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The Black Eyed Peas are an American hip-hop (musical styles: crossover rap/hip-hop and alternative rap/hip-hop) and pop group from Los Angeles, California, who have enjoyed international pop success. The group is currently composed of will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo, and Fergie.
History
The Black Eyed Peas dates back to 1989 when will.i.am (Born: William Adams) and Apl.de.ap (Born: Allen Pineda) met and began rapping and performing together around Los Angeles. The pair signed to Ruthless Records (run by Eazy-E) after catching the attention of the nephew of Jerry Heller (Eazy-E's manager). Along with another friend of theirs, Dante Santiago, they called their trio Atban Klann. Their debut album was never released because Ruthless did not consider the positive themes reflected in the group's music to be marketable to their audience.
After Eazy-E died of an AIDS related illness in 1995 (see 1995 in music), Atban Klann reformed the group as Black Eyed Peas, named so because - as will.i.am explained on the front cover of the Monkey Business album - 'Black Eyed Peas are food for the soul'. They replaced their original third member with Taboo (Born: Jaime Gomez), and having Kim Hill as a steady background singer. Unlike many hip-hop acts, they chose to perform with a live band and adopted a musical and clothing style that differed wildly from the "Gangsta Rap" sounds of other Los Angeles-based hip-hop acts at the time. Through the mid-'90s, they performed in the local club circuit alongside fellow acts such as Ozomatli and Jurassic 5. After being signed to Interscope Records and releasing their debut, Behind the Front (1998, 1998 in music) the group (and their accompanying live band) earned critical acclaim. The hit single from the album was "Joints and Jam", and was featured on the Bulworth soundtrack. Their second album was 2000's Bridging the Gap (2000 in music), which had the hit "Request + Line" featuring Macy Gray.
Elephunk
Their breakout album, Elephunk, was released in 2003, featuring a new female vocalist, Stacy "Fergie" Ferguson, previously a cast member of Kids Incorporated and a member of teen pop band Wild Orchid. She is the replacement of background singer Kim Hill, who departed the band during 2000.From Elephunk came the anti-war anthem "Where is the Love?" featuring an uncredited Justin Timberlake, which became their first major hit, peaking at #8 on the US Hot 100, but topping the charts practically everywhere else, including six weeks at #1 in the UK where it became the biggest-selling single of 2003. The album subsequently spawned "Shut Up", which peaked at #2 in the UK (despite being referred to by one reviewer as "the single most vacuous, pointless, vile and generally loathsome song in a generation") and topped the charts in many other European countries including France and Germany. Elephunk won worldwide success and went gold and platinum in the US, UK, Germany and other European markets. The third single from the album, although significantly restyled from the original Elephunk version, "Hey Mama" hit the Top 10 in the UK, Germany and other European countries and reached #23 in the US.
During Black Eyed Peas' concert tour in Asia in 2004, Apl.de.ap's life story was featured in a weekly Filipino TV drama special called Maalaala Mo Kaya (Will You Remember), which explained his childhood with his poor family in Pampanga, Philippines, back then when he was teased as "baluga" (a derogatory word for Negro), before sadly parting with them to live a better life in the US at the age of 14. "The Apl Song", with the chorus written in Tagalog, a language of the Philippines, from their album Elephunk, tells the story of Apl.de.ap. The Tagalog lyrics and backing melody were based on the song "Balita", an original composition of the 1970s Filipino folk rock group Asin. The group produced an exclusive video of the song whose distribution coincided with their tour of the Philippines as part of their album promotion.
Black Eyed Peas' song "Let's Get Retarded" was restyled as "Let's Get It Started" for an NBA Finals worldwide commercial. New, less offensive, lyrics gave the tune a basketball theme, as opposed to the original's theme dealing with getting heavily intoxicated and partying, this spot featured Carlos Santana. The revised song had great success as a single, particularly on the iTunes music download service. The song earned the group a 2005 Grammy for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group Black Eyed Peas were then featured in Sims in the City videogame as characters. They re-recorded "Let's Get it Started" and "Shut Up" as well as other songs in "simlish", the language used by 'The Sims' characters, for the game also.
