Black Eyed Peas



"I'm so three-thousand-and-eight

You're so two-thousand-and-late"

- "Boom Boom Pow"

The Black Eyed Peas are a Los Angeles-based rap group, initially comprised of members will.i.am, Taboo, and apl.de.ap. Formed in 1995, they began as a less violent, socially conscious alternative to the gangsta rap acts of the time, though ironically signed by Eazy-E of N.W.A. fame. Two albums were released in 1998 and 2000, to critical acclaim and modest sales.

In 2002, they were joined by a fourth member, Fergie. By the time Elephunk and Monkey Business were released in 2003 and 2005, the group had changed entirely, moving towards a pop sound with Fergie placed front and center, and much simpler lyrical content. Their new style earned them numerous #1 hit singles and multi-platinum sales, to the point where some people didn't know they did anything pre-Elephunk.

Fergie, will.i.am, and Taboo have also branched out into acting careers. Meanwhile, apl.de.ap works to alleviate poverty in the Philippines through a foundation made in his name.

Songs Of Note:

 * "Joints & Jams"
 * "BEP Empire"
 * "Request Line" (featuring Macy Gray)
 * "Where Is The Love?"
 * "Let's Get Retarded" (also known as "Let's Get It Started")
 * "Don't Phunk With My Heart"
 * "My Humps"
 * "Boom Boom Pow"
 * "I Gotta Feeling"
 * "Imma Be"
 * "Meet Me Halfway"
 * "The Time (Dirty Bit)"
 * "Just Can't Get Enough"

Albums:

 * Behind the Front [1998]
 * Bridging the Gap [2000]
 * Elephunk [2004]
 * Monkey Business [2005]
 * The E.N.D. [2009]
 * The Beginning [2010]

Tropes found in their music include:
"I gotta feeling that tonight's gonna be a good night, that tonight's gonna be a good night, that tonight's gonna be a good night... (repeat 12 times)"
 * Analogy Backfire: "Imma Be", in which sperm banks are for withdrawals only, and not deposits.
 * Auto-Tune
 * Bowdlerise: "Let's Get Retarded" was changed to "Let's Get It Started" on the radio. This became so ubiquitous that quite few people don't know the original name of the song.
 * Broken Record: Todd in The Shadows decided to count how many times "Imma Be" is Title Dropped. It goes 106 times.
 * Really, most choruses from The E.N.D. are this.


 * Days of the Week Song: "I Gotta Feeling"
 * Garfunkel: Taboo and apl.de.ap, at least now - in their pre-Fergie days, they did just as much as will.i.am.
 * Mostly Taboo, both have been reduced to a rap part in the songs (his ostensibly small role is spoofed by the Key of Awesome), but Apl has more of them, and has even made a couple songs that feature only him with will doing the music.
 * Todd in The Shadows tagged them as "Andrew Ridgeley" and "Pras" in his review of "Imma Be".
 * Genre Shift: Compare "BEP Empire", released in 2000, to "My Humps", released in 2004. Yikes.
 * See also: "Beautiful Dangerous," Fergie's collaboration with Slash.
 * Gratuitous Foreign Language: Bebot and The APL Song have lyrics in a Filipino language (Tagalog), which also makes them understandably popular in the Philippines.
 * And it's not really gratuitous, considering that apl.de.ap actually grew up in the Phillipines and is currently working on charitable efforts there.
 * Hyper-Destructive Bouncing Ball: The video for "Pump It".
 * Irony: The song the page quote belongs to? It was released in March 2009. Who's two-thousand-and-late again?
 * Also, the alleged reason for Kim Hill's departure from the BEP (and subsequently from the record label) was because of her music not being 'black' enough. She was replaced in the group, of course, by Fergie...who is white.
 * Kids Rock: "Where Is The Love?"
 * Ms. Fanservice: Fergie.
 * My Sister Is Off-Limits: "Tagalog".
 * Bebot, too.
 * New Sound Album: Elephunk, which featured a more radio-friendly pop sound; and The E.N.D., which sees them incorporate dance and techno music.
 * Old Shame: "My Humps". The band have apparently, retired the song and will not play it live anymore. Will.i.am said that "it got to the point where we didn’t want to play 'My Humps' no more. You know, ’cause, ‘I met a girl down at the disco,’ I just didn’t want to say that no more, lyrically..."
 * One-Scene Wonder: In the video for "The Time (Dirty Bit)" there is a very memorable dancer who writhes for about 15 seconds who has the unfortunate tendency to be unintentionally hilarious.
 * Parenthetical Swearing: "Don't Phunk With My Heart".
 * Parody Failure/Stealth Parody: "My Humps".
 * Protest Song: "Where Is the Love?"
 * Rhyming With Itself: "Where Is The Love?" rhymes Mama with... Mamas.
 * I Gotta Feeling rhymes up with up! They seem to do this trope frequently.
 * Scatting: "Ga Ra Ta Da" and "Friddy Dope", both for Urbz: Sims In The City.
 * Spinoff Babies: The Superbowl commercials for Chatter feature them as this with apparently a whole series of it at an associated website.
 * Stuffy Old Songs About the Buttocks: "My Humps".
 * Those Two Guys: Taboo and apl.d.ap.
 * Three Minutes of Writhing: Fergie in most music videos.
 * Truck Driver's Gear Change: "Imma Be", "The Time (Dirty Bit)" and "Just Can't Get Enough" all feature (slightly unexpected) song changes.
 * Visual Pun: Guess what the cover art for the "Imma Be" single is. Go on, guess.