People’s feelings towards Will.I.Am vary immensely. His global appeal as the founding member of the Black Eyed Peas goes without question, but a good chunk of hip-hop heads write him off simply because of his overwhelming success, claiming he did such-and-such, and his music is this-and-that. As he poignantly stated in a 2006 interview with Scratch magazine, those who judge him more often than not don’t even know the half, basing their opinions on his singles not his complete bodies of work. In that same interview, the writer tried to paint a picture, in a sense, speaking for the hip-hop skeptics and how they felt. But every point the writer brought up, Will crushed it with vigor. Admittedly, I was one of those critics who couldn’t look past the singles and immaturely passed judgement like a bitch-ass hip-hop snob. However after reading his words, my respect for Will as a man and an artist rose exponentially.
In all reality, Will is one of, if not the, truest hip-hop dudes making music today. His roots as B-Boy run deep, and his knowledge and understanding of the music and culture are of a scholarly magnitude. He truly is a musical genius, one who has found a formula that works which bonds the essence of hip-hop with that of popular music. What he does, most MC’s dream of because at the end of the day he does what everyone aspires to do – write hit songs, make big records, to be heard by everyone and sell millions of records. Even though when listening to his latest solo venture, Songs About Girls, it may not sound like a traditional hip-hop record, it comes from the same place. It is an extension of the music, a book in a series that should be interpreted in a context of it’s own. That is not to say that everyone needs to like his music. It’s just that we as the hip-hop community should support and, at the very least, respect one of the disciples of the culture.
His continuously expanding resume speaks for itself.
TSS: What’s going on Will?
will.i.am: Chillin. Just out in El Salvador.
TSS: Yeah, what’s up though. Last time we tried to connect you were out in Bangladesh. I take it your out on tour right now?
will.i.am: Yeah, we’re out on tour.
TSS: How has it been? Sounds like you’ve traveled a lot of ground in just a couple of days.
will.i.am: It’s been cool. Real tiring.
TSS: Word. I know we have real limited time so I’m gonna try and do a lot with a little. First question, I know you’ve traveled a pretty long and interesting path to get where you are today. Looking back, what do you see as the most pivotal point in your career?
will.i.am: “Where’s the Love.”
TSS: Did you anticipate that song would have such a strong impact?
will.i.am: Nope. Not on that song. I didn’t think that song would do it, but it did.
TSS: How did that song change you or your perception of things as an artist?
will.i.am: Eh, it just broadened our careers. It took us to places we thought we would ever go like Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Dubai. That song took us all over the world and we’re just riding the winds of that now.
TSS: This might be a weird question, but how much of your career now has been planned and how much has come from open doors and momentum like you just talked about?
will.i.am: Well most of it has been planned, but we didn’t think that that one was the one to get us over the hump. But as far as Elephunk, that was what we planned.
TSS: It met it’s goal that you had set?
will.i.am: Yeah.
TSS: How do your goals change with each album. It seems like you set the bar higher and higher in terms of success, obviously that has to keep going with each album?
will.i.am: No, not necessarily…as far as record sales?
TSS: Nah, not necessarily sales, but you said each album has a goal that you set of personal expectations.
will.i.am: Yeah, I mean everything has a goal. Right now, we’re just keeping relevant, and that is the hardest thing. Staying relevant after you’ve impacted…how do you stay relevant?
TSS: Well it seems to me you have a very firm grasp on what is now musically. With that said, do you think we are in the process of a shift in music right now?
will.i.am: What do you mean by we?
TSS: Music as a whole.
will.i.am: Nah, music is in a great place. The music industry is shifting. The business side is funky.
TSS: I don’t mean the music industry, but the sound of popular music. I listen your album, and the Kanye album, and then kinda what’s bubbling on the underground, and it seems like there is a new sound that’s coming in: the music has that electric pulse, real up-tempo make you move type music.
will.i.am: Um, I’ve always liked uptempo music. I hate producing slow songs. I don’t…I can’t really comment on that. If there is a shift, it’s shifted from songs that have movement, like the whole 4-bar loop phenomenon is dead. I can tell you that.
TSS: Do you see yourself as a tastemaker type artist?
will.i.am: Ummm…Nope. Uh huh. Other producers might say, ‘yeah that dude Will.I.Am he’s doing this and this.’ I don’t think that’s what it is. I think what it is…I don’t really have one sound. Like Timbaland, you hear Timbaland beats, and you know it’s a Timbaland beat. You hear Pharrell and you know it’s Pharrell, you hear Kanye you know it’s Kanye. You hear my beat and you don’t know who did it. You find out later. “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” people don’t know I did that. You hear “Hip Hop Is Dead” and you wouldn’t think the same person who did that did “Big Girls Don’t Cry.” And that’s on purpose. I just like music. I don’t want to be pigeon-holed to ‘that’s my sound,’ cause as soon as your sound is gone, you’re gone. I don’t want to be gone.
