THE BLACK EYED PEAS - The E.N.D.
THE BLACK EYED PEAS - The E.N.D.
Written by Luke Oram   
Tuesday, 15 September 2009 16:45
The Black Eyed Peas - The E.N.D. To their credit, THE BLACK EYED PEAS never made any claims of grandeur about their new album. To do so; would be like saying Fergie’s biggest assets are her eyes. I bet you can’t even tell me what colour her eyes are. Thought so.

Will.I.Am was pretty clear about what he was after when it came to 'THE E.N.D.' – a collection of non-cerebral disco joints inspired by a particularly heavy bout of nightclubbing in Australia (true story; Australia knows how to party). The 5th album from the BEP drops the funk in favour of electro mashups and future discothèque. Or as Will.I.Am eloquently proclaims in ‘Boom Boom Pow’ – “I be rocking dem BEATS!”
Fans of the French dance duo Justice will be feeling a little déjà vu in the opening bars of 'Rock That Body', a tight, synth-heavy jam complete with heavily auto-tuned hooks. Man, does Will.I.Am have a penchant for auto-tune. Bet he’d marry auto-tune, if it wasn’t illegal. Having pleased the ravers with the first two tracks, it’s time for a pop-synth slow-jam in the form of 'Meet Me Halfway', where Fergie gets all sexy like she does, pining for your body to report to the dancefloor (You? Yes, you.), over fuzzed out guitars and riffing synths.

'Imma Be' sees the Peas shedding pesky syllables (this is a disco album not a thesaurus) and trading raps over a deconstructed hip-hop canvas. I like to think of the album’s smash hit 'I Gotta Feeling', as an electronic version of U2’s 'Where the Street’s Have No Name' – you can hear it now, can’t you? Now that I’ve mentioned it? The track’s become an anthem for Friday Nights Out and neon-paint-soaked faux lesbian-parties across the globe. It sums up the BEP ethic – nothing smart, just insistent beats and dancefloor jump-abouts. However, the Pea’s should take note – keeping it real with your lyrics can be dangerous – the wider Jewish community have taken exception to that super-banging chorus line; “Fill up my cup, Mazel Tov – look at her dancing, just take it off!” – here’s an angry Jew’s take:

“Thanks for taking a phrase that we Jews like to use at sacred events and rhyming it with the desire to see a dancing skank get naked. Remind me to scream out “Christ is King” next time I’m being propositioned by a tranny hooker.”

Ouch Peas. Where is the love?

'THE E.N.D.' makes no pretentions about being anything other than a decent party album. Despite a few ill-informed foray into political ballads (“Terrorize the funk, call me Bootsy Al-Queda”) and syrupy We Are The World’s (‘One tribe’), it’s got the beats to get your booty on the tiles. Ahem. If you’re looking for poetic lyrics, go get a Bob Dylan L.P, if you want to shake your sugar, 'The E.N.D.' is a good place to start.
 

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