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"That song we did with Justin, that was a true collaboration," Will says. "Not that the other ones weren't, but that was done from scratch. We just had the beat to start with: Timbaland popped the beat, and then Justin was like, 'Yo, you trying to get down on another song?' [I said,] 'As a matter of fact, Timbaland gave me a beat, you want to write to it?'"
James Brown came aboard during the London sessions on the funky "They Don't Want the Music," which laments the loss of soul in today's urban music. "We had the hook and the verse," Will says, "and he came in with his part: 'You got to roll with the funk!' "
The Peas even sampled their own previously unreleased collaboration with Jack Johnson to make "Gone Going Gone," which they first recorded back in November 2001. "We kind of took one of his songs he had [recorded] shortly after and fused it with what we originally did, scratched it and mixed as if we never met Jack," Will says. "We treated it like a sample."
Considering what a big name the Black Eyed Peas have become, it's surprising that the group has never undertaken a major headlining tour of its own — until June 11, that is, when it kicks off in Atlanta. They want the tour to be big, but they also want to keep it intimate — so how to do both? The group gets giddy at the possibilities.
"Confetti cannon!" Fergie suggests gleefully.
"Millions of strippers!" Taboo suggests even more gleefully.
"We want to have a piñata onstage and have people come up and hit it — a big monkey, ten feet tall," Fergie says.
"We could have a different kind of piñata and have people come up and hit it," Will offers. Everyone else looks confused. "I'm talking about hitting the mic — open mic, 'Yo, I'm chillin' and freestylin' with the piñata, you all know that I don't drink piña colada.' "
Everyone shakes their heads no. "We're getting delirious," Fergie says with a smile.
Somehow, as the Peas begin the endless touring and promotional work for the new album (not that the work for the last album ever ended), they'll manage to take care of their various ventures: Will's starting a new production shingle with Justin Timberlake (JAW Breakers) as well as running his i.am Clothing, Taboo's acting in his first film, Fergie's halfway done with her solo album.
In fact, Will's also signed Fergie to his label, and one of the songs on Monkey Business, "Don't Lie," actually started as one of her solo demos — but she doesn't regret giving it to the team at all. "If something feels right for the [Peas'] album, it's going to make it," she says. "You don't save something that's perfect for the Black Eyed Peas just because you want to hold onto it."
Similarly, instead of fearing that Fergie will become a Justin or Gwen or Beyoncé and overshadow the group, her bandmates want to help her along. Because the Peas were always about being more than a group or a business, they say — they're family.
"We're all extensions of each other," Will says. "If I don't see Ap or Tab, I'm like, 'Where those fools at? They can't come around? What? You're all big-headed because you got a house now? Because your Hummer's hot?' That's what it is, we're real friends. We never fight. Fifteen years of friendship, 10 years as a group. We've known Fergie for three years, and she's fit in perfectly. It's all great."
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Photo: Interscope/MTV.com
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