If I could party with any celebrity, it would be The Black Eyed Peas. And I think that’s exactly what they are going for. After all, they have managed to make a living off it.
Their latest album, The E.N.D. is a self-proclaimed party soundtrack and has skyrocketed them to the top of the Billboard charts in a record-breaking leap. Between singles “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling”, BEP clocked in 20 weeks up there, beating legends like Elvis Presley and The Beatles.
The record isn’t a new theme for the group who have made a name for themselves with songs like “Let’s Get Retarded” and “Pump It”. Not much has changed in the four years since their last release. Except the resurfacing of mainstream electro-house music, which the peas were exposed to on various world tours and quickly adapted to fit their hip-pop repertoire thanks to guest DJs like Mstrkrft and Crookers.
After an alleged altercation involving celebrity blogger Perez Hilton, Will.I.Am and his manager, Hilton has released Twitter responses, written statements and a video regarding what happened. And according to a report from “Access Hollywood,” Hilton plans on suing those involved in the incident.
“All persons responsible for this cowardly act of physical violence will be sued and held legally responsible for their actions,” said Hilton’s attorney, Bryan J. Freedman, in a statement. “His First Amendment rights will not be infringed upon through fear, intimidation or violence.”
The blogger was said to suffer a cut below his eye during an altercation between him and Black Eyed Peas manager Liborio “Polo” Molina.
Hilton’s lawyer stated they “are conducting a legal investigation as to whether Will.I.Am encouraged and/or instructed Molina to engage in this physical assault.”
Toronto Police have charged the BEP manager with assault and the 36-year-old must return the city’s Old City Hall Courthouse on August 5 to answer to the charge.
Below is footage with Perez from Sunday night prior to the incident where he discusses the experience behind the scenes at the MuchMusic Video Awards and the way celebrities act around him.
You may not have heard “The E.N.D.” of Black Eyed Peas just yet, but their latest album is expected to take the top spot next week on the “Billboard 200” chart with first week sales of over 304,000, as per Nielson SoundScan figures.
That’s more than enough to take “Big Whiskey & the Groogrux King” (from Dave Matthews Band) off the top spot. Meanwhile, Eminem’s “Relapse” continues to do well, earning the rapper the third spot with the CD selling 87,000 units.
The all-star debut album from Chickenfoot, (featuring ex-Van Halen members Michael Anthony and Sammy Hagar, guitarist Joe Satriani and Chad Smith from Red Hot Chilli Peppers) landed at No. 4, moving 79,000 units.
The only new albums that made “Billboard 200’s” Top 10 include “The Last” from Aventura (landing at No. 5 with sales of 47,000), rapper Mos Def’s “Ecstatic” at No. 9 and Pleasure P, who rounded up the Top 10 with “Introduction of Marcus Cooper ”.
B.E.P members Fergie, apl.de.ap, Taboo and will.i.am have announced the release date for their anticipated studio album, scheduled to hit stores on June 9.
This will mark the group’s first studio recording since 2005’s “Monkey Business” which earned them four Grammy awards.
B.E.P is also expected to go on tour for their upcoming album titled The E.N.D. The acronym stands for The Energy Never Dies. Dates and cities for the tour have yet to be confirmed.
“When [the album] comes out, there’ll be 12 songs on it, but the next day there could be 100 songs, 50 sketches, 1,000 blogs all around The E.N.D., so the energy really, truly never dies.,” will.i.am said to Billboard last year.
Will.i.am told Billboard to expect “a lot of dance stuff, real melodic, electronic, soulful. We call it, like, electric static funk, something like that”.
The Black Eyed Peas will release “The E.N.D.,” their first studio album in four years, on June 9.
The hip-hop group plans to support the record, whose title stands for “The Energy Never Dies,” with an international tour.
Fans can keep an ear out for first single “Boom Boom Pow,” which will soon be issued to radio stations and clubs.
In an interview with Billboard, BEP’s will.i.am described the new material as “a lot of dance stuff, real melodic, electronic, soulful. We call it, like, electric static funk, something like that.”
The group’s last album was 2005’s “Monkey Business,” which sold 4.2 million copies in the United States, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
BEP member Fergie has also been working on her solo career, having released her solo debut album, “The Dutchess,” in 2006.
Black Eyed Peas’ Will.i.am says the group will play in China this summer, despite calls by celebrities such as Richard Gere for artists to boycott the country over its human rights record.
Will.i.am told the BBC that China’s recent crackdown in Tibet was “messed up,” but he thought it would be wrong to “punish a whole country.”
“They have all this Chinese boycott stuff — they want to boycott the games but do the people get punished when they have nothing to do with what’s going on?” he said.
“If you boycott China, when do they boycott America for what we’re doing in Iraq?”
He added, “If America really wants to make a difference, it should stop importing China’s products and pay back its debt.”
Celebrations for the upcoming Olympic Games in Beijing have been marred by protests as the Olympic torch makes its way around the globe.
Meanwhile, director Steven Spielberg has stepped down as an artistic advisor for the upcoming Games, and actress Mia Farrow has publicly criticized China for allegedly supporting the genocide in Sudan’s Darfur region.
THE BLACK EYED PEAS frontman WILL.I.AM has blasted accusations the band ’sold out’ by asking FERGIE to join.
The music mogul insists the decision to bring the sexy singer on board in 2003 had nothing to doing with selling more records, even though it marked their ascent to superstardom with third album Elephunk.
However, Will.I.Am can understand how the new recruitment was misinterpreted as a commercial gimmick.
He says, “If I was a journalist and I knew the Black Eyed Peas when they first came out and where they are now, I would write some of the same things too. The way things were marketed didn’t honour how it was built.
“But we weren’t trying to make hits when we made Elephunk. You think I would have called the CIA terrorists (as he did in Where Is The Love?) right around the time America went to Iraq if I was trying to make a record to get played on the radio?” (SH/WNBTIS/MEH)
(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.
THE BLACK EYED PEAS’ MY HUMPS has topped a new online poll to find the Most Annoying Song.
Rock magazine Rolling Stone’s website asked readers to vote for their most hated tunes last month (Jun07) – and the overwhelming least favourite song was My Humps, which narrowly beat Los Del Rio’s Macarena.
Dubbed “the songs guaranteed to ruin your day”, the top 10 is:
1. The Black Eyed Peas – My Humps
2. Los Del Rio – Macarena
3. Baha Men – Who Let The Dogs Out
4. Celine Dion – My Heart Will Go On
5. Nickelback – Photograph
6. Lou Bega – Mambo No. 5?
7. James Blunt – You’re Beautiful
8. The Spice Girls – Wannabe
9. Sisqo – The Thong Song
10. Cher – Believe. (KL/RS/GES)
(c) 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All global rights reserved. No unauthorized copying or re-distributing permitted.
If I could party with any celebrity, it would be The Black Eyed Peas. And I think that’s exactly what they are going for. After all, they have managed to make a living off it.
You may not have heard “The E.N.D.” of Black Eyed Peas just yet, but their latest album is expected to take the top spot next week on the “Billboard 200” chart with first week sales of over 304,000, as per Nielson SoundScan figures.
