The Black Eyed Peas date back to3 1989 when will.i.am and apl.de.ap met and began performing together around Los Angeles. They called their band Atban Klann. In 1995 Atban Klann became known as Black Eyed Pods. Then, they became the Black Eyed Peas, named so because—as will.i.am explained on the front cover of the Monkey Business album—“Black Eyed Peas are food for the soul”.
Unlike many hip-hop acts, they chose to perform with a live band and adopted a musical and clothing style that differed wildly from the Gangsta Rap4 sounds of other Los Angeles-based hip-hop acts at the time. A third member, Taboo, later joined to help the hip hop group quickly became a known presence on the L.A. college music circuit. In 1997 Interscope Records—liking their fresh mix of hip hop, R&B, jazz, funk5 and soul—awarded them a record contract.
A year later, BEP's debut6 album Behind the Front had good reviews and the group continued to tour impressing audiences with their expert live performances and vocals7 provided by Kim Hill. Their second album, Bridging the Gap, was released in 2000. The group's third album, 2003's Elephunk featured8 a new member, Fergie, who replaced Kim Hill. Elephunk was a breakthrough album for BEP, giving them a level of success not achieved by any other hip-hop group. Their accomplishments are: 7.5 million albums sold worldwide, 4 Grammy nominations, 1 Grammy award, and an unforgettable performance on the 2005 broadcast.
Monkey Business is their fourth album released in 2005. Recently, the group took home an award at the 2006 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Performance. The hip-hop quartet9 hit Hong Kong, Beijing and Shanghai in July as part of their Monkey Business Tour.
Interview
Q: How did The Black Eyed Peas...“get it started?”
will.i.am: I was in the ninth grade and I met apl. And we started rappin' together. Then we met Taboo. We eventually signed with Interscope and put out records. Then we started recording Elephunk. The songs that we wrote were real party songs and then, 9.11 hit, so we changed. We went in and dug deep and got real serious and came out with a jewel like “Where Is The Love?” Then Taboo and I were writing a song called “Shut Up.” Taboo's like, “This song kind of sounds like maybe we ought to put a girl on it.” So then a friend of ours introduced us to Fergie. We were all blown away by her vocal capabilities. She couldn't only just sing, but she had knowledge of music.
Q: You guys are all such unique individuals. How would you describe what each one of you brings to make up11 the magic of The Black Eyed Peas?
Taboo: First and foremost12, Fergie is the voice when it comes to melody and harmonies13 and everything that stands to be a voice. Then, she's the looks, the style.
Fergie: Taboo, he's that, you know, the Latin lover, of the band. He's got this mysterious kind of thing going on with him. You never really know everything about him. He's an amazing performer.
will.i.am: Apl is like when you plug an appliance14 into electricity and you got buzz, and it's got buzz. Then somebody says “hey, why don't you ground15 that?”And you put a little ground on it and then it's a clean circuit. He's our ground. He's like the heart of the group.
apl.de.ap: will.i.am, he's definitely got the leadership, the integrity16 in him. He's the hardest working man that I know.
Q: So how does it feel to be the headliner17 of the Honda Civic Tour?
will.i.am: It's big. It's all coming back to little dreams that you had when you were younger. We were never able to get the Hondas at the time. But here we are headlining a Honda Civic tour. So for us, it shows you that if you really try hard and don't give up, you can surpass the dreams you've had beyond anything you can believe.
Q: Why do you think your music has such universal appeal?
will.i.am: We try to use different genres18 of music and music that influences us, not just hip-hop, but reggae19, folk, songs from the Philippines. Hip-hop is the background and we just try to add all these elements to it.
Q: So, what do you guys like to do in your free time?
will.i.am: I like going to the studio. I'm a workaholic20. I don't know how to take vacations.
apl.de.ap: Watch movies. Go to amusement parks21.
Taboo: I spend quality time22 with my son, 'cause I'm gone constantly so I try to balance that.
Fergie: I just like to be with my family. We stayed up until 4:30 in the morning on Thanksgiving, watching home videos and reminiscing23 about old times. I like doing normal things like heating up things in the microwave and cooking.
Q: What else can we expect for the future of The Black Eyed Peas?
will.i.am: Fergie's album is on hot sale.
Taboo: I actually am participating in a film coming out on Sony Pictures. It's called Dirty.
will.i.am: I did a remix24 for a song on The Rolling Stones album called, “Rain Fall Down.” And I'm producing Justin Timberlake's record as well as Macy Gray's record. I just finished that, it's coming out in 2007 as well. And I'm just working—work as much as I can on different projects.
apl.de.ap: I'm going to be making a Filipino album, and I'm also trying to discover other Filipino artists from the Philippines.
