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Black Eyed Peas

Photo by Christian Alminana/FilmMagic

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The Black Eyed Peas' 'The E.N.D.' At 10 meeting-black-eyed-peas-halfway-honor-ends-10th-anniversary

Meeting The Black Eyed Peas Halfway In Honor Of 'The E.N.D.''s 10th Anniversary

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14 years after their formation, the pop behemoths' GRAMMY-winning fifth album found will.i.am, Fergie & co. at peak body-rockin' power
Dan Weiss
GRAMMYs
Jun 21, 2019 - 8:26 am

Listen—do you really think will.i.am thinks he's Kendrick Lamar? The first step to appreciating the Black Eyed Peas is recognizing that rap fans unfavorably comparing them to Nas or something would be like comparing KC and the Sunshine Band to Bob Dylan. Actually, let’s run with that KC thing for a moment, because that’s almost certainly the analogy. Those guys had "That’s the Way (I Like It)," "Get Down Tonight," and the ever-so-meaningful "(Shake, Shake, Shake) Shake Your Booty." These guys (and gal) had "Boom Boom Pow," "Don’t Phunk With My Heart," and a very special self-love serenade entitled "My Humps." In fact, we should give will.i.am credit for realizing he is very much not Kendrick Lamar (or Posdnous or Black Thought) no matter how perfectly pleasant his group’s earlier, backpacker-targeting efforts were ("Joints & Jam" remains both a joint and a jam, especially the “Instant Flava Remix”). What exactly did they have to sell out, the chance to tour with Jurassic 5 forever?

If this is all a bit defensive, well, have you read any defenses of the Black Eyed Peas lately? 15 years on and the world still isn't quite ready for Fergie's "lovely lady lumps." But that doesn’t explain who was buying all the copies of their fifth studio album, The E.N.D., in 2009, which was this Gap Band meets Bar Mitzvah band's saturation point: for 26 weeks of the year they held the number-one spot on the Hot 100 with some inescapable song or another. So let’s rip the scab off the Chicago White Sox’s shameful Disco Demolition Night and go one further by calling The E.N.D. a front-to-back damn good album. If that requires people to have a decade of distance from these songs being blasted in their faces everywhere they go, then so be it. But for once the silly acronym really did mean that the Energy Never Dies.

It’s easy to call will.i.am cheap because he throws everything at the wall to see what sticks. But this method doesn’t get enough credit for its madness. Blink and you’ll miss that his first true hit, "Where Is the Love?" was a sappy unity plea with Justin Timberlake that at one point names the CIA as terrorists. Then there’s the majestically tasteless "Let’s Get Retarded," which managed to be ableist twice ("bob your head like epilepsy," holy moly). None of that wildness found its way onto The E.N.D., which is probably best for its all-ages dance party, though "Ring-a-Ling" does manage to slip in another "retarded" at the end, courtesy of Roxanne Shanté, who at least had the excuse of being 16.

But the understated Fergie classic "Meet Me Halfway" did sample the Yeah Yeah Yeahs like that's a totally normal thing for an electro-pop-hip-hop outfit to do. There’s plenty of trippy sound effects, like when will.i.am echoes infinitely beneath Fergie’s pre-chorus build on "Boom Boom Pow," or the Nintendo synth squelches that punctuate the title recitations of "Party All The Time," which may as well be the theme song for these Andrew W.K.'s of rap: "If I could party all night / And sleep all day / And throw all of my problems away / Life would be easy." Like Avicii or Skrillex but sliding in just before EDM boomed, the Peas had a winning willingness to do anything to make you dance, whether it's challenging Grandmaster Flash on "Rockin' to the Beat" or leading a turnt-up electric guitar through the all-purpose pregame anthem "I Gotta Feeling," or even giving Will and his trusty Auto-Tune an awfully pretty disco ballad to warble on "Alive."

