William James Adams Jr, (born March 15, 1975), better known by his
stage name Will.i.am (will-i-am) and occasionally by his other stage
name Zuper Blahq, is an American rapper, musician, songwriter, singer,
actor, producer, and Director of Creative Innovation for Intel. Will.i.am
came to prominence in the 1990s as a member of the hip hop group
The Black Eyed Peas along with rappers apl.de.ap and Taboo and R&B
singer Fergie. As a music producer, he has produced with other artists
including Michael Jackson, U2, Cheryl Cole, Daddy Yankee and Usher.
Will.i.am was born and raised in the projects of East Los Angeles,
California.[2] He never met his father,[3] William Adams, Sr., and
grew up with his mother, Debra,[4][5] who encouraged him to be unique
and to avoid conforming to the tendencies of the other youth in his
East L.A. neighborhood. She encouraged him to begin working on his
musical career by sending him to school in Pacific Palisades.[3]
While attending Palisades Charter High School, will.i.am became best
friends with Allan Lindo (stage name apl.de.ap), who also became
a future member of The Black Eyed Peas. While still in high school,
will.i.am and apl.de.ap performed in East L.A. clubs and were soon
joined by three other entertainers to form the socially conscious
rap group, Atban Klann. Atban Klann caught the eye of Compton rapper
Eazy-E and was signed to his label, Ruthless Records, in 1991.
Will.i.am used to attend raves while in high school, and claims
that his history with rave culture is why he chose a more electro
sound for The Black Eyed Peas' albums The E.N.D. and The Beginning.
Despite the use of electro and house music elements, will.i.am prefers
to separate the underground from pop in order to maintain the theory
that rave music is for esoterics of rave culture (such persons are
otherwise known as 'ravers'). In an article with Los Angeles Times,
he mentions that secrecy over the whereabouts of raves is what made
raving special, and different from the mainstream.[6]
[edit] Career
[edit] Music career
Will.i.am performing with the Black Eyed Peas in June 2009
When William (will.i.am) was 16 years old, he started rapping in
late 1991 under the name "Will-1X" after being discovered
by Compton rapper and former N.W.A. leader Eazy-E and signed a deal
to Eazy's Ruthless Records. Will.i.am's first rap song was "Merry
Muthafuckin' Xmas" from Eazy-E's 1992 EP 5150: Home 4 tha Sick.
Shortly after Eazy-E's death in 1995, Will left Ruthless to start
a group that would later be called The Black Eyed Peas.
Will.i.am was featured in 2004, singing "Secrets" on Dexter's
Laboratory: The Hip-Hop Experiment for Dexter's Laboratory on Cartoon
Network.will.i.am is featured in Flo Rida's debut album, Mail on
Sunday, on the song "In The Ayer", and on Usher's album,
Here I Stand, on the song, "What's Your Name".
In September 2007, will.i.am's record label Universal Music Group
decided on a pilot scheme to reward file sharing with cash incentives,
which included tracks from his latest solo album, Songs About Girls.[7]
In 2006 Will.i.am was contacted by Michael Jackson. He wanted Will
to produce his new album. They recorded until the singers death in
2009. Will has said that he will not release any of the music that
they recorded, stating that Michael would not want unfinished songs
released. However the song Fly Girl was intended for Michael Jackson,
but instead released on Will.i.am's 2007 album Songs About Girls.[citation
needed]
In 2008, will.i.am was hired by Michael Jackson to produce and remix
some songs for the Thriller re-release, Thriller 25. Also in 2008,
will.i.am contributed the song, "One People", to the Survival
International charity album, Songs for Survival.[8][9]
[[[Zuper Blahq]]] is a pseudonym for electro house work will.i.am
has released,[10] who has had one solo release and one collaboration
with Steve Aoki on the single "I'm In The House", which
charted at #29 on the UK Singles Chart. The music promo for this
single was released September 2009, directed by James Sutton.[11]
In 2009, will.i.am worked with rappers Flo Rida and Akon on Flo
Rida's new album, R.O.O.T.S.. He co-created a girl group in 2007
called the Paradiso Girls, who are signed to Geffen/Interscope Records.
The group debuted in 2009. Will.i.am also recorded four tracks with
Girls Aloud member Cheryl Cole for her debut solo album 3 Words.
Two of these tracks were also released as singles, the title track
and Heartbreaker. Will.i.am. appears on two tracks, "Heaven" and "Boy
Like You". He also worked with Rihanna on her Rated R album
on a track called "Photographs".
will.i.am appeared in the We Are the World 25 for Haiti music video.
