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 New Sound Album 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.

Following an eight-year hiatus and sporadic appearances, the Peas released their seventh studio album Masters of the Sun Vol. 1, which marked a return to their conscious, politically-motivated hip hop and boom bap roots, largely in response to the socio-political situation in the United States during the mid to late 2010s (especially when Donald Trump took office in 2016). It was also announced at the time that Fergie would not feature in Masters of the Sun and was subsequently replaced by former The Voice of the Philippines finalist Jessica Reynoso, who went by the stage name "J Rey Soul".

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" (played by some radio stations as "Don't Mess 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"
 * "Don't Stop the Party"
 * "Where's the Love?" (2016 sequel to "Where Is The Love?")
 * "Street Livin'"
 * "Ring the Alarm, Pt.1, Pt.2, Pt.3"
 * "Constant Pt. 1 & 2"
 * "Big Love"
 * "Be Nice" (featuring Snoop Dogg)
 * "Mami" (with Piso 21)
 * "Explosion" (with Anitta)
 * "Ritmo (Bad Boys for Life)" (with J Balvin)
 * "Mamacita" (featuring Ozuna and J Rey Soul)

Albums:

 * Behind the Front [1998]
 * Bridging the Gap [2000]
 * Elephunk [2004]
 * Monkey Business [2005]
 * The E.N.D. [2009]
 * The Beginning [2010]
 * Masters of the Sun Vol. 1 [2018]

"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: Especially evident in their more dance-oriented albums.
 * 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.
 * Ditto with "Don't Phunk With My Heart" censored as "Don't Mess With My Heart", largely due to radio stations concerned about the word "phunk" sounding too close to a Precision F-Strike, though most radio stations especially those outside the States did play the song unaltered. Interestingly enough, the Russian Metalcore band Amatory covered the song as "Don't Fuck With My Heart".
 * 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.


 * Creator Provincialism: A number of songs and/or verses from apl.de.ap mention his country or its culture at least in passing.
 * Days of the Week Song: "I Gotta Feeling"
 * Driven to Suicide: The last few bars of "APL Song" ("I guess sometimes life's stresses get you down/On your knees oh brother, wish I could have helped you out") are in reference to apl.de.ap's younger brother Arnel who committed suicide, with apl lamenting at how he was unable to come to his brother's aid before ending his life.
 * 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?"
 * Local Reference: Apl tends to do this at times where he brings in references to his home country in some songs.
 * 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..."
 * Old Soldier: The music video for "The APL Song" shows a portrayal of a World War II veteran as he spends his twilight years at a retirement home, interspersed with vignettes from apl.de.ap's early life in the Philippines.
 * 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?" from Elephunk (a new version, stylised "#WHERESTHELOVE", was released in 2016 as a charity single in response to then-recent tragedies and terror attacks), "Union" from Monkey Business and "Street Livin'" from Masters of the Sun Vol. 1, the latter being an overt potshot at Donald Trump through its music video.
 * 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".
 * Take That: The music video for "Street Livin'" ends with a shot of Donald Trump in the presidential limo as a riot ensues outside.
 * 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.