Real talk with Will.I.Am

Will.I.Am makes it’s clear that he doesn’t care about what the people have to say about him or his work and that philosophy seems to be working The Black Eyed Peas have pushed the envelope of creativity with each and every release and their sales and popularity have grown along the way.
The big “BUT” or “WHY” is, why does the press and fans still criticize the groups growing popularity and worldwide success? The numbers don’t lie, but when you blur the lines between Pop Music and Hip Hop “culture” some people think you’re selling one or the other art form short.
Nonetheless Will.I.Am has became one of Hip Hop/Pop’s star producers virtually overnight. Now he’s got a solo project, more work with the super elite of artists (Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston & Mariah Carey) and another Black Eyed Peas album set to come out early 2008.
Let’s get familiar with the great Will.I.Am.

Hi Will. How are you?
[Puts on a funny voice] I’m ok.

Are you enjoying London?
[Puts on the same funny voice] It’s ok.

Are you going to do that voice throughout the interview?
[Same funny voice] I just might.

Ok. Let’s get straight into this album.
[Returns to normal voice] Cool let’s do that.

So the majority of this album is about an ex girlfriend of yours right?
Yeah that’s right but not every single track.

Do you still speak to her? Does she know it’s about her?
No we don’t speak anymore, but she’ll know it’s about her.

Are you hoping she will get in touch after she hears the album?
No, I didn’t do it for that. This is just something I had to do for me. I guess this is my closure.

I can relate to that. So who do you have on this album in terms of guest features?
I only have one guest feature; Snoop Dogg. The title and the subject matter of the song was just screaming out for Snoop.

How so? What is the title/ subject matter?
The song is called the ‘Donkey Song’. Donkey as in ‘Ass’ not like the animal.

Ok that makes more sense. Did you produce the album in its entirety?
No I didn’t. I have two tracks from Polow da Don and a guy named Fernando.

Are you happy with this album?
Super- duper happy, I actually couldn’t be happier with it.

So what made you decide to do a solo album in the first place?
If I was ever going to go solo then this was the time for me to do it. We have another Black Eyed Peas album coming out November 2008, which means we will probably go on tour in January 2009 and so I wouldn’t have a chance to release a solo record till 2010. This was my only available window.

You have been a part of the Black Eyed Peas for 10 years but this is your first ever solo project. Do you feel you have something to prove as an artist?
I don’t make music to prove points. I just make music to make music. They’re just songs. I try to always put the ego aside. Like I’m not trying to be all “I’m the best, you better recognize.” It’s just music. You know?

Yep. So you’re currently working on so many projects; you’re producing for various people, you’re a solo artist, you’re a song writer, you’re in a group... are you finding it hard being in such demand?
Not really. Too be honest I find it pretty easy. The thing that is hard is the touring.

You have been really innovative with the way you are using the internet to promote your new album...
I think a lot and it dawned on me while I was working on someone else’s album that I’m making music for people the same way that people produced music in the 70’s and 80’s. What I mean by that is; you make a record which would include at least eleven songs, you make a single then you make a video for that single. First of all the LP was invented by the record company to sell more albums as people just wanted to buy singles because they play singles on the radio then the record company back then, like RCA made the vinyl and the photographs. Then in the 80’s MTV came about so artists started making videos as part of the thing that they did to promote the music. So they made Vinyl, CD’s and Cassettes, they did promo shots, they made videos, they went on tour, they did merchandise like t-shirts and badges and they did interviews. Now we are in 2007 and we are still doing the exact same thing, following the exact same setup. The difference is now that it is also up in the internet and the record companies are afraid of it. So I just thought “Wow there is so much I can do just for the internet” So I thought let me make a record for the internet, let me make videos for the internet, let me make content for the internet on this Player. Let me have this Player that can be added on everybody’s profile on places like MySpace and FaceBook. If people come and buy music from their profile then let me allow them to make money too. So you can actually make a profit from using the Player. Also let me not just make a 15 song record but let me always update everybody’s Player with new music regularly because I’m a producer and am always changing and creating new songs so this way I can update people’s player with new music instantly.

So you think this is the way forward for everyone? You think this is going to take off?
I don’t know. Hopefully it works. I’m going to putting all my energy to try and make it work.

Well I commend you for trying something new and innovative...
Thank you so much.

You shot all the videos for this album in Brazil right?
Yeah I made all the videos in Brazil and I did it for the Player which is launched on September 25th and all the videos link together, it’s like a mini movie. We had no script; we just went out there and improvised. I want to actually do films in the future so that’s another reason I put the solo record out now so that when I’m about 35; I can focus on movies and other projects.

