DANCEHALL artiste Elephant Man says he is a big fan of Mariah Carey. He has also had the privilege of recording with the American R&B superstar on Got A Thing 4 You in 2003.

“I got involved in the project through P Diddy. She wanted to do a track with me. She reached out to Diddy because the song eventually made it to her album. I remember me and her were in the studio. We did it together, she was very down to earth. A nice person to be ’round,” Elephant Man told the Jamaica Observer.

“We got along quite well, and me and her was at BET awards the other day. Me and her down like that.”

The song appeared on the re-released version of Carey’s ‘Charmbracelet’ album. In addition to Got a Thing 4 You, that version included Da Brat and Elephant Man, and The One (So So Def Remix) featuring Bone Crusher.

The album debuted at number three on the American Billboard 200 chart, and sold 241,000 copies in its first week.

“Mariah is a big fan of reggae-dancehall. If you watched her top 10 favourite videos on BET, you would see that Pon Di River was like number two, it was her favourite dancehall-reggae song, and one of her favourite videos, it was on the BET countdown. The collaboration with Mariah was great for me, her album sold platinum, VP hold on pon the platinum plaque,” he said.

Asked if he’ll be performing the single alongside the singer at the upcoming Jazz and Blues Festival, he said:

“Well, nobody has approached me yet. But more time, they know we work and they work, so they don’t know if I am available. But normally, if she land inna Jamaica, she may make enquiries, they will ask, Rihanna, Chris Brown and Usher, when they get here. They ask for me,” he said.

Carey is one of several headliners slated for Jamaica Jazz and Blues Festival at the Trelawny Multi-Purpose Stadium on January 29-31. Other international acts include Charlie Wilson, Peter Cetera, the Pointer Sisters, SOJA, Magic! and saxophonist Arturo Tappin. Jamaican acts Morgan Heritage and Richie Stephens are also billed for the show.

In the meantime, Elephant Man is gearing up for his final album under his VP Records contract. He has released a new single, Can’t Live Without Woman, featuring Dean Fraser.

The dancehall artiste is scheduled to leave Jamaica on February 1 for a series of shows in North America and Europe, and returns to the island on February 22.