Almost everything on The E.N.D. is better than you remember, starting with "Meet Me Halfway" (if you only give one BEP song another shot, make it this one) but also the futuristic, molten synth drips and Chipmunked hypeman of "Rock Your Body" and the multipart Zapp goody bag "Imma Be," which was the album’s third and final chart-topping smash. After their last two albums made the Peas the only act in the history of the world to work with both Sting and Papa Roach, their fifth album had a streamlined purity of purpose. Somehow there were no guests, or even super-familiar sampled hooks (which means Dick Dale's Pulp Fiction theme didn’t return for a sequel to "Pump It"). For reasons known only to these goofballs, they wanted to do it on their own. This may have resulted in Fergie's questionable patois on the otherwise Diplo-worthy "Electric City," but it also made these unlikely geeks the biggest pop stars on the planet for one long summer. If you’ve ever found yourself unconsciously humming along with "I Gotta Feeling," you owe it yourself to find out if the energy really never dies. I won’t spoil it. But you’re so two-thousand-and-late.

'It's Blitz!' At 10: How The Dancefloor Classic Marked A New Era For The Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Taboo (L) and Will.I.Am (R) of The Black Eyed Peas perform in 2019

Taboo (L) and Will.I.Am (R) of The Black Eyed Peas perform in 2019

Photo: Sam Tabone/WireImage

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Supersonic 2020: Black Eyed Peas, Steve Aoki, More japans-supersonic-2020-black-eyed-peas-steve-aoki-clean-bandit-asian-kung-fu-generation

Japan's Supersonic 2020: Black Eyed Peas, Steve Aoki, Clean Bandit, Asian Kung-Fu Generation And More Confirmed

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The festival announced the lineup additions during the coronavirus pandemic, noting, "Under these difficult circumstances, the entire Supersonic staff is working to welcome the audience in the best form possible this fall"
John Ochoa
GRAMMYs
May 20, 2020 - 9:43 am

Supersonic, the new multi-day, multi-city Japanese music festival, has unveiled its second artist lineup announcement for its first-ever edition this fall. The three-day event, taking place Sept. 19-21 in Tokyo and Osaka, has confirmed additional artists Black Eyed Peas, Steve Aoki, Clean Bandit and others. The festival has also added local Japanese artists including Asian Kung-Fu Generation, one of Japan's leading rock bands, Nulbarich, BiSH, chelmico and several others. 

They join headliners and other confirmed acts like Post Malone, The 1975, Skrillex, Wu-Tang Clan, Liam Gallagher, Fatboy Slim and Kygo, who were previously announced in early April.

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The lineup news comes as the coronavirus pandemic has decimated the festival and live music industry since mid-March, essentially shutting down the global concert business. At the time of this writing, Japan has more than 17,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 778 coronavirus-related deaths, according to The New York Times. In early April, the country declared a state of emergency and this week fell into a recession for the first time since 2015, The New York Times reports.

Read: Recording Academy And MusiCares Establish COVID-19 Relief Fund

In a blog post shared on the festival's website announcing the lineup additions, organizers addressed the "difficult circumstances" the COVID-19 pandemic has caused.

"Under these difficult circumstances, the entire Supersonic staff is working to welcome the audience in the best form possible this fall while exploring a new form for the festival from now on," the post reads. "We thank you for your understanding and cooperation."

Supersonic is produced by the team behind Summer Sonic, one of Japan's biggest music festivals that's held annually over the summer in Tokyo and Osaka. Festival organizers postponed this year's installment of Summer Sonic to 2021 due to the 2020 Summer Olympics and Summer Paralympics, which were originally scheduled to take place in Tokyo this summer before the global sporting event itself was also postponed to next year, and instead introduced Supersonic for this year only, Japan Web Magazine reports.

Last August, Summer Sonic celebrated its 20-year anniversary with a lineup that featured Red Hot Chili Peppers, BLACKPINK, The Chainsmokers, Weezer and more. Attracting 135,000 visitors over three days, Summer Sonic become Japan's biggest outdoor music festival last year, IQ reports.