Ok so I have to ask you about Michael Jackson. Start from the beginning...
Ok so he called me on the phone, out of the blue and I didn’t believe it was him. Seriously; I was like come on who is this, how did you get my number? Stop playing around. So he was like [imitates Michael Jackson] “No it’s really me, it’s Michael.” And I still didn’t believe it was him and was like “Dude seriously I got to go.”

Ha Ha. I think that is the best Michael impersonation I’ve ever heard. You must have been so flattered that he chose you to help him with his new music?
Yeah. I’m super duper excited. But also you never know you never know what will end up on the final record and what’s dropped.

Can he come back in your opinion?
Well in my opinion; he’s never gone. No matter what country you go too they still play a Michael Jackson song in the club.

Speaking as objectively as possible, do you think he can make a smash record like Off The Wall or Thriller ever again?
I don’t think anybody can do that. Justin Timberlake can’t even do that. I don’t think he’s supposed to even do that. That’s what we talked about in the studio, like “Let’s not compete with you.” I mean, they don’t even make records anymore. Even if you came out with Thriller today, it won’t sell what it sold [then].

There is no release date yet for the album right?
Nope not yet, still early days.

How is it like working with him?
I can’t even explain it. Just hard, too be honest with you, it’s probably the hardest thing that I will ever have to do. Ever…

Why do you say that? As in what way, does he make the process hard?
Like first I have to let go that Thriller, Off The Wall etc ever existed. Then I have to try and pretend that this guy didn’t define half of the American TV and what you do with music videos and stuff like that. Then you go in the studio and this guy’s knowledge of the studio is absolutely crazy and I can sit there in the studio tweaking things for days and days and days. You know when you’re a perfectionist those are the dangers. A week passes and I’m still working on the drums. So that’s the hard part, being obsessed with getting it right. Once you start diving into tweaking; you can tweak and tweak and you end up just being all tweaked out.

Are you feeling the pressure working on both Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston’s Comeback albums?
The Whitney thing was probably one of the best experiences I have ever had in terms of people I’ve worked with. She was great. I felt like I was working with a lifelong friend, it was like working with Fergie. Whitney was just so cool and down to earth. She’s so dope.

Is her voice still up to standard?
What? Of course.

Ok I had to ask. Anyone else on the roster that you are particularly excited about working with?
Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Ludacris, Snoop...

So Wikipedia say’s that you’re also working on Hillary Duff’s new album?
Not Hillary Duff. They have a lot of weird stuff about me on there. They had that I’m Jamaican so I had to get them to change that then yesterday they had some other thing; so I’m like “Whatever”

So you really go on the Internet and Google yourself? A lot of artists claim they stay away from searching themselves on Google and blogs etc
Who me? Girl... I Google myself every day.

Ha Ha. I love it!
You got to. You got to see what’s out there and what people are saying. Even when they say bad things, you got to read it!

How do you take the bad stuff? A lot of artists get angry at bloggers?
It is what it is you know? I don’t know. I just read it. I read it for the experience; that’s what’s dope about it. Like say for a example this is 1970 and me and you are at a bar and a song came on the jukebox and I was drunk and you were drunk and you go [put’s on a British accent] “I hate this fucking song, it’s fucking shit”
Wow. I don’t know if I should take offence; I hope I don’t sound like that.
[Laughs] I know my imitation was terrible. But my point is; that this is the experience you’re getting on the net. People have always talked shit, people have always had those conversations but you can’t go to every bar and see what people are talking about, what people think; good or bad. The internet is like the Jukebox and worldwide people are having conversations about the music by leaving comments. So that’s why I go check it out. I just want to see what people are doing and enjoy the experience.

Do the comments ever help you?
Like I read people who say “I like the Black Eyed Peas first record, I liked them when they first came out, I don’t like there new stuff, I don’t like them no more, they sold out” and I think that’s dope. I’m glad they liked something.

I like your positive twist to it.
[Laughs] But yeah you can’t take anything like that seriously. We already have our circle of trust. That’s dangerous if you start trying to please everyone.

