[APPLAUSE] Yo, yo, yo, yo. What’s happening? Welcome to the show. Yeah, let me get
everybody’s name. will.i.am. What’s up, y’all. This Taboo Nawasha. This apl.de.ap. Kim Hill, featured vocalist. All right. How would you describe
the whole Black Eyed Peas musical concept? [MUSIC PLAYING] Yeah, they got rid
of the black girl that they never made
a part of the band, and then they got
the white girl. They made her a part,
and they blew up. It’s like, no, that’s
not how it happened. L.A. in the ’90s — there was so much tension
in Los Angeles. The narratives of hip-hop
got to be far more violent, bitches and hoes. The subject matter typically
came down to a woman hoing herself
for a ride home. The damage that comes from
the incessant, repetitive, mindless violence that
permeates our media all the time — [APPLAUSE] By now, you’ve
got Dre and Pac. They were really
speaking the truth. Their friends were
drug dealers or pimps. This was real stuff. It was still jarring, though. [GUNSHOTS] A lot of the music in the
rap, it was very degrading. And my 20-year-old self
knew that it was degrading, but the beats were so
crazy and when you walked in the club and it’s
like (RAPPING) 1, 2, 3 and to the 4,
(SPEAKING) you’re like I — everybody, you know. And you listen to the
lyrics, you’re like, well, I know I’m not a bitch,
so he can’t be talking to me. I grew up in
Syracuse, New York. My first memory
of music, I just would sit in front of the
TV when “Soul Train” was on, it was like, I’m here
for every bit of it. [MUSIC PLAYING] Best part of “Soul Train”
was the Soul Train line. Then another
segment of the show where there was
at least one act so it could be Elton John,
David Bowie, Stevie Wonder. I want to get on “Soul Train.” That was the coolest
show to be on. My mother was a single mom. Yet my life was privileged. We were black kids growing
up in the white suburbs, so I always kind of code
switched kind of right in the middle of
those two worlds, praying that those two
worlds would never collide. And I remember
my 16th birthday, and my mother was like,
we can't have two parties. So what are we going to do? I remember being terrified. I was hiding out
at my own party. I didn’t want my
black friends to be like why you talking like
that and my white friends to be like who’s that? My mother — I was talking,
and I was telling her a story. And it was very much like
and you know and like and I don't even like —
my mom would stop. Where’s your voice? Where are you? Syracuse did not
have black radio. We didn’t have access to it. I always wanted that
space to write music from my vantage point. So I’m moving to L.A.
to get a record deal. [MUSIC PLAYING] Oh, shit. It has to work out. Although I needed like food and
whatever else, I was like, I’m taking head shots. Getting on a bus at
4:00 in the morning when it’s pitch black dark
from Culver City to deep in the valley — deep valley — I took head
shots, and it was like, I started working. Now let’s go to work. Fine. I landed on "Living Single,"
whatever the shows were. You get your 50 bucks, and people
would see these shows where I was walking around as a
background actor, extra, and they’d be
like, you made it. I’m like, I didn’t eat. I had a showcase for BMI. I get on stage,
and I do my thing. This kid walks up,
and he’s like, I think you really dope. We should write
music together. Just the most — just a little
precious little somebody. So I was like,
where’s your mom? Oh, my name is will.i.am,
and, I’m Taboo Nawasha. I’m apl.de.ap. We’re the Black Eyed Peas. Like the food? Oh. Will had a few songs
set to play for me, and the first one he played
I was like, I love it. I saw that discipline and the
ideas that came out of him. I was like, oh, shit. Let me get my — hold on. Let me sharpen my pencil. And so I immediately
had respect for him, and I started
writing something. And this was — the hook was
like (SINGING) every day and all night, I dream
of holding you tight. (SINGING) Crazy
as it may seem, you’re all that I
ever need, baby. Something in the way
you make me feel. (RAPPING) You got me feeling
like I’m supposed to feel. (SINGING) Feel. (RAPPING) You got me feeling
like I'm supposed to feel. (SINGING) Feel. [MUSIC FADING] That was — it was
enhanced by us having this, like, big sister, little
brother kind of thing. You’re one of us. You’re coming along
on this ride with us. [INAUDIBLE] love and kisses,
we’d like to say thank you to the Black Eyed Peas
for being on the tour. Making this music and
people were buying it. We’re selling
out small venues, and we’re opening for
everybody from Eminem and No Doubt to OutKast. We kinda couldn’t believe that
our brand of hip-hop was being embraced. Hip-hop is progressive. It started to regress
at one point in time. So we took it in our duties
to progress it again. We were happy at
a time in hip-hop where it really wasn’t
O.K. to just be happy. This whole L.A. underground
movement, they really loved us. I did not feel
like there would be pressure to be anybody
other than myself. (RAPPING) My name
is apl.de.ap. (RAPPING) My name
is Taboo Nawasha. (RAPPING) My name
is will.i.am. (RAPPING) And we