TSS: Alright. I’m gonna shift topics a little bit. When real hip-hop heads hear the word “pop” they immediately get turned off and see it as a negative. I’m curious how you define pop.
will.i.am: Anything that is popular. There is no such thing as pop. Pop changes in time. At one point in time it was Michael McDonald, with like, what’s that song…..hold on, hold on…(long silence and breaks into song) “She could of walked away …”At one point in time, pop was Michael McDonald. At another time it was freakin, oh…..(singing Christopher Cross’s “Ride Like The Wind”) “we gotta get to the border of Mexico, so I riiiiiiide, like the wind, riiiiiiiide like the wind (imitates vocal bridge)” You know what I’m talking about? “We got such a long way to go, (such a long way to go), to make it to the border of Mexico.” At one point in time that was pop. At one point in time it was Jefferson Airplane. At another it was Dire Straits. Pop changes with the era. That just so happens to be popular music, and it just so happens that at this point in time the popular form of music on the planet is hip-hop, and the different forms of hip-hop. Hip-hop isn’t just one sound. Hip-hop is Redhead Kingpin. If Red Head Kingpin never came out, and came out today, it would pop. If Heavy D and the Boyz came out today, it would be hip-hop, but people would say it was popp-y in comparison to 50 Cent. But if 50 Cent came out 20 years from now when you have real murders making music, and it’s all about killing people, and showing you decapitate someones head on YouTube, when it changes, it’s about to change right? You can imagine that 20 years from now they’ll have torture stuff on YouTube. And somebody will get away with because they couldn’t prove it, and they’ll make beats and be like, “Yeah I torture niggas!” He’s gonna be large, and 50 Cent will look pretty soft compared to when people are chopping each others heads off.
TSS: Ok, with that last question, I look at you as one of the purest hip-hop dudes making music. So in a way are you proof that the pure form can exist in the pop realm?
will.i.am: In comparison as it relates to hip-hop, with all the usual suspects now, you would say that I’m Keyser Soze. You wouldn’t expect that dude, but he’s the illest one of them all, the one that walks with a limp. Meanwhile, you suspect it to be those other clowns. So when it comes to hip-hop, I’m probably the truest hip-hop dude that keeps all the elements as far as the dancing, the beats, the knowledge of history and what people come from what, the graffiti, freestyling….You go on YouTube today and type in your favorite emcee and freestyle and see how many of those mother fuckers are on stage freestyling at every show in every single country…You probably won’t see it. But I guarantee you type my name in there and you’ll see me freestyling in Shanghai and mother fucking Kazakhstan. You’ll see this little funny dressed mother fucker freestyling, killin em all and you don’t even know it.
TSS: (Laughs)
will.i.am: Ohhhhh, that’s dope. Keyser Soze, killin em all and you don’t even know it. (Laughs) That’s hot.
TSS: You just come up with that one?
will.i.am: Yeah, just right now. (Laughs)
TSS: That’s what’s up. To shift gears again, this last year was big year for you in terms of outside production. You seemed to have joints on all the big albums from Game, to Nas to Common. Was it weird for you that it took people to hear those joints to look at you and give you respect as a producer?
will.i.am: Um, that was all on purpose because I was pissed off. I did that all on purpose. That was all planned as well.
TSS: Point taken. Let’s talk about the new album for a minute. It’s definitely a heavy concept record and I’m curious why you went that direction and what prompted the idea?
will.i.am: Well it was because I really didn’t want to do a record that was just a compilation of songs I made. I wanted to do a record that I could talk about and be true and not have to worry about hip-hop police, and the rules and the freakin hip-hop Visa guy who stamps the hip-hop passport. I was like ‘fuck these fools.’ I just wanted to make a record that goes around them. So, this is a way I could be free and talk about something that I could connect from A-Z; something that was linear. I did that. I talked about a relationship I was in when I first started Black Eyed Peas, in like 1995 and I was with this person until 2003. It was a hip-hop relationship. She worked at Fat Beats, and I used to go to their Open Mics and freestyle. Black Eyed Peas got a record deal, and got put on. And then we blew up on MTV, and people in L.A. thought we were pop. And then we did Bridging The Gap, and those people who thought we were pop thought we were real. Then we did Elephunk, and those people who thought we were pop, that now thought that we were real, thought we were pop again. I’m like ‘fuck ya’ll’ anyway. So we did Monkey Business and when we put that out our relationship was over with. I wanted to write about that person who was in my life through all of that. How the relationship ended and whatnot.