Talking about pleasing everyone... You’re very diverse in the fact you don’t just work in any one genre or style of music and produce for a variety of different acts...
Yeah I love music. I love Samba, I love Bossa Nova. I love French music. I love Soul. I love Rock. I love Hip-Hop. I love to rap. I love to sing. So to be able to produce a song like ‘Compton’ for Game and ‘Hip-Hop Is Dead’ for Nas and then ‘Big Girl’s Don’t Cry’ for Fergie then Macy Gray. I’m proud to be able to do that. I’m proud to have a Fergie song like ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’ and people ask me “Who produced that” and I go “I did” and they go “Really, you did? You produced that?” Like for example; Prince came up to me and goes [puts on a real deep voice] “I really Love ‘Big Girls Don’t Cry’. Who produced it?” and I’m like “Wow. Prince like’s it.”

Any plans to work with Prince?
No but I did perform with him at the 02 arena though which was dope.

So this interview may come out after the 11th but who you supporting 50 or Kanye?
[Laughs] People are treating it like it’s a presidential election. I look at it in two ways; it’s dope that there is so much excitement around two Hip-Hop album releases internationally, but I think the whole first week thing is the reason why music is disposable; Hip-Hop music especially. Like here’s an example; you have a hit song that comes out and it’s number one for like six weeks, but fast forward to four years time... People are not going to be singing “Ella, Ella, Ella” right? But take a song like ‘Beat It’ people still sing it. People still sing ‘Billie Jean’ People still sing ‘She’s Out Of My Life.’ Black Eyed Peas, we don’t care about the first week, but we would sell a constant 75,000 records a week for at least a year and then all those artists that outsell us the first week when we first came out, we out sold them in the long run. So I would just like Hip-Hop, the record companies and the press to celebrate and start congratulating things that sells consistently.

Do you feel the Black Eyed Peas get enough respect?
No not at all. As far as me being a Producer the press is great. With the Black Eyed Peas the press just give us ‘shit sandwiches.’ It’s like we’re running a marathon and we come first place and the press still give us a ‘shit sandwich’ and the person who comes last place or the person who run the marathon and shoots the people besides them or they don’t even run the marathon they cheat and they’re on someone else’s bike; the press treat them like heroes. We don’t even get any big press. Like we get no covers, we always get shitty reviews but at the same time we sell out arenas globally and go triple platinum. When I was working with Justin Timberlake he said to me that “Look Will; whenever you’re doing something different, it’s going to take a while for people to get on board. You just have to ride the storm and it will come.”
So do you feel the press only give artists who fit in their ideology of what Hip-Hop is good reviews?
I remember we were in London promoting ‘Ella Phunk’ and this journalist said to me [puts on British accent] “Do you consider yourself Hip-Hop” and I answered “Yes, I’m probably the most Hip-Hop cat you will ever meet” and he said “I doubt it”. Just blatantly like that, I mean wow! And now that same guy interviewed me yesterday and said to me [puts on British accent again] “The track you produced for Nas; is the best Hip-Hop track I’ve heard in years”. It’s like I think people have forgotten what Hip-Hop is. The people who make Hip-Hop know what Hip-Hop is, but the people who write about it only seem to know about the version of the current makers of it. The people who make it; know the history, they know that Kid’n’Play was just as relevant as Biggie Smalls. These days you can do something different and it doesn’t sell any records, then the press will be like “he’s a genius,” but then say you do something different and it blows to the roof and sells millions then they will be like “Man you’re garbage, you sold out, you’re pop.” So I don’t even worry about what the press say anymore.

But with the addition of Fergie and dumbed down lyrical content, to many you became predominately pop. Do you feel the need to validate yourself in the world of Hip-Hop?
See, I care but I don’t really care, because I know what I am. I know what got me into music and the things I’m inspired by. I know my capabilities as a beat maker, a producer, an MC and a dancer, and f**k it, a graffiti artist. The thing that saddens me is that there’s a flaw in Hip-Hop. Hip-Hop is the only culture that doesn’t keep the things relevant. In rock & roll, people are always talking about the clash, punk rock, and they keep their music relevant. Like, the only people benefiting from Public Enemy, sadly but true, is VH1. Sorry, that’s f***ed up. That ain’t nobody’s fault but Hip-Hop’s fault. Hip-Hop should be making all that loot. There should be a f***in’ Hip-Hop infrastructure. Hip-Hop has turned into a disposable lifestyle, where someone else profits from it.

Ok. Well let’s move on. Who do you consider being the top 5 artists in the music industry and you can put yourself where ever you like?

Michael Jackson, Prince, Stevie Wonder, John Legend and then Myself.

Ok. That’s interesting. So what about best producers?
Best Producers. Ok; Prince, Quincy Jones, Myself, Timbaland and then Pharrell.

So you consider yourself more a producer than an artist?
Well I think that is what my talent is. I consider myself a producer that can produce his own vocals.