mastaghostface's Full Review: Behind the Front [Clean] [Edited] by Black Eyed Pe...
I heard a song today. A song called “I Got A Feeling,” by Black Eyed Peas. And it was the worst piece of hip-pop filth that I had heard since “Boom Boom Pow”. And “Boom Boom Pow” had taken the “worst piece of hip-pop filth” title away from another song, “Party People”. And that song had snatched the title away from “Fergalicious”, and...
The point I’m making is that pretty much everything that the Black Eyed Peas have been doing in the last few years has been complete mainstream sewer waste.
And it’s kind of funny that an album like Behind the Front is where they started. Listening to them before Elephunk and after Bridging the Gap (B.E.P.’s sophomore effort) is like listening to two different groups. Where songs like “I Got a Feeling” posses a soul-less, chart-topping, mind-numbing retread of the worst parts of pop songs that you could blend together and serve in one repetitive, boring, uninspired mess (with absolutely no semblance of an ATTEMPT at a rapped verse), songs like “Head Bobs” (from Behind the Front) offer a fresh, organic mix of thumping drums, striking trumpets, muffled and menacing piano notes, to juxtapose against a sweetly strummed guitar and softly sung “la”’s to break up the tension, while “Communication” breezes through with some fun scatting over a driving guitar and bass over light drum hits and dangling keys. Let’s not forget the drums that pump you up on “Movement,” that is only helped by the buzzing bass line, and rising-falling guitar. During the verses for these three songs, Will.i.am, Apl.de.Ap, and Taboo handle their verses with fun cadences and furious words that rap against and represent the exact opposite of what the Black Eyed Peas would one day become.
Unlike the run-of-the-mill lost-“love” songs like “Don’t Phunk with My Heart” and “Don’t Lie” from Monkey Business, which boast uncreative lyrics like “no, no, no, no, baby, no, no, no, no, don’t lie” and “no, no, no, no, don’t mess with my heart”, mind you, two lyrics from two different songs that are so similar to each other (excluding the speed) that I actually thought one was a remix of the other, Behind the Front possesses lost-love songs like “Love Won’t Wait,” a beautifully produced track with banging drums that are laid against a lulling guitar, and a bass that samples it’s melody from a song that I can’t exactly place (but the way they utilize it here, they make it all their own), and a chorus with soul, using the smokey, “slow-burn blues” vocal talent of Macy Gray, aided by verses that one can actually sympathize with about two friends talking to each other about losing their girlfriends.
Another great thing that makes this album good is that Apl.de.ap and Taboo (the other rappers in the group) are more than just two guys that Will.i.am and Fergie use to fill up space when they are tired of singing. In fact, there’s even one or two songs where Will DOESN’T rap the first verse! And since Fergie’s not there to go first (you know, when Will doesn’t) that leaves us with a fun number like “Fallin’ Up,” a song where Taboo and Apl actually straight-up out shine Will with their verses, with lyrics like: “Focus on this, the ear seductionist/ More the lyricist in this rap metropolis,” laid over a sparse beat that doesn’t even want to be on billboards top 100, with dusty drums, twinkling keys, playful bass, and silent, funky trumpets that scream “intelligent underground music”.
The high-point of the album, though, has to be “Karma,” where we discover a funky, eerily-done beat that boasts a creepy guitar and piano combination that does a dance of death over strictly banging drums and bongos that just sounds like it was created in Jamaica, and it only helps the songs awesomeness with the chorus by Will who sings, simply, “Ain’t no runnin’ from, Karma, ain’t no runnin’!”. To bring it home, there’s a creepy use of that famous Blondie song when you hear “one way or another, it’s gonna find ya, it’s gonna gitcha!” The verses then revolve around how, well, there’s no escape from paying for your crimes. Peep:
I'm the caboose of the wrong doings you produce
The wild tail of the tornado running loose
...
The echo of the "F**k you" that boomerangs to hurt your loved
ones
The thief that held your son, held by ransom
...