How Will Coronavirus Shift Electronic Music? Maceo Plex, Paul Van Dyk, Luttrell, Mikey Lion & DJ Manager Max Leader Weigh In

P!nk

P!nk

Photo: Terry Wyatt/Getty Images

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Sony Music Launches New Voting Campaign vote-voice-voice-power-sony-music-launches-new-artist-supported-voting-campaign

"A Vote Is A Voice. A Voice Is Power:" Sony Music Launches New Artist-Supported Voting Campaign

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The initiative features Sony musicians encouraging eligible U.S. voters to make their voice heard in the 2020 Presidential Election
Ana Monroy Yglesias
GRAMMYs
Oct 13, 2020 - 1:38 pm

Today, Oct. 13, 20 days until the 2020 Presidential Election, Sony Music launched the "Your Voice, Your Power, Your Vote" bipartisan voting initiative to encourage civic participation. Until Nov. 3, the campaign will roll out a series of short films and PSAs in English and Spanish featuring artists from their star-studded roster.

"A vote is a voice. A voice is power. A voice not spoken cannot be heard," the artists say collectively in the clip, featuring P!NK, Shakira, DJ Khaled, Pharrell Williams, Vic Mensa, Chole X Halle, Meghan Trainor, Jennifer Hudson, Camila Cabello, G-Eazy, will.i.am and others.

Read: Rhyme & Punishment: How NPR's "Louder Than A Riot" Podcast Traces The Interconnected Rise Of Hip-Hop And Mass Incarceration

Mensa also shared his motivation for voting in a new Pitchfork feature that also included words from David Byrne of Talking Heads, Billie Eilish, Margo Price, Chuck D of Public Enemy and 28 other artists.

"[Activist/scholar] Angela Davis stated that this election is less about putting a candidate in the White House who shares our ideals or can be trusted to lead us in the right direction, because that individual doesn't exist. Our motive here must be to elect the ticket with which we have the most potential to pressure an anti-racist agenda into legislation," Mensa wrote.

Learn more about Sony Music's voting campaign at knowyourworth.community, where you can check your registration and more.

From Aretha Franklin To Public Enemy, Here's How Artists Have Amplified Social Justice Movements Through Music

Alicia Silverstone as Cher Horowitz in 'Clueless' (1995)

Alicia Silverstone as Cher Horowitz in 'Clueless' (1995)

Courtesy Photo: CBS via Getty Images

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How 1995 Became A Blockbuster Year For Soundtracks 1995-soundtracks-film-batman-forever-clueless-waiting-exhale-whitney-houston

How 1995 Became A Blockbuster Year For Movie Soundtracks

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From 'Clueless' to 'Dangerous Minds,' soundtracks were big business in 1995, but the year's hits offered no clear formula for success
Jack Tregoning
GRAMMYs
Aug 9, 2020 - 4:00 am

Mariah Carey, Alanis Morissette, 2Pac and The Smashing Pumpkins all had No. 1 albums in 1995. Despite such hallowed competition, four movie soundtracks also topped the Billboard 200 chart that year. Two were family-friendly Disney behemoths: Pocahontas and The Lion King, the latter still powering from the previous year. The other chart-topping soundtracks, for the Michelle Pfeiffer vehicle Dangerous Minds and the stoner comedy Friday, were no one's idea of kids' entertainment. 

Beyond those No. 1 spots, 1995 marked a fascinating midpoint in a soundtrack-heavy decade. According to a New York Times report, a new release CD that year typically cost anywhere between $13-$19. At that price, a soundtrack needed major star power or an undeniable concept. 

For movie studios and musicians alike, the format was rich with opportunity. However, there was no certain formula for success. Some soundtracks were guided by a single producer, while others drew on a grab bag of then-current songs. Several featured one clear hit that eclipsed the soundtrack, or occasionally the movie itself. For all their differing approaches, the soundtracks of 1995 epitomized the energy and audacity of the decade, while also establishing tropes for the next 25 years. 

The Bodyguard: Original Soundtrack Album (1992) set the bar high for the decade. With a 20-week reign at No. 1, it remains the biggest-selling soundtrack of all time. Whitney Houston performed six songs on the album, including the titanic power ballad, "I Will Always Love You." (At the 1994 GRAMMYs, the track won the GRAMMY for Record Of The Year and Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female, while the soundtrack itself earned the Album Of The Year award.)