TSS: There you go, my next question was if it was autobiographical or not.
will.i.am: Yeah, yeah it was. But I wanted to start from it being over, because getting over it is the hardest part. I don’t want to talk about when we were in love because then I would just be moping. I wanted to talk about the hardest part of the relationship, which was just not looking back. But as I’m walking toward the future, I’m contemplating turning back. That’s what “Over” is about and the whole gist of the album.
TSS: Yeah, it’s interesting because I read the title Songs About Girls and I immediately assumed it was all love songs or feel good club songs. It was kinda fresh to hear the opposite.
will.i.am: Yeah, I mean there are some love songs, like “She’s A Star” and “Ain’t It Pretty” produced by Polow Da Don.
TSS: Aside from the concept, I heard that the music was inspired from music from across the world, which seems very fitting. Can you elaborate more on that?
will.i.am: Well when we travel we go to clubs, and they’ll say, “Ok, we’ll go to a hip-hop club tonight.” We go to the hip-hop club that they think is a hip-hop club and they’re playing (imitates repetitive percussion). At first I was like what the fuck, this shit is wack. And then you start seeing all the hot chicks in clubs, and you’re like damn. And then you start liking that music, and the next thing you know you’re like ‘who is this?’ Then you go out and download that shit off iTunes, and you’re like (mouths a fast drum beat). And it all started by going to different clubs in different countries. As you start liking it you start realizing it’s called Funky House and Electro. And, you learn to stay away from Techno.
TSS: (Laughs) That’s the rule?
will.i.am: Anytime somebody says Techno, you run. But if they say Funky House, that means there is gonna be hot chicks and they’re all gonna be on ecstasy. But you just pretend you’re on ecstasy and you just rub em (Laughs).
TSS: (Laughs) Alright, last one. I know you have a lot of other projects you’re working on right now. What are you most excited about?
will.i.am: I’m really excited about the Michael Jackson album. I’m really excited about…that’s about the only thing I’m really excited about honestly.
Random label dude interrupts to let us know our time is up…
TSS: I wish we had time to elaborate on that. Hope the rest of the tour goes well, and good luck with your album.
will.i.am: Aight dude, peace.
“She’s A Star” – Review of Will.I.Am’s Songs About Girls (King-Mag.com)
Will.I.Am’s remix of “I Got It From My Mama”
For more information, visit http://will.i.am.
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“And somebody will get away with because they couldn’t prove it, and they’ll make beats and be like, Yeah I torture niggas! He’s gonna be large, and 50 Cent will look pretty soft compared to when people are chopping each others heads off.”
wow
Dope interview forreal. Who knew Mike had a new album comin out? Will is the only dude in music that comes to mind that works with dudes like Michael Jackson and Prince. Anybody remember the BET awards when Prince through the mic at Will and he started freestylin as everyone walked out?
I think people sleep on the caliber of this dude.
And for the record, anything that I have to say, I’ve already said in the previous post…
http://smokingsection.uproxx.com/TSS/?p=2100
Audi 5000
I’ll admit I still am one of those bitch-ass hip hop snobs who don’t feel Will without being well-versed enough in his music. What makes Will corny to me is his rhymes. As for his production, this nigga is WILD with it. Everytime I don’t know he is part of a project I feel it, which is what made me re-evaluate my perspective on his work. From “Ordinary People” to his new joints with Talib, I see that Will has the ability to understand an artist’s sound and highlight it, while simultaneously making a song that will catch an audience. Fergie is the perfect example of why I both feel Will, and mad don’t fuck with him. When the first version of the Black-Eyed-Peas came out they were spitting a De La Soul-ish type of vibe and breaking in their video and all that. Will was the clear standout, but the sound on a whole lacked a directness or agility which would have made it interesting. It sounded like some cool whatever shit from cultural rappers fighting to stave off preconceptions of what their work should be. I felt that, but not hard. Then over a year later there are new Black-Eyed-Peas joints bubling on the radio, on some “hey momma, dis that beat that make you groove momma” shit. Then once I peeped the video I find this white bitch I never seen before, center-stage. No explanation is neccessary, its good business. Its how they blew up. But I ain’t never once heard anybody referrence her as a new member or nothing. Why because didn’t nobody know who they were till there was a white bitch in the crew. So they didn’t have to explain themself, because the audience who knew them already were no longer there audience.
