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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Friday, July 22, 2005

My view: "Monkey Business" by Black Eyed Peas

By Jeremy Castillo
Special to The Advertiser

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CD: "Monkey Business" by Black Eyed Peas; A&M Records.

Released: June 7.

Style: Hip-hop/funk.

Rewind: "Gone Going," "Disco Club," "They Don't Want," "Don't Phunk With My Heart."

Skip: "My Humps," "Pump it Up."

My take: Hip-hop artists Taboo, will.i.am. and apl.de.ap. formed the Black Eyed Peas in 1995 along with back-up vocalist Kim Hill. Together, they put out solid hip-hop albums that were exalted in the underground scene and by music critics. Despite the Peas' talent for music and production that most others in the genre simply don't have, mainstream audiences were mostly unaware of the group's existence, except for the minor hit "Request Line," a song with Macy Gray as a guest vocalist.

In 2003, after more than two years in production at studios all over the world, the Peas released its third album, "Elephunk," with new vocalist Stacy Ferguson, aka Fergie, replacing Hill. The album was a smash, spawning four huge hits: "Where is the Love," featuring Justin Timberlake, "Shut Up," "Hey Mama" and "Let's Get it Started," which became the official song of the 2004 NBA season. "The APL Song," featuring a chorus sung in Tagalog, was also a hit but not as big as the other four.

With "Monkey Business," the group continues its funk-fused brand of hip-hop, but instead of sticking solely to what made it a success, it decided to tweak its sound even further, changing gears toward pop and using typical hip-hop techniques such as an unapologetic amount of sampling. "Gone Going" is a good example of this — it uses local boy Jack Johnson's song "Gone" quite liberally, to the point where Johnson's voice is heard more than any Peas member.

The most blatant sample is on the intro track, "Pump It," featuring the opening riff of "Misirlou" by Dick Dale and His Del-Tones — a song made famous in this generation by the film "Pulp Fiction" — creating the most obvious use of a rock intro in a rap song ever.

Another common practice in hip-hop that the Peas adopted is the use of guest stars. Timberlake appears on "My Style," Sting and Branford Marsalis on "Union" (which also borrows music and spoken-word recordings of the late Bob Marley), and the Godfather of Soul himself, James Brown, is on "They Don't Want Music." None of the guest appearances really helps the songs; most of the time it feels as though the appearances are being used as crutches.

On the whole, "Monkey Business" has the feel of a novice dart player trying to hit a bulls-eye: Some darts get real close, others not quite, others miss the dartboard altogether. The track "My Humps" hits a poster on the wall. Here, Fergie attempts to be a coy, tempting sexpot but fails utterly, spewing lyrics like "My hump (repeat nine times)/my lovely lady lumps." It's the most embarrassing female rap I've ever heard short of Kelis' "Milkshake."

Considering how innovative and refreshing "Elephunk" was, it is disappointing to see "Monkey Business" so bereft of any of those qualities. Still, there is no doubt that this will be a best-selling album for weeks, if not months, to come. I can only hope the next effort will actually have something behind it.