The third Black Eyed Peas album was originally supposed to be much angrier and lyrically conscious, dealing with such issues as anxiety and the September 11th tradgedies. However, because their previous albums “Behind the Front” and “Bridging The Gap” didn’t sell too well, their record label, Universal decided to give them an ultimatum: “You either do a much more commercial sounding album, or…there’s the door.” Seeing as how they pretty much always wanted to have commercial success, they decided to go with the second option instead of choosing to remain relatively unknown and/or go independent with their music. Personally, I was looking forward to hearing the much more aggressive version of their album and I was most certainly stunned when I first heard “Where Is The Love” on the radio. Before then I’d only ever heard their stuff on an alternative station, as opposed to the much more commercial one that I was listening to at the time, which only ever played their music late at night. Of course these days I pay no attention to radio stations. They also added a new member to the group, an ex-”Kids Incorporated” star called Stacey Ferguson, whom they referred to as “Fergie.” I thought that was a pretty silly name, but hey it helped them move a few units. Another thing that should be noted is that if you turn the album cover upside down, the elephant trunk looks quite a lot like a “FU” middle finger sign. Oh, really? Fine, say and do what you will, I’m still gonna review your album……so, let’s do this:
Hands Up: As I’ve said before, Black Eyed Peas were all about party songs and this song is certainly no exception. Basically it’s just a forum for them to encourage us all to throw our hands up, dance around, make some noise, all that sort of stuff. At one point Will says something about wanting to fuck somebody’s brain and get his sperm all up in their head. I really could’ve done without such a graphic description, even if he is stopping himself from actually saying the word “fuck.” That said, the song’s decent enough, I guess. They’re all rapping pretty fast on this track.
Labor Day (It’s a Holiday): On this next jam they’ve decided to sample the old James Brown funk bomb “The Grunt,” which was used quite a bit on several hip hop records in the early ’90s. Overall it’s quite an energetic type of tune, which was obviously intended to be played at parties and what not. Will raps about how much he likes “double Ds” and Apl.D.Ap talks about “getting buddy buddy with your girl Mary Jane.” I’m not one for pot smoking, but hey this is rap music, these types of lyrics are to be expected. Overall it’s quite an old school sounding song, which even references Madonna’s hit single “Holiday.” Apparently she’s not big on people sampling her music (quote unquote) so there’s no credit to that particular song.
Let’s Get Retarded: “Fergie” kicks this song off with a warble, which I find to be quite annoying. From there it’s onto yet another party based rap tune where they encourage us all to basically hype ourselves up, cause the Black Eyed Peas are about to bring us one heck of a killer song. That’s fine by me, but the way in which they choose to convey this particular message is by telling us all to “get retarded.” Call me hyper sensitive but I really don’t appreciate that, nor do I care for the reference to epilepsy. I think it would’ve been better if they had’ve chosen better words, although they did wind up re-recording it as “Let’s Get It Started.” That particular version was later used as the theme song for the NBA. Eventually the single was released but I don’t own it anymore. Also, and this is just a personal note: back when I was in high school I used to have this teacher who would lecture you about why you shouldn’t say the word “spastic.” I’d pay to see him doing the same thing to these cats who apparently think it’s quite acceptable to scream out “let’s get retarded in here!!!” That said, the song is quite energetic. Just don’t expect to hear me playing this one over & over again at incredibly high volumes.
Hey Mama: The guys in the group were always quick to point out that this song was specifically designed to be played in a nightclub. That was due to the fact that it has that great beat behind it, combined with the cowbells. Both of these things certainly make it a danceable type of song, which I’ve always admired. However, they make references to dropping bombs in the Middle East in this song, which is a lyric that they obviously had to alter in order for it to be played on mainstream radio. Also the chorus originally ran: “Hey mamma it’s that shit that make ya move.” That later became “It’s that beat that make ya move,” which I find to be much more appropriate…..likewise I also have a problem with the lyric, “the true n*ggas know.” Thankfully that was changed to “the true people know.” Why they didn’t do these things the first time around, I don’t know. Other than that, it’s a decent enough track. A British dancehall artist called Tippa Irie provides a ragga verse or two. Sounds dope as hell. The same can be said for the Prince-like harmonies that pepper the song.
Shut Up: Before “Fergie Ferg” joined the group, they did a remix for a song of theirs called “Request Line.” At one point in the remix, Will said “Shut Up!” Whether or not that was what gave him the inspiration for this….wonderful piece of elegant poetry, I don’t know. “Shut Up” is basically all about a couple who were once happy in their relationship, but now that the man is always flying out to other countries in order to support himself and generally keep things going, they’ve suddenly become unhappy. Fergie and Will.I.Am play the couple who also have a lyrical argument halfway through this song. It also seems like an old buddy of Fergie’s, a fella by the name of Rahsaan Patterson, with whom she used to sing with on “Kids Incorporated” quoted this song on his album “After Hours.” Check out “So Hot” off of that particular disc. That could’ve just been the way he was harmonizing with himself, though. The Peas would later sing this wonderful masterpiece over the Funkadelic classic “Knee Deep,” which I think is a much better version. By the same token, they need to take their own advice. “Shut Up”? Yeah, exactly. I couldn’t have put it better myself. Next song.
