Black Eyed Peas cream of hip-hop crop

By RUSSELL BAILIE


The tour by the Black Eyed Peas, which started in Wellington last night, is the second time the band has played in New Zealand this year.

The multi-racial Los Angeles group of Jaime "Taboo" Gomez, Will "will.i.am," Adams, Allan "Apl.de.ap" Pineda and Tracy "Fergie" Ferguson were at the Big Day Out in January which was the second time they had played the summer festival.

Now they're out headlining their own shows - and so they should be. The band's third album Elephunk is four times platinum in New Zealand (60,000 copies sold) and has been in the charts for more than a year. They're effectively more popular here (and Australia and Britain) than they are at home in the United States where the album has pegged up a million sales.

Just before he caught the plane, Gomez reflected on how the Peas have become cream of the hip-hop pop crop.

You're back so soon ...

It's one of our favourite places to go. We've been touring overseas, finishing up the new record for February 22 next year. It's called Monkey Business. We've just been working non-stop trying to create the next experience for all the fans.

Q: Why tour with an album to finish?

A: Right now we are in the final stages of mixing and mastering. We just wanted to go back and find the places which really made an impact in our lives. And New Zealand and Australia were definitely two of those places.

Q: Why do you think you've connected so well with this place?

A: Because you guys are more open-minded. You appreciate live music more than the States and it's just good to be going to a different country and enjoy your lifestyle.

Q: The last album has still done pretty well in the States. Are you surprised by its success?

A: I'm very surprised. I'm blessed to be still touring off this record. We count our blessings every day and just take it stride by stride.

Q: It's not often that bands take off on their third album.

A: It was a slow process but we're glad it happened when it did. If it had taken off on the first record, then it probably would have ended like that. The fact that we got the third one out and the opportunity to get a fourth one is great.

Q: What's the new one sounding like?

A: This one has more angst, more energy. We took the live aspect of touring Elephunk and created a record of hyperkinetic excitement. We still have the same formula but each song on this record is like our live show. Each song explodes when you listen to it.

Q: The word "angst" isn't one you usually hear from a hip-hop group

A: Right. We're a live act and usually we perform in front of rock audiences. Those audiences have angst energy.

We enjoy being able to do tours like the Big Day Out with Metallica or do a Warp tour.

That is the thing about Black Eyed Peas - we are able to tour with a lot of rock acts and bring that energy.

Q: You had Justin Timberlake and Macy Gray on past albums. Who's on the guest list for the new one?

A: We got the opportunity to work with the Godfather of Soul, James Brown.

Q: My goodness.

A: And also Sting.

Q: It must feel good to get Mr Brown on an album rather than sample him. There's a lot of people in hip-hop who probably owe him a lot of money.

A: Definitely.

Q: What did you get him to do?

A: He sings the hook on They Don't Want Music. Basically it's talking about people not using live instrumentation. And James Brown is definitely a person who utilises live instrumentation.

Q: How did you hook up?

A: We met him at the Mojo Awards in London. He came up to us and we met, had a great time and we clicked, and we invited him into the studio. He came in and created a great song.

Q: And Sting ... who isn't exactly James Brown.

A: Sting is just a close friend. We've worked with him in the past. Will did a remix for him from his last record.

Q: The group is in an interesting position - you're the hip-hop group whose network extends beyond hip-hop.

A: We've always been like that. We've always been the hip-hop group who has been able to perform at a rock concert. The hip-hop group who is able to go to the Philippines, Mexico and utilise our heritage - because we are very diverse in our background - to captivate different people of different creeds and colours.

Q: Racially, it seems, you are very reflective of what Los Angeles actually is.

A: Definitely. And that's the thing about it. We started our friendship not because we were different but because we liked the same music, we were musicians and breakdancers who appreciated music. So it was just right that we became a group and our friendship is the strongest part of Black Eyed Peas.

Q: Of the groups which emerged from the "Native Tongues" scene in the late 90s, you are now the success story.

A: You could say that. We're grateful to be travelling - on Elephunk we were able to travel to the Philippines, to Vietnam. We are the only international group that has performed in Vietnam since the 70s. So we've seen a lot, we've learned a lot about Third World countries and we just appreciate the success of Elephunk.

Q: Did it feel odd being an American band performing in Vietnam.?

A: No, it felt great. The people were very hospitable and we had great fun performing. It's good to travel to these places that a lot of people will never get to go to.

Q: Was it tempting to play Purple Haze?

A: Yeah. Ha. Jimi Hendrix.

Q: Talking of strange new territory, you've done the music for the upcoming The Urbz: Sims in the City video game.

A: We had the opportunity to create a language called Simlish which is a bunch of gibberish. We did nine songs. We did an interpretation of Let's Get It Started in Simlish which is just a bunch of mumbo-jumbo but it's great to be able to work with video games because a lot of the people in our group appreciate them.

Q: So if the Black Eyed Peas was a video game, what sort would it be?

A: It would be a mix between Pulp Fiction and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Performance

* Who: Black Eyed Peas

* Where: North Shore Events Centre

* When: Tonight