JAYFORCE

At this point in the hip hop game I don’t understand all the hate that the Black Eyed Peas get from rap fans. The BEPs were basically a underground hip hop group that wasn’t getting support after two dope first albums with a heavy true school hip hop sound & influence. They also had some of the best performances in hip hop largely because they employed the b-boy element into their showmanship. Eventually Will.I.Am, Apl.D.Ap, & Taboo added an additional member in Fergie & switched it up & made their sound more universal to a world audience. People often criticize the BEPs, but today on the radio we’re inundated by garbage artists setting black people back 1000s of years with their buffoonery. Although I personally tend to gravitate to more aggressive & often socially conscious hip hop music I’m not mad at the BEP’s for being honest about where they wanted to go with their sound without any boundaries. I spoke to Will.I.Am on a flight from Los Angeles to Atlanta last year & we spoke for about 45 minutes about his group, his career as a solo DJ (which often pays more), & loyalty to his bandmates. Will made it known that they’ve always just wanted to entertain people first & foremost & simply have fun. The key thing I got out of that conversation was Will.I.Am could have been a solo artist or producer but he said he’d be unhappy if he couldn’t perform with his group. He didn’t want to leave them behind. More importantly they wanted to entertain people & not be pigeonholed in any box. I can respect that 100%. If I have a fix for the old BEP sound I’ll just go back & watch some of the old videos or listen to the first two albums I have. I posted a few videos after the jump. Often I’ll hear some hip hop fans say Black Eyed Peas fell off years ago…..I disagree. In the global scheme of things I believe they are continuously ‘falling up!’

Black Eyed Peas – ‘Falling Up’

Black Eyed Peas – ‘Joints And Jams’