Smells Like Funk: The chorus to this song goes like this: “If it smells like funk it must be us…..cause nobody’s funky as us, we keep it stanky.” Now, as a lover of all things funky, I really must say….that is an unbelievably ludicrous statement! These guys might be “cool,” but in no way, shape or form are they “funky.” On the other hand, Noelle Scaggs – the woman who sings back ups on this track……maybe she’s kinda funky. George Clinton, Stevie Wonder, Prince – they’re all funky. B.E.P.?….. Who?!? That said, the song’s pretty good and the bassline is…..well…..”sort of funky”….but only because the bassist is popping the string. If it weren’t for that, it wouldn’t be funky at all. Seriously.
Latin Girls: Basically what we have here, are three guys rapping about how much they love women of the Latin persuasion. A song like this one definitely wouldn’t have been so out-of-place on either one of their first two albums – especially “Bridging The Gap,” because they always had something of an affinity with the whole Latin sound, so…..yeah, this feels pretty natural to me. Taboo is even spitting a verse in Spanish. He also did this on the last record – twice at that. There’s a reference to Jennifer Lopez in this song, which may or may not have been intentionally used as a result of their attempt at becoming more mainstream. There are even a few rather explicit sexual references on this cut. For instance Will says that he has a set of cocco nuts, while Taboo claims that some folks out there call him come a lot. Nasty as hell. Good song, though.
Sexy: Speaking of Latin-based music, this one takes its tempo from a Bossa Nova song, which was originally performed by an artist called Antonio Carlos Jobim. Another artist called Sergio Mendes is featured on this track. Again, it would make sense that they would do this type of song because they quite obviously always loved songs of this nature, so it’s not a bad effort. By the same token, that lyric about how Will “ain’t rushin’ things cause I ain’t Russian” is quite idiotic and therefore spoils the song for me. It was probably supposed to be funny, but even so it’s quite silly. The groove is kinda sexy though, so I’ll give you that.
Fly Away: This song begins with a very ’80s sounding programmed beat. When that’s over & done, we’re treated to a much more rock based song with live instrumentation. For the most part, this song is a solo performance from “Fergie Ferg.” I wonder what this song would’ve sounded like with Kim Hill singing it instead of her? Hmmm….it certainly makes you wonder. I think it would’ve sounded a little more natural, because Ferg is trying to do some reggae-styled chanting and it just comes off as fake to me. Will and Taboo are also featured on this track, but only to remind us all once again that they “be fallin’ up, never fallin’ down.” Other words, “Yep, we’re still the same people….don’t think we’re that much different now that we have this new chickie singing with us.” Decent enough effort though. This song segues into…..
Boogie That Be: For this next song, the group have decided to team up with a fella by the name of John Legend, who sings the chorus. Around the time that “Elephunk” was released, he was still a brand new artist who was trying to get his name out there, so it only seems fitting that he would collaborate with a bunch of guys who were more or less trying to do the same thing. And yeah, this song is kinda funky…. in a way. The collaboration works pretty well considering the fact that I could never see the fascination with this “John Legend” character. That reminds me, Will wrote a song for him called “Ordinary People.” As I said, the collaboration works pretty well here…….until…..Fergie Ferg busts a rhyme. Uh-oh. Once that happens – it’s game over, man. Next song.
Apl Song: This particular member of the Black Eyed Peas is originally from the Phillipenes and this song samples an old folk song by a certain Filipino band out there. Actually, they’ve used re-sung elements from the song, so it’s not “a sample” per say. Still, it’s quite a personal song for Apl.D.Ap, so I’ll give them that. It’s typical of them to be using such obscure songs though, that’s something that they’ve always been doing….it’s just that now they’re getting more attention for it.
Where Is the Love?: At last. The Peas come back and reedeem themselves. This is exactly what they were known for before they became well-known. Obviously a lot of folks out there seemed to agree with the message that they were conveying……either that or they just bought the single in bundles because they asked Justin Timberlake, who, at the time, was quite a big star, to sing the hook for them. Regardless, the song is what took them to the top and it was a conscious jam at that. If people were not really listening to the Peas’ message, then I really feel sorry for those folks in particular……the group had something to say. For real.
Third Eye: For some reason, they’ve decided to make this the hidden track, although on other copies of the album, it’s one of the bonus songs. Musically it’s a much more experimental type of song, in a way it sounds darker than any of the other songs on the record, which is probably why they made it a hidden track. It’s really just Will rhyming with Fergie singing the chorus. Lyrically it’s all about how he can’t be fooled by politics. Fergie’s verse on the other hand is all about change and looking toward the future. At first this was the only song I ever liked from this album….except for maybe “Where Is The Love.”
Verdict: When you look back on this album, you notice that they haven’t really changed that much. They could’ve easily sung all of the songs on this disc with Kim Hill instead of Fergie. Of course, that wouldn’t have been possible, seeing as how things turned out the way in which they did. Overall I don’t think this is one of their best albums, but you know what? They’re a big group now and they’re selling millions of records worldwide, so let them enjoy their commercial success. In the meantime I’ll listen to something else all together. I sure hope they get back to being that totally organic group they once were, cuz right about now the name “Black Eyed Peas” no longer means what it used to and that’s quite a shame.