提到黑眼豆豆，要从1989年说起。那时威尔和阿帕德普相遇，并一起在洛杉矶附近演出。他们称自己的乐队为“Atban Klann”（是 A Tribe Beyond A Nation的缩写）。1995年Atban Klann更名为“黑眼豆荚”。之后又改名为“黑眼豆豆”，如此命名是因为——像威尔在《猴子把戏》专辑封面上所解释的那样——“黑眼豆豆是灵魂的养料。”
与许多嘻哈表演不同的是，他们选择乐队现场演出，采用的音乐风格与演出服装跟同时期发源于洛杉矶的其他嘻哈表演，如匪帮说唱相比，截然不同。第三位成员坦布后来加入，帮助这支嘻哈乐队在洛杉矶大学音乐圈中迅速窜红。1997年，主流唱片公司——对他们融合嘻哈、R&B、爵士、放克及灵歌的音乐创举情有独钟——授予他们一份唱片合同。
一年后，黑眼豆豆的首张专辑《前方之后》好评如潮，乐队继续巡回演出，凭借专业的现场表演和金·希尔的和声给观众留下了深刻印象。他们2000年推出第二张专辑《跨越鸿沟》。第三张专辑《热力大象》2003年发行，新成员菲姬取代了金·希尔成为卖点。《热力大象》是黑眼豆豆的突破之作，赋予他们其他嘻哈乐队难以企及的成功。他们的骄人战绩为：全球专辑销量750万张，4项格莱美提名，1项格莱美奖，2005年电台中表演引起的令人难忘的轰动。
《猴子把戏》是他们的第四张专辑，发行于2005年。最近，这支乐队又将2006年格莱美最佳说唱表演奖捧回了家。2006年7月，这个嘻哈四人组在《猴子把戏》巡回演唱会中的香港、北京和上海站掀起热潮。
人物访谈
问：黑眼豆豆是怎样“组建起来”的？
威尔：我读九年级时遇到了阿帕，于是我们开始一起说唱。接着我们碰到了坦布。我们最终与主流公司签约并出了唱片。后来我们开始录制《热力大象》。我们创作的实际上是一些派对歌曲。9.11袭击事件发生后，我们便改变了曲风。我们走进这个事件，非常严肃地挖掘更深层次的东西，最终做出了《爱在何方》这样的珍品。随后我和坦布创作了歌曲《闭嘴》。坦布说：“这首歌听起来似乎该加个女声了。”于是一位朋友将菲姬介绍给我们。我们都被她的唱功所折服。她不只会唱，还很懂音乐。
问：你们每个人都个性十足。请说说看，你们各自都贡献了什么，才打造出如此魅力十足的黑眼豆豆?
坦布: 首先，当谈及旋律、和声以及所有为一个声音服务的东西时，菲姬就是那个主唱。其次，她是形象，是时尚。
菲姬：坦布，你知道，他是乐队中的拉丁乐爱好者。他身上总有这种神秘的东西。你永远不可能真正了解他的一切。他是一个相当棒的艺人。
威尔：阿帕就像当你把电器插入电源，你听到了蜂鸣声，发现电器在嗡嗡作响。于是有人说：“嗨，你为何不把它接地？”于是你将它接上一段地线，从而形成一个通路。他就是我们的地线。他是乐队的核心人物。
阿帕：威尔，他确实有领导才能，且为人正直。他是我认识的人中最努力的一个。
问：身为“本田城市巡回演唱会”的宣传明星感想如何？
威尔：它的规模很大，让人感觉仿佛回到了年轻时候的梦想中。那时候我们绝对买不起本田汽车。但是现在我们成了"本田城市巡回演唱会"的红角。所以对我们来说，这一切正好说明，如果你真正努力，永不言弃，你就能在任何方面超越你所能想象的梦想。
问：你认为你们的音乐为何具有如此广泛的吸引力？
威尔：我们尝试使用不同的音乐类型以及对我们有影响的音乐，不仅是嘻哈，还有雷吉乐、民谣和菲律宾歌曲。嘻哈是基础，我们尝试着在其中加入所有这些元素。
问：那你们空闲时喜欢做什么？
威尔：我喜欢去录音棚。我是一个工作狂，不知如何休假。
阿帕：看电影，到游乐园玩。
坦布：我会花一些时间全身心地陪儿子。因为我经常不在他身边，所以要尽力平衡一下。
菲姬：我只想和我的家人在一起。我们在感恩节会熬到凌晨4：30，一边看家庭录像，一边回忆过去。我喜欢做一些家务活，如用微波炉加热食物、烹饪。
问：对于黑眼豆豆的将来我们会有新的惊喜吗？
威尔：菲姬的个人专辑正在热销中。
坦布：事实上我正在参与索尼影视公司出品的一部电影，它名叫《污点》。
威尔：我曾为滚石乐队的专辑《雨不停下》做过混音，并一直忙于录制贾斯汀·汀布莱克和梅西·格雷的唱片。目前刚刚录制完，计划于2007年推出。我只是不停地工作——尽我所能地在各方面施展才华。
阿帕：我准备录制一张菲律宾语专辑，同时也尽力从菲律宾发掘其他菲律宾艺人。
2. the likes of 像这样的人/事
3. date back to 回溯到
4. Gangsta Rap匪帮说唱是说唱的一种，其内容多与都市犯罪有关。80年代末在美国兴起，不少乐手确实参与各种犯罪，可说是真正反映现实、令人触目惊心的乐种。
5. funk 一种乡土音乐，综合了爵士乐、布鲁斯和爵士灵歌的特点。
6. debut n. 首次登场，首次露面
7. vocal n. 声乐作品
9. quartet n. 四重奏，四重唱
10. blow away 吹走，倾倒
11. make up 补足，拼凑
13. harmony n. 和声
14. appliance n. 用具，用器
15. ground v. 使接地
16. integrity n. 正直；诚实
17. headliner n. 受到大力宣传的演员；明星
18. genre n. 类型，流派
19. reggae n. 雷吉乐（西印度群岛的一种舞蹈及舞曲）
20. workaholic n. 工作狂
21. amusement park 游乐园
22. quality time 高品质时光
23. reminisce [?謣remi?謖nis] v. 回忆
24. remix [?謖ri?蘼?謖miks] n. 混音
25. glamorous [?謖gl?覸m?藜r?藜s] adj. 富有魅力的，迷人的
26. come a long way 有很大进步，有很大改进
27. variety show 综艺节目
28. gal=girl