The Black Eyed Peas – The Beginning Review

Never was what you would consider a Black Eyed Peas fan. I am a hip-hop fan though, as well as an eighties-music fan, and I think the Peas fall somewhere in between those two genres.

I remember hearing Boom, Boom, Pow whenever it came out, and hating it instantly. But the more I heard it, the more I liked it. This has happened with other songs as well, and I still am not sure if this phenomenon is radios overplaying these tunes until you had no choice but to like them, or if you start to appreciate them the more you hear them because there are different layers to the music.

With the Peas, I think the latter is true. On the surface, they are just a dancey, pop group with great personalities and fantastic music videos, and they are built for the radio and not meant for true, hip-hop heads. The reason you like them more and more each time you hear them is because will.i.am is just crazy with it. You initially think it is just a pop song, but then you start to hear this and that and before you know it, you realize that there is all sorts of stuff going on in any given Peas song.

Which brings us to ‘The Beginning’, the newest edition from the Peas. This is the first album I have heard in its entirety from them, so naturally, the first time I heard it, I wasn’t too impressed. But I was determined to give it a few good listens, before jumping to conclusions or saying things I might regret.

One thing is for sure, you can get jiggy with this album. Crazy beats, and crazy infectious hooks. Fergie still is sexy as hell, and her voice brings a smile to anyone’s face, while  will.i.am continues to perfect his style. Overall, the album is pretty good and a fun listen.

Dropping in the midst of hip-hop greats like Kanye West and Kid Cudi actually help to highlight what makes the Peas unique. They are not those guys or anything like them and there is no other group who can match what they bring to the table. They are their own element and own form of hip-hop, and they are expanding their brand worldwide.

Or as rappedy in ‘Fashion Police’:

Hey doctor, ain’t nothing wrong with me?/ I ain’t crazy, I don’t need no remedy/ Imma club rocker, that’s my personality/ And it’s in fashion to be blasting them beats

And if you don’t appreciate it for what it is when you hear it at home, try it on your way to work, and if that doesn’t work, perhaps when you go for a few drinks at the club. Either way, you can’t help but listen and groove to the beats.

Can’t miss tunes include ‘Light up the Night’ (which samples a Slick Rick tune), ‘Fashion Beats’, ‘Love you Long Time’, ‘XoXOXO’ and their first single, ‘The Time’. See the new video here.

Still trying to listen to this album all the way through is not easy for someone like me, who can only handle so much of that dance stuff. Still, I was impressed and will probably give it a few more listens.

Besides, as they point out on ‘Don’t Stop the Party’, “Even if you wanted to, you couldn’t stop us now” or on “The Best One Yet” where Fergie sings about presumably this album being “The Best One Yet.”

The Beginning was released on November 30th, 2010