Monkey Business
Their next album, Monkey Business, was released on June 7 2005. Much of the preproduction writing was performed on the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus while on the BEP/NERD tour of 2004. The album's first single, "Don't Phunk with My Heart", was a hit in the U.S., reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100. The song reached the highest peak yet of their career and earned them another Grammy for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group. The song also reached three in the UK, and five in Canada, and number one in Australia. (Some radio stations, skittish about complaints of obscenity, play an alternative version, "Don't Mess with My Heart".) "My Humps", another song from the album, immediately achieved commercial success in the U.S. and fairly substantial radio play despite the sexually suggestive lyrics; also reaching number three on the Billboard Hot 100. However, many mocked the song for its poor lyrical content, and the popular satirical website Something Awful gave the song the award of "Stupidest Song of the Year", stating that "the Black Eyed Peas have crafted what is without a doubt the dumbest, most obnoxious song ever to disgrace the airwaves."http://www.somethingawful.com/index.php?a=3520 Despite this, the album Monkey Business itself debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart, selling over 295,000 copies in its first week and was later certified triple platinum by the RIAA. As well as being a hip-hop album, Monkey Business also features some acoustic guitar playing from Jack Johnson in the single, "Gone Going".In September 2005, Black Eyed Peas released an iTunes Originals playlist of their greatest hits, as well as some that were re-recorded especially for purchase through iTunes. The playlist includes popular songs such as "Don't Lie", "Shut Up", and a new version of "Where Is the Love?". It also has small stories containing info and commentary about the songs and how the group first met.
On November 27, 2005, Black Eyed Peas performed the half-time show at the Canadian Football League's 93rd Grey Cup in Vancouver, British Columbia. The group performed the suggestive song "My Humps".
On December 10, 2005, a Peas cover of the John Lennon classic "Power to the People", which was mostly recorded on the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus, was released by Amnesty International as part of the Make Some Noise campaign to celebrate human rights. The same day, Black Eyes Peas performed their version live on the UK television program The Record of the Year together with John Legend and Mary J. Blige.
Black Eyed Peas established the Pea Pod Foundation to help suffering children around the world. The foundation is administered through the Entertainment Industry Foundation. On February 6, 2006, at a concert in Hollywood, California to benefit the foundation, the band was joined by Sergio Mendes, Jessica Simpson, and other stars.
On March 21, 2006, Black Eyed Peas released a remix album, entitled "Renegotiations: The Remixes" to iTunes. It features remixed versions of Ba Bump, My Style, Feel It, Disco Club, They Don't Want Music, Audio Delite at Low Fidelity, and the standard version and video of Like That. The following week it was released on CD without the music video.
2006 Tour
In April 2006 BEP hit the road again with supporting bands Flipsyde and The Pussycat Dolls. They again brought the John Lennon Educational Tour Bus on the tour with them to craft new songs for several upcoming albums, including Fergie's solo debut album and a future Peas album.
The BEP also had their first European tour in which they performed to audiences in the UK, Israel, Italy, Denmark, Switzerland, Germany etc.
The Peapod Foundation
A Free Sunday concert in May in South Africa with the Black Eyed Peas launched the Peapod Foundation. All tickets were previously handed out to the public through an SMS campaign and ticket giveaways to ensure that people who wouldn't ordinarily have a chance to afford the concert could see the band perform.