Will’s pop work is fresh, I just don’t really give a fuck bout his rhymes.
1st of all I’mnot a huge BEP fan, but anybody that blindly hates on Will has absolutely zero clue about what goes into music production.
2) There is absolutely nothing wrong with listening and enjoying pop music. I love how all these so-called keep-it-realers and Hip-Hop purists cry about Hip-pop, but most of these cats don’t know the first thing about what went on in the streets when rap was at its realest. I can remember back in the day even the hardest of the hard rocks were bumpin Michael Jackson, Whitney, Jodeci, Prince, etc. Nobody in the hood back in the day was listening to strictly Hip-Hop. And EVERYBODY loved party music. Sorry purists, but I’ll take bitches and money over keepin’ it real any day. I spent enough time keeping it real out of necessity.
freah interview. it’s nice to see a different side of an artist, you didn’t expect to see. co-sign on not being able to front on dudes beats. he’s one of those cats that you try so hard to hate on but when you hear ‘hip hop is dead’ you just gotta murmur ‘fuck’ to yourself and give him his props.
remember a few years back when jigga man had a track with michael jackson?who knows maybe williams beats can bring some life backinto mick jacks career.
Dude made John Legend ‘Save Room’, anyone hating can get fucked.
Appearance lies to us !
^ I think Will is hella creative… and is one helluva artist/producer all together. I just don’t think that his new album is that great.
LOS ANGELES (AFP) – Soul diva Whitney Houston’s ex-husband Bobby Brown was hospitalized after suffering a mild heart attack, his lawyer told entertainment media on Wednesday.
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The 40-year-old singer, whose career highpoint was the 1988 number one single “My Prerogative,” was admitted to a hospital in Tarzana, southern California on Tuesday, Phaedra Parks was quoted as saying.
Parks said the heart attack was caused by “stress and diet.”
“Bobby is doing good. He is in good spirits. It’s a serious condition, and I’m very concerned about him. Bobby is very happy with the outpouring of calls and messages,” Parks was quoted by celebrity news website TMZ.com as saying.
“We ask people to keep him in their thoughts and prayers.”
http://www.myspace.com/darkshadez
That bamma Bobby had a crack attack.
smh.
Kirk Out Hour Live Tomorrow (Thurs) afternoon 5-7 EST on http://www.xtsr.org , make sure ya mama is listening too..
-The Black Hey Zeus!
Musical genius?
How much did TSS get paid to write that?
Looping Baby Huey’s “Hard Times” with keys over it isnt genius.
Un vaut mieux que deux tu l’auras
“Wake up in the morning, hate hate hate!”
Lol
I aint a Will cheerleader (nor did we get paid to write shit). But those who are still doubting his position as a musician, have you REALLY listened to what he’s done outside of BEP & what others, whom odds are you hold highly, are saying about his craft?
Real talk, this was the most amped I’ve been about a prospective interview that I’ve been in a long while.
really, i didnt know will.i.am stans existed. the dude is corny and not a good producer. anyone can loop a jorge ben song.
to quote gotty, i aint no cheerleader either, but facts are facts. check the resume and tell me dude isn’t doing something amazing.
Man fuck it, if you got ill beatz you got ill beatz regardless of who you are. Some of y’all are writing off Will.i.am just because of who he is, and perhaps the fact that you don’t agree with the musical direction he and BEP have taken since they debuted a loooong time ago. I agree that his lyrics aren’t as intriguing when he first stepped on the scene (maybe he’s dumbed it down for the pop audience perhaps), but y’all must admit he’s contributed some supa-dope beats to other artists projects.
Who says that ill lyricism is a requirement for a good song?? Another thing about these purists is that they’ll bash dudes like Kanye and Will for not being good lyricists, but they love cats like MOP and Biz Markie, who never been that great lyrically either. They just fishing for excuses to hate.
*errrrrr!*
leave MOP outta this.
you grab up your best friend and a notebook and come up with the trade off routines like they do… then talk about MOP.
let’s not get too circular in our arguments…
You missed the point. I’m a huge MOP fan, but lets not kid ourselves, they not the most intricate lyricists out there, but what I’m trying to say is that none of that shit matters because they still put out dope music. You don’t need amazing lyricism to have a good song.
When I see a track produced by Will.i.Am, DJ Quik, or the Runners i almost immediately have to listen to it. They always have something fresh to listen to. Go listen to Nas’ “Can’t Forget About You” and still tell me Will.i.Am is not an ill producer.