''E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front'' is the third studio album by American rapper

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...

. It was released on December 15, 1998 by Flipmode and

Elektra Records Elektra Records (or Elektra Entertainment) is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, founded in 1950 by Jac Holzman and Paul Rickolt. It played an important role in the development of contemporary folk and rock music between the 1 ...

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. The album follows the apocalyptic theme explored by Rhymes' first two albums, '' The Coming'' (1996) and '' When Disaster Strikes'' (1997). Musically, the album comprises

East Coast East Coast may refer to: Entertainment * East Coast hip hop, a subgenre of hip hop * East Coast (ASAP Ferg song), "East Coast" (ASAP Ferg song), 2017 * East Coast (Saves the Day song), "East Coast" (Saves the Day song), 2004 * East Coast FM, a ra ...

West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...

, horrorcore, and hardcore hip hop music. Widely praised by critics, the album earned three Grammy Award nominations: Best Rap Album, Best Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the

42nd Grammy Awards The 42nd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 23, 2000, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 1999. Nominations were announced on January 4, 2000. Santana was the main r ...

. It also spawned three ''

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'' chart hits, including the

Janet Jackson Janet Damita Jo Jackson (born May 16, 1966) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and dancer. She is noted for her innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows. Her sound and choreog ...

-featuring "

What's It Gonna Be?! "What's It Gonna Be?!" is the second single released by American rapper Busta Rhymes from his third studio album '' E.L.E. (Extinction Level Event): The Final World Front'' (1998), featuring guest vocals from American singer Janet Jackson. The ...

", which became Rhymes' highest-charting single on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 as a lead artist, reaching number three. In early 1999, ''E.L.E.'' was certified Platinum by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

(RIAA) for selling over one million copies. :

Critical reception

The album received generally favorable reviews. At the

, the album earned three nominations, one for the album itself in the category of Best Rap Album, a Best Rap Solo Performance nomination for "Gimme Some More" and a Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group nomination for "What's It Gonna Be?!" with

. In August 2020, Busta Rhymes announced a sequel to the album, '' Extinction Level Event 2: The Wrath of God'', which was released on October 30, 2020.

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number twelve on the official US ''Billboard'' 200 album chart, remaining on the chart for thirty-two weeks. ''E.L.E.'' peaked at the number two spot on the

R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated Jan ...

chart, peaking inside the top fifty for thirty-five weeks. In the United Kingdom, ''E.L.E.'' entered at number fifty-four on the official UK Albums Chart, charting for seven weeks. On January 8, 1999, the album was certified Platinum by the

(RIAA) for shipping 1,000,000 copies.

Album cover

The album, and cover were influenced by popular disaster movies around the time of the album's release in 1998, primarily '' Armageddon'' and '' Deep Impact''. Busta Rhymes explained in an interview that the cover was inspired by the disaster movie ''Deep Impact'', showing his image of an asteroid hitting New York City.Interview in radio program ''P3 Soul'' in Sveriges Radio P3 on 2008-09-07

Track listing

Charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1998 albums Busta Rhymes albums Horrorcore albums Elektra Records albums Albums produced by Swizz Beatz Albums produced by Nottz Albums produced by DJ Scratch