"Instant Def"
On June 7, the Black Eyed Peas announced their new digital series, "Instant Def". The story focuses on a group of four heroes of old time hip hop, the Instant Def crew. While the Instant Def crew fight to preserve real hip-hop, Boo-T has been manufacturing fake hip hop for the masses. When he finds out that the crew is supporting true hip hop, he sends his henchman, DeVLe, to stop them with a Cosmic Cataconic Mind Blaster Disrupter. However, they survive, and the blast gives them super powers. Nathan, now known as Beat Down, can create irresistible beats. Ella, known as Tag, can create graffitti art that comes to life. Maximo, Eye4Eye, can switch minds with his dog. Moses, or Mecnism, has incredible intelligence and can create amazing gadgets. Together they've got to stop Boo-T and save true hip hop.
Discography
Studio albums
| Album information |
|---|
| Behind the Front |
| Bridging the Gap |
| Elephunk |
| Monkey Business |
EP's
The RemixesSingles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | Pop 100 | US R&B/ Hip-Hop | US Rap | UK | Hot Digital | AUS | IND | IL | |||
| 1998 | "Joints & Jam" | #53 | Behind the Front | ||||||||
| 1998 | "Fallin' Up" | Behind the Front | |||||||||
| 1998 | "¿Que Dices?" | #101 | #46 | Behind the Front | |||||||
| 2000 | "BEP Empire" | - | - | - | #44 | - | - | - | - | - | Bridging the Gap |
| 2000 | "Weekends" (featuring Esthero) | - | - | - | #73 | #34 | - | - | - | - | Bridging the Gap |
| 2000 | "Get Original" | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Bridging the Gap |
| 2001 | "Request + Line" (featuring Macy Gray) | #63 | - | #51 | #2 | #31 | - | #21 | - | - | Bridging the Gap |
| 2003 | "Where Is the Love?" (featuring Justin Timberlake) | #8 | - | #82 | #19 | #1 (6) | - | #1 (6) | #1 (5) | #1 (2) | Elephunk |
| 2003 | "Shut Up" | - | - | - | - | #2 | - | #1 (3) | #4 | #3 | Elephunk |
| 2004 | "Hey Mama" | #23 | - | - | - | #6 | - | #4 | #7 | #14 | Elephunk |
| 2004 | "Let's Get It Started" | #21 | - | - | - | #11 | #8 | #2 | #7 | #5 | Elephunk |
| 2004 | "The Apl Song" | #4 | Elephunk | ||||||||
| 2005 | "Don't Phunk with My Heart" | #3 | #2 | #1 (4) | #22 | #3 | #1 | #1 (3) | #1 (4) | #1 (3) | Monkey Business |
| 2005 | "Don't Lie" | #14 | #9 | - | - | #6 | #5 | #6 | #1 (2) | #4 | Monkey Business |
| 2005 | "My Humps" | #3 | #2 | #57 | #10 | #3 | #1 | #1 (2) | #1 (3) | #3 | Monkey Business |
| 2006 | "Pump It" | #18 | #12 | - | - | #3 | #17 | #6 | - | #5 | Monkey Business |
| 2006 | "Like That" | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Monkey Business |
| 2006 | "Gone Going" (featuring Jack Johnson) | - | #79 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Monkey Business |
| 2006 | "Dum Diddly" (featuring Dante Santiago) | - | #91 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | Monkey Business |
Grammy Award history
| Category | Genre | Song | Year | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| '''Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group | Rap | "Don't Phunk With My Heart" | 2006 | Won''' |
| Best Rap Song | Rap | "Don't Phunk With My Heart" | 2006 | Nominated |
| Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group | Pop | "Don't Lie" | 2006 | Won |
| Best Pop Collaboration w/ vocals | Pop | "Gone Going" | 2006 | Nominated |
| Best Rap Song | Rap | "Let's Get It Started" | 2005 | Won |
| Record of the Year | General | "Let's Get It Started" | 2005 | Nominated |
| '''Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group | Rap | "Let's Get It Started" | 2005 | Won''' |
| Record of the Year | General | "Where is the Love" | 2004 | Won |
| Best Rap/Sung Collaboration | Rap | "Where is the Love" | 2004 | Nominated |
References
External links
- BlackEyedPeas.com - Official website
- Pea Pod Foundation website
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