While The Bodyguard magnified their commercial potential, movie soundtracks like Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994) framed the medium as an artistic showpiece. Throughout the '90s, Tarantino and fellow indie auteurs Paul Thomas Anderson, Richard Linklater and Spike Lee made music a key character in their films. (The latter continues the trend on his latest movie, Da 5 Bloods, alongside six-time GRAMMY-winning composer and trumpeter Terence Blanchard.) Both instincts, for commercial returns and artistic validation, were well-represented in 1995. 

Read: 'The Bodyguard' Soundtrack: 25 Years After Whitney Houston's Masterpiece

Batman Forever (1995) epitomized the big-budget, mass-appeal mid-'90s soundtrack. Spanning PJ Harvey to Method Man, the 14-track set employed some tried-and-true tactics. First, only five songs on the track list appear in the movie itself, ushering in a rash of "Music From And Inspired By" soundtracks. Second, its featured artists largely contributed songs you couldn't find on other albums: According to Entertainment Weekly in 1995, U2 landed a reported $500,000 advance for "Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me," an offcut from the band's Zooropa album sessions. 

Most significantly, Batman Forever backed a surprise smash in Seal's "Kiss From A Rose." Originally released as a single in 1994, the ballad blew up as the movie's "love theme." In its music video, Seal croons in the light of the Bat-Signal, intercut with not-very-romantic scenes from the film. Outshining U2, "Kiss From A Rose" reached No. 1 in 1995; one year later, the song won for Song Of The Year, Record Of The Year and Best Male Pop Vocal Performance at the 38th GRAMMY Awards.

Both Bad Boys and Dangerous Minds had their "Kiss From A Rose" equivalent in 1995. Diana King's reggae-fusion jam "Shy Guy" proved the breakout star of Bad Boys, transcending an R&B- and hip-hop-heavy soundtrack. Meanwhile, Coolio's "Gangsta's Paradise," featuring singer L.V., the key track on Dangerous Minds, became the top-selling single of 1995; it won the rapper his first, and only, GRAMMY for Best Rap Solo Performance the next year. 

Other soundtracks from 1995 endure as perfect documents of their time and place. Clueless compiled a cast from '90s rock radio to accompany the adventures of Alicia Silverstone's Cher Horowitz and her high school clique: Counting Crows, Smoking Popes, Cracker and The Muffs. Coolio, the everywhere man of 1995, contributed "Rollin' With My Homies." 

From the same city, but a world outside Cher's Beverly Hills bubble, came the Ice Cube- and Chris Tucker-starring Friday. Its soundtrack took a whistle-stop tour of West Coast hip-hop and G-funk via Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Tha Alkaholiks and Mack 10. True to the era, the music video for Dr. Dre's "Keep Their Heads Ringin'" is half stoner comedy, half cheesy action movie. 

Waiting To Exhale, the 1995 drama directed by Forest Whitaker, boasted a soundtrack with a clear author. Babyface, the R&B superproducer with 11 GRAMMY wins for his work with the likes of Boyz II Men and Toni Braxton, produced the set in full. Following Babyface's co-producer role on The Bodyguard soundtrack three years prior, Waiting To Exhale featured two new songs from the movie's star, Whitney Houston. 

Read: 'Score': Soundtracks take us on an emotional ride

Houston's "Exhale (Shoop Shoop)" and "Why Does It Hurt So Bad" led a track list that also featured Aretha Franklin, TLC, Chaka Khan, Mary J. Blige and then-newcomer Brandy. A powerful showcase of Black women across generations, the soundtrack has prevailed as a standalone work, going on to receive multiple nominations, including Album Of The Year, at the 1997 GRAMMYs. In a crowded year for soundtracks, which also included Dinosaur Jr. founder Lou Barlow's work on Larry Clark's contentious Kids, Waiting To Exhale demonstrated the power of a singular vision. 

For the most part, the soundtracks of 1995 tried a bit of everything. The previous year, The Crow: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack went all-in on covers, including Nine Inch Nails overhauling Joy Division's "Dead Souls." That trend continued into 1995, from Tori Amos covering R.E.M.'s "Losing My Religion" for Higher Learning to Evan Dando's update of Big Star's "The Ballad Of El Goodo" in Empire Records to Tom Jones gamely taking on Lenny Kravitz's "Are You Gonna Go My Way"' for The Jerky Boys movie. (Is there a more '90s sentence than that?) 