He is previewed in the video/song "OMG" (2010) by Usher.
He performed at the annual Electric Daisy Carnival in June 2010.[12]
In October 2010, Will.i.am appeared on ITV1's popular TV show the
X Factor as a celebrity guest judge to Cheryl Cole, when it came
to the stage of the judges' houses. Here he helped the Girls Aloud
singer decide who would go through to the live shows.
In a YouTube video posted by YGLifeOfficial on March 15, 2010, will.i.am
expressed his desire to work with and help k-pop girl group 2NE1
achieve international success. He later produced many songs and recorded
with them in his own studio in Los Angeles and also in a London studio.[13]
He also sang with Cher Lloyd on the X Factor, on December 11, 2010,
before she finally left the show in fourth place and has recorded
a duet with the singer.
In January 2011, a new music video directed by Jam Sutton, entitled "Dance",
was released under his electro pseudonym, [[[Zuper Blahq]]], with
the music video featuring Natalia Kills, who also had a brief vocal
role in the song.
[edit] Acting career
will.i.am first started acting alongside the rest of the members
of The Black Eyed Peas in the commercial series "Instant Def" to
advertise Snickers.[14] He starred in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
as the voice of the character Moto Moto. He contributed a number
of tracks to the movie's motion picture soundtrack in collaboration
with industry heavyweight Hans Zimmer. Will.i.am played John Wraith
in his major film debut, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a prequel to the
X-Men film series. He also guest starred on the CBS drama Joan of
Arcadia as God, one of several actors who played this role during
the series.
will.i.am played a fathering role in The Urbz: Sims In The City,
which uses The Black Eyed Peas' songs as its soundtrack. He briefly
played himself in the Tina Fey and Steve Carell Comedy Date Night.
[edit] Fashion
Before joining The Black Eyed Peas, will.i.am attended the Fashion
Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles. In 2001,
he began designing his own signature clothing line, i.am, which made
its official debut in 2005 at the Magic Apparel Trade Show in Las
Vegas.[15] In 2007, will.i.am teamed up with Blue Holdings to design
a premium denim collection, i.am Antik, that was scheduled to debut
in August 2007 at the Project Show in Las Vegas.[16] will.i.am instead
has new partners and is launching i.am clothing at Project Las Vegas
in September 2009. Will.i.am has also designed clothing for The Black
Eyed Peas. At the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards Will.i.am wore an all
black outfit and black makeup which caused a number of people, including
Reverend Run, to complain that by blacking up Will had sent black
people back 100 years. Will refuted the claims on twitter.
[edit] Other
Will.i.am Speaking at the 2011 First kickoff with Dean Kamen.
Will.i.am appeared at the kickoff event for the 2011 FIRST Robotics
Competition, Logomotion.[17] He stated the he is "a big fan",
and that the newly unveiled game was "dope". During his
interview, he said that "his mama will work with yo mama".
The world's largest chipmaker, Intel Corp., said will.i.am will
become a creative director, contributing music and helping in the
development of devices such as smartphones, laptops and tablets.[18]
As a “director of creative innovation”, Will.i.am is
responsible to improve the sales in the company. The collaboration
and co-development with Will.i.am and Intel on these products will
provide new modern music that will create trends in the technological
world. Will.i.am states that there will be “new ways to communicate,
create, inform and entertain..." According to Intel, this relationship
will bring the technology and entertainment industry together. It
is very important to attract the youth culture. [19]
[edit] Political advocacy
Will.i.am with Sheryl Crow and Herbie Hancock performing We Are One:
The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial concert.
In January 2008, will.i.am wrote a song, "Yes We Can",
in support of the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign of Barack Obama,
which became a music video directed by Jesse Dylan. The lyrics of
the song are composed almost entirely of excerpts from Obama's speech
on January 8, 2008, following the New Hampshire presidential primary
election. The video features appearances from numerous celebrities
including Scarlett Johansson, Tatyana Ali, John Legend, Herbie Hancock,
Kate Walsh, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Adam Rodríguez, Kelly Hu,
Hill Harper, Amber Valletta, Eric Balfour, Aisha Tyler, Nicole Scherzinger,
Nick Cannon, Bryan Greenberg, and Common and first appeared on the
website for Dipdive. The video racked up three million views within
a week and over four million subsequently on YouTube. On June 