To start this article off, will.i.Am ‘s now infamous quote is problematic and not accurate. Here is some history. Many began to recognize will.I.am and The Black Eyed Peas sometime in the mid-2000s. This is the period BEP’s music appeared on MTV, Top 40 CHR Radio media, wedding parties, and commercials started using their music as the safe alternative hip hop dosage that had global appeal. In all honesty, they did have global appeal. I was introduced to BEP in the mid-90s when “Joints and Jam” was getting a few plays on the box(a phone call in video music service, it was similar to YouTube but you had to pay for it). Like many other listeners, I was not impressed. It took a friend of mine to play the remix sampling the legendary “Soho Hot” music to make me say “Okay, that’s dope.” At that point in time, no one had used that sample.
When the Black Eyed Peas exploded in the 2000s era, the combination of them being able to have a jam that was accepted by commercial media (then adding a Southern California singer named Fergie) increased their popularity so much that they were able to perform for The 2011 Superbowl Halftime Show. Pop radio loved BEP particularly for their “happy” hip hop sound because it felt safe enough to play at a wedding for doctors, lawyers and even bar mitzvahs. will.I.Am still found ways to produce Nas, The Game, Talib Kweli, and Common as this middle man between commercial radio and hip hop “backpackers.”
Today, Will produced an album for The Black Eyed Peas that was clearly influenced by “A Tribe Called Quest” and J Dilla that many people would appreciate. As many can see, having an album featuring Nas, Phife Dawg, Ali Shaheed, Pos and the return of original vocalist Jessica Reynoso did not generate high sales, high critical appeal, or barely any internet buzz. I have seen more retweets and repost of this now problematic quote than any promotion for this Black-Eyed Peas album.
90’s Hip hop heads are lost because they believe that will.I.Am is right and not problematic due to all the hip hop today either being mumble rap or emotional rap. This may be the norm for commercial radio, but a true hip hop guru knows that this is not the standard for hip hop. The complete lack of appreciation for rappers like Kendrick, J Cole , Big K.R.I.T, Joey Bad@$$, Dave East , Joyner Lucas, A$ap 12vy , Rapsody , A$ap Nast, Big Sean, Kirk Knight , Snow tha Product , Fred the Godson, Logic, Nyck Caution, Nipsey Hussle , Omen, Nitty Scott Mc, Ab Soul, Westside Gunn, 3d Natee ,Lute, Benny the Butcher ,School boy Q, J.I.D, Sa Roc ,Isiah Rashad, Cozz, Reason, Bas, Conway the Machine ,Tink, Actual Proof and yes a host of other talented and lyrically phenomenal artists are now being labeled as “Not that deep, metaphorical simile”. Will.i.am grouped everyone out to day as mumble rap, seriously, where is the love, Black-Eyed Peas?
Will.I.Am, a supposed hip hop head that started at the bottom of the production poll at Ruthless records for Eazy E, to a highly praised, Grammy award winning producer for Britney Spears, Lady Gaga, Hilary Duff, and U2 somehow forgot that for commercial radio to approve of your radio play, you have to be connected to the “powers that be” or the ones with authority. There are plenty of non-lyrical, trap, happy, or emotional rappers with a countless number of SoundCloud links, but don’t have anyone listening-just like how there are plenty of profound, lyrical geniuses that are true to the artform but are not getting any airplay. If you want to be down for the cause, that true school, that real gritty underground, I am sorry to advise this, but don’t look for any love in commercial success. That’s just how it is.
My brother @iamwill with all due respect 🙏🏽, while you was making "boom boom pow" we was in the studio with a full orchestra making "Maybach Music 3" with Ross Badu and Jadakiss. We are the embodiment of TRULY enabling classic, new GROUNDBREAKING hip-hop… pic.twitter.com/fXhzc2IqEN
— J.U.S.T.I.C.E LEAGUE (@JusticeLeague) December 5, 2018