Elsewhere, the Mortal Kombat soundtrack blended metal and industrial rock (Fear Factory, Gravity) with dance music (Utah Saints, Orbital). For every Dead Presidents, which zeroed in on '70s funk and soul, there was a Tank Girl, which threw together Bush, Björk, Veruca Salt and Ice-T to match the movie's manic tone. 

Continuing from their '90s winning streak, grown-up soundtracks have proven surprisingly resilient. In an echo of Babyface's role on Waiting To Exhale, Kendrick Lamar oversaw production on 2018's chart-topping, multi-GRAMMY-nominated Black Panther: The Album, uniting an A-list cast under his creative direction. On the same front, Beyonce executive-produced and curated The Lion King: The Gift, the soundtrack album for the 2019 remake of the Disney classic, which spotlighted African and Afrobeats artists. In 2016, Taylor Swift and One Direction's Zayn recorded "I Don't Wanna Live Forever (Fifty Shades Darker)," pitching for the movie tie-in bump enjoyed in 1995 by Seal and Coolio. (The millennial stars stopped short of including scenes from the movie in their music video.) 

Like Batman Forever back in the day, the DC Universe continues to put stock in soundtracks. Both Suicide Squad (2016) and its follow-up, Birds Of Prey (2020), are packed tight with to-the-minute pop, R&B and hip-hop. Each soundtrack reads like a who's who of the musical zeitgeist. In 1995, Mazzy Star, Brandy and U2 grouped up behind Batman. In 2016, Twenty One Pilots, Skrillex and Rick Ross powered the Suicide Squad. In 2020, everyone from Doja Cat to Halsey to YouTube star Maisie Peters form Team Harley Quinn. 

As 1995 taught us time and time again, nothing traps a year in amber quite like a movie soundtrack. 

How 1995 Became The Year Dance Music Albums Came Of Age

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Childish Gambino

Photo: Kevin Winter/Getty Images for iHeartMedia

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Childish Gambino Drops Surprise Album ‘3.15.20' listen-childish-gambino-drops-new-album-%E2%80%9831520%E2%80%99

LISTEN: Childish Gambino Drops New Album ‘3.15.20’

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The "This Is America" singer's fourth studio album features Ariana Grande and 21 Savage
Onaje McDowelle
GRAMMYs
Mar 23, 2020 - 10:13 am

Five-time GRAMMY-winning musician Donald Glover a.k.a Childish Gambino has officially released his fourth studio album, 3.15.20, via RCA Records. The album appeared on streaming services early Sunday morning (Mar. 22) after being premiered as a live-stream on the artist’s website, last week.

3.15.20 is Gambino’s first release since his GRAMMY-nominated 2016 effort Awaken, My Love! The new 58-minute, 12 song project features guest spots from Ariana Grande, 21 Savage and Khadja Bonet and is listed in both track-by-track and long-play format on streaming under Childish Gambino and Donald Glover Presents, respectively.

Each song’s starting time stamp serves as its title, except for tracks two and three, “Algorhythm” and “Time”. The artist’s Billboard Hot-100 charting single “Feels Like Summer” also appears on the album as “42.26”.

Donald Glover has amassed a total of 12 GRAMMY nominations and five wins, having received his first award for the hit single “Redbone” in the Best Traditional R&B Performance category at the 60th Annual GRAMMY’s in 2017 under his Childish Gambino moniker. The following year, he received four back-to-back GRAMMY’s for his three-time RIAA Multi-Platinum single “This is America” including Record and Song of The Year, Best Music Video and Best Rap/Sung Performance.

Listen to 3.15.20 below:

Alicia Keys Partners With Amazon Music And She Is The Music To Raise Donations For MusiCares' COVID-19 Relief Fund

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Some of the content on this site expresses viewpoints and opinions that are not those of the Recording Academy and its Affiliates. Responsibility for the accuracy of information provided in stories not written by or specifically prepared for the Academy and its Affiliates lies with the story's original source or writer. Content on this site does not reflect an endorsement or recommendation of any artist or music by the Recording Academy and its Affiliates.