the Black Eyed Peas. That’s the joint. That’s the jam. Turn it up and play it again. But these three, we
rock the House of Blues, and then they got to go
back to East L.A. with gangs and uncles in jail. And I was in my
two-bedroom apartment with my quirky roommate
living in Hollywood, like, looking at
a hair magazine. Let me — if I put enough
coconut oil on my ends, I can shake it out,
and it’s all crinkly. Like, you know. [APPLAUSE] From right here
in Los Angeles, let’s meet a mad
magnificent rap crew as they join us to
do their latest single. The song on the Interscope
label’s titled "Joints and Jams." They’re known
as Black Eyed Peas. When we were asked to
“Soul Train,” I was pinching myself. Wow. (SINGING) [INAUDIBLE] People on “Soul
Train” would lip sync. (RAPPING) That’s the jam. Turn it up, and
play it again. We were like no way. We don’t sing to track,
and it was this big deal. (SINGING) It’s the jam. It’s the jam. It’s the groove. It’s the feeling. Will looked in camera
and just stop singing. (RAPPING) Overseas
London out-of-town shit. Overseas London
out-of-town shit. And you heard the track
going to make it clear we ain’t really singing this. That was his way
of making a point, you know? [APPLAUSE] How would you describe
the whole Black Eyed Peas musical concept? Musical concept
as you can see we — we’re really very animated. I feel we put our
personalities first before any gimmick and before
any, you know, materialism. The band was very
specific about how we were looked at and
received by people and being purists, which
is why once it started — the pressure started coming
to like, soften it up and make it super commercial was
like, we’re not really going to do that, are we? And the guys were
like, you don’t have to go back to East L.A.
if this doesn't work out. [MUSIC PLAYING] There was new management now,
so it’s a whole different set of expectations and pressure. It just started to
get clumsy and messy. You want me to grind on
will.i.am in a bathing suit. That was being asked of
me, never by the guys. That was happening from
an executive level. How far out on this plank
do you want me to go? The tug of war was
about my sexuality and how much of that I was
willing to like, literally strip down. I never wanted
to be objectified while doing my music. Where’s your voice? Where are you? This really deep brother-,
sisterhood was starting to get affected
by the machine. I didn’t want that
burden on my shoulders. So I wrote a letter to
management and said, “Nope.” I quit and I had my website, and
I trademarked my stuff. And I was on the road, too. It was inescapable. Oprah was like the coolest
band on the planet. I was like, no, no, no, no. The Black Eyed Peas! Oh my God! It was — I couldn’t
go anywhere. With three Grammys and more
than 27 million albums sold worldwide,
the Black Eyed Peas are way ahead of their time. (RAPPING) I’m so 3008
You so 2000 and late. [MUSIC PLAYING] (SINGING) I got a feeling
that tonight’s gonna be a good night, that tonight’s
gonna be a good night, that tonight’s gonna
be a good, good night. I was going through
a separation. And I turn on the TV, and
I saw Will was so happy. And I was like,
whoa, he did it. And I called. And I was like, I just — I’m away. I’m going through a tough
time, and I saw you on TV. And you were happy. And I just need you to
know I’m happy for you. You did it. He spilled, and he was
like I really miss you. It’s different. And I just knew we’d be fine. No one handed them anything. They worked their asses off. They deserve it. They deserve it. Fergie and I have never met. She’s never done
anything to me. She didn’t take
anything from me. What I do feel
like is if we ever met it would be like
an embrace with a hug and a deep breath because I
think we just kind of know something about being that female
in that construct, and that is — it’s tough. But I was there for
that part of hip-hop. That was kind of the last of it. You know? And … it’s like — no one
can ever take that. It’s O.K. that it’s
not wrapped up in a bow with platinum records
and a big house. I have my happy. [MUSIC PLAYING] [INAUDIBLE]
Endless respect for that musician, takes a lot to walk away from something like that.
"Where's your voice? Where are you?" - Parenting poetry
Black eyed peas was actually a good hip hop group before fergie
"You don't have to go back to East L.A. if this doesn't work out" That line completely changed the way I feel about BEP and their departure into rap-pop.
The camera placement for her dialogue is really effective and instantly had me feel like it's a one on one conversation. Haven't recognized it from other interviews. Does anyone know if that particular shot has a name?
Watched this the other day and the editing was amazing in this.
No black radio in Syracuse?!?! Yes there was. My grandmother lived down the street from her. 107.9, 100.1, shit even 93Q played NWA and that was a rock station.
Thanks for posting, really interesting stuff.
"The Corporate party was wretched. I am so tired of the Black Eyed Peas. It's rock and roll for people who don't like rock and roll, it's rap for people who don't like rap, it's pop for people who don't like pop."