attacks anxiety, the song discusses many issues, including terrorism, US government hypocrisy, racism, gang crime, pollution, war and intolerance, with the call for love in the chorus as the element tying these together.

"[7] will.i.am revealed the title of the Black Eyed Peas' third studio album to be Elephunk on June 11, 2002, explaining: "An elephant ain't the fastest, swiftest animal, but it walks smoothly.

[2] The song peaked atop the charts in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom, as well as the European Hot 100 Singles and the US Mainstream Top 40.

[52] Despite the initial mixed reception from music critics, the song was nominated for Record of the Year and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration at the 46th Annual Grammy Awards (2004).

", peaking atop the charts in Australia, Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland, and the European Hot 100 Singles.

[59] The song's accompanying music video was directed by The Malloys and features an opera themed around a battle of the sexes, in which will.i.am and Taboo play Fergie's suitors, and apl.de.ap is the conductor.

It features cameos by Kimberly Wyatt and Carmit Bachar from the Pussycat Dolls, Travis Barker from Blink-182, Shifty Shellshock from Crazy Town, and French singer Afida Turner.

[2][50] Internationally, it reached the top ten in Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Switzerland and the UK, and on the European Hot 100 Singles.

[68] The song peaked at number 21 on the US Billboard Hot 100,[2] and reached the top ten in Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, France and New Zealand.

Tindal from HipHopDX described the album as "a collaboration of riffs, funk, rhymes, vocals and beats and looses steam at some points with all the originality that just seems to be all over the place, but it's still a solid outing none the less".

"[18] Evan Serpick Entertainment Weekly gave Elephunk a less favorable review, stating: "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?

[12] Ernest Hardy criticized the album's final two tracks, "in which cliched observations, preachy lyrics and MTV-ready posturing float atop meticulously detailed production".

Club said the album "gets off to a discouraging start, with non-starting dance tracks like "Hands Up," "Labor Day (It's A Holiday)," and the dancehall-flavored "Hey Mama," which sound busy and cluttered without being infectious or catchy.

"[74] Writing for the Canadian publication Exclaim!, Del F. Cowie criticized the album by saying: "With the breadth of music the group attempts to cover, the dumbed-down lyrics now merely function as a means to get from one catchy chorus to another.

Suddenly, there was a powerful force countering all the macho posturing in rap and the shallowness of pop — there was a catchy song delivering incisive cultural criticism about world peace in the wake of 9/11.

"[84] The album was the group's first to feature Fergie, who was also credited for being "the primary vehicle for the Black Eyed Peas' rise to pop stardom, though.

[83][84] Writing for Slant Magazine, Sal Cinquemani stated: "The Black Eyed Peas's 2003 breakthrough album, Elephunk, was a slow-building success story.

Filling the album with irritatingly catchy songs was a bold, ballsy move you couldn't help but admire, and it transitioned the Peas, with the aide of new member Stacy Ferguson, from the Fugees-lite to omnipresent pop supergroup.

10 years after the release of Elephunk, will.i.am revealed that representatives from the Black Eyed Peas' then-label A&M Records did not like the songs produced for the album, namely "Where Is the Love?

[103] The album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on December 3, 2004, for shipments of two million units in the US.

[107] In the United Kingdom, Elephunk debuted at number 94 on the UK Albums Chart dated August 23, 2003, entering the top ten in its sixth week.