Ever since they were a fledgling group in the environs of Los Angeles, The Black Eyed Peas have flaunted a passionate, energetic hip-hop spirit people have always been drawn to. They've earned fans worldwide with their inventive approach to hip-hop music, inspiring people with loose rhymes, and a positive spirit and funkafied vibe. On Elephunk, the group's third album, that spirit seems to course through their beings even more than ever.
The Black Eyed Peas will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo and newcomer Fergie named the album Elephunk to conjure up a big, deep funk sound. Produced in its entirety by will.i.am and apl, the album boasts a mix of live instruments and traditional hip-hop samples and beats. It also mixes the group's breathless verbal acrobatics with a very conscious view of the world.
BEP's music has always been firmly entrenched in hip-hop but also with an eye to other musical forms. Elephunk, more than previous albums, seems to transcend the simple genre categorization, something will.i.am admits was intentional, both lyrically and musically. "This is a hip-hop record but we didn't go into this with hip-hop on our mind," says will.i.am. "We were just thinking of good songs, good music. We didn't want to say anything typical, like 'My style is this, and my rhymes are like that.' A couple might have slipped in but we were really tired of saying things like that."
Elephunk was recorded in three different spurts over the last two years, beginning in 2001. "We would record about eight songs each time," remembers will.i.am. "Then each time we went back, I felt I'd changed and grown as a producer. So we'd do eight more songs, and those eight would be better than the previous eight. It kept going until we were done."
will.i.am's rhymes are clever and irreverent but it's his work as a producer on Elephunk that he's most proud of. Songs like "Where Is The Love," with Justin Timberlake, the quickstepping fast-rap of "Hands Up," and the Louis Armstrong growl of "Smells Like Funk," demonstrate not just a sophisticated ear for new sounds but a head for interesting arrangements and tight songwriting. will.i.am's talent lies in his ability to mold live instruments, samples and drum machines into a uniform sound. He's always taken a musically broad perspective and on this album, it shows more than ever.
"My volition as a producer has definitely grown," he says. "I think my understanding of music has grown, I've discovered new ways of manifesting my thoughts into reality, and I know my equipment better."
Elephunk also welcomes a new member into the BEP fold Los Angeles native Fergie. The singer met will.i.am at BEP shows around town and was invited to join in on a recording session. In the studio, one song turned to three turned to five turned to an invitation to join the group. Says Fergie about her experience, "This group is just totally open to new ideas and directions."
Some of those new directions on Elephunk include songs like "Anxiety," which matches The Black Eyed Peas with popular platinum rock band Papa Roach, whom they met and bonded with on tour. The group's are really similar says will.i.am. "The energy between us was thick. When we started talking to them, it was a real conversation, like we were 60 and just hangin' out at a bus stop."
The song itself relates the tension of the world today with personal struggles the members of the different groups have gone through into one, hard-hitting rhythmic jam. "These last couple of years haven't been easy," says will.i.am. "Is it guilt? Stress? Uncertainty over what's going to happen in the next five years? Is it rap? Hip-hop? The fact that everyone is clubbin' and gun totin' and we're thought of as just some fashionable motherfuckers? It's a whole bunch of stuff going on."
Overall, will.i.am couldn't be happier with the way the album's turned out, and he feels people will be open to the new directions The Black Eyed Peas are going in. "The audience is smarter than they've ever been," he says. "Maybe ten years ago, they were run-of-the-mill, but these kids today aren't the same. They've got it together."
Stacy Ann Ferguson was born on March 27th, 1975, in Hacienda Heights, California. Her parents, Terri and Pat, encouraged Stacy and her younger sister Dana to pursue careers in the entertainment industry.
Stacy began her acting career as the voice of Sally on the Saturday morning cartoon The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show in 1983, as well as on two TV specials: It's Flashbeagle, Charlie Brown (1984) and Snoopy's Getting Married, Charlie Brown (1985).
In 1984, following a commercial for Rice Krispies, she appeared in the pilot for the long-running musical television show, Kids Incorporated. The show, which also starred Jennifer Love Hewitt and the girl who would become goth pop princess Martika, was a hit with Saturday morning audiences and she sang backup on it until 1989.
Stacy incorporated: In 1986, she appeared in the horror comedy movie Monster in the Closet as well as two TV specials: Kids Incorporated: Chartbusters and Kids Incorporated: Rock In the New Year. She left the spotlight in 1989 and settled down to live a normal teenager's life.
But music was always her first passion and she teamed up with Stefanie Ridel and fellow Kids Incorporated member Renee Sandstrom to form the band Wild Orchid. In 1999, they even had their own Saturday morning show on the FOX Family Channel.
They released their first album, Wild Orchid, in 1997 on RCA and it was followed the next year with Oxygen. They scored a minor hit when the song "Declaration" was featured in an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210.
Stacy bounces back: In 2001, Wild Orchid was ready to launch a third album but the label declined to release it. Wild Orchid ceased to exist and it triggered an emotional crisis for Stacy, forcing her to seek therapy.
For the next few years, she continued to perform, albeit in obscurity. She became a dance floor regular and backup singer at a number of Los Angeles venues. And that's when she met will.i.am of the Black Eyed Peas.
They had a number of meetings after shows and before long, she was invited to join the trio in the recording studio. They recorded five songs together and the band invited her to join them permanently.
Fergie joins black eyed peas: The Black Eyed Peas actually began as Atban Klann in 1989, with will.i.am and apl.de.ap. They became Black Eyed Peas in 1995 after recruiting Taboo and then singer Kim Hill. In 1998, they released their first opus, Behind The Front, and it was followed up in 2000 with Bridging the Gap.
Even though their musical style was out there and they had collaborated with big shots like Macy Gray and Wyclef Jean, the group's relationships deteriorated and Hill left the band. It took two years for their third album, Elephunk, to be produced and the arrival of Stacy, who took the stage name of Fergie, to make the Black Eyed Peas appreciated in mainstream circles.
While she's finally enjoying major success, she's hoping to embark on a solo career. The first step has already been taken since she contributed to the soundtrack of
Adam
Sandler's 50 First Dates (2004) on the remake of "True" along with
will.i.am.