You shot Tupac and Biggie
Now I'm coming after you [“U”] like V-W-X-Y-Z”
If there’s one song to listen to from this album, it’s this one.
Not that they couldn’t make party music, though. Even back then, they mostly were about partying, but it was handled in a more mature, lyrical way, with bangers like “Joints and Jams”with a catchy, “join along with the chant” chorus and a smooth, funky beat, complete with a fun drumbeat, inviting claps, happy xylophone and organ hits, and a cool bass to bring it all together. And they didn’t slouch with the lyrics either:
“they be actin' dumb from the cut that playin'
People break they neck from this demonstration
We about mass appeal, no segregation
Got Black to Asian and Caucasian sayin' “That’s the Joint!””
Now, I’m not saying that they were out-doing Eminem lyrically, because even back then, the goofy, sometimes straight-up stupid lyrics (“Whatever, double the W-I to the L-L/ For owning the extraterre-es-tre-el-el” "¿Que Dices?"), words that hardly rhyme (You got me feelin like I'm supposed to feel/ Just you and I, upclose and personee-al” “The Way U Make Me Feel"), and bad choruses (“too much lookie lookie lookie, too much watchie watchie wha, and you know I need some privacy,” “Clap Your Hands”) are still there. And I’m not going to lie: the only thing going for “The Way U Make Me Feel” is the admittedly lovely soul-funk of the beat (the Michael Jackson title rip-off doesn’t help, though). As well, I wouldn’t say that they were the best rap group to use live music (do I even need to say “The Roots”?), but overall, they could definitely do their job and regardless of the lyrical blemishes here and there, I think they really had something: they had a fun, intelligent album that could be enjoyed by mainstream and underground fans alike.
Unfortunately, “it” happened. And you know what I mean by “it”. And the end of the day, they’ve got to make money, they’ve got to eat, and when one is at the end of their contract and about to be dropped from their label (like B.E.P. was) they had to do something. So when I hear horrible songs like the ones that kept “Elephunk” from getting anything above a three star review from me, I really do understand why they are making such “shooting for the top 10" music. Shoot, “Monkey Business” is their highest-selling album (10 million units), with the biggest single being “My Humps” (a song that, I may add, was written in under five minutes). As well, their new album seems to be dominating the charts, with “Boom Boom Pow”leading their album to go platinum, I believe. I can’t find how much Behind the Front sold, so that’s probably not a good sign. As well, it’s further evidence that, as much as people may complain that they are sell-outs, at the end of the day, they are making that money, and that’s what happens. You either try to make good music, and no one buys it, or you make music that is horrible, because you’re tired of not eating, and everyone buys it, but hates you for selling out. It’s a hard decision, but they made theirs. And let’s not lie: if they hadn’t chosen it, we would probably be saying, “dang, what happened to that group that made two good albums and disappeared?”
I’m not sure if this is a review or an analysis on the evolution of the Black Eyed Peas right now. Though I will say this: if you know a group that you feel is being true to themselves and making good music, then please, for all that it’s worth: SUPPORT THEM!
1. "Fallin' Up" (Featuring Sierra Swan and Planet Swan) (3 out of 5)
2. "Clap Your Hands" (Featuring Dawn Beckman) (2 out of 5)
3. "Joints & Jam" (4 out of 5)
4. "The Way U Make Me Feel" (3 out of 5)
5. "Movement" (5 out of 5)
6. "Karma" (Featuring Einstein Brown) (5 out of 5)
7. "Be Free" (4 out of 5)
8. "Say Goodbye" N/A
9. "Duet" (Featuring Red Foo) (3 out of 5)
10. "Communication" (4 out of 5)
12. "What It Is" (5 out of 5)
13. "¿Que Dices?" (2 out of 5)
14. "A8" (3 out of 5)
15. "Love Won't Wait" (Featuring Macy Gray) (3 out of 5)
16. "Head Bobs" (5 out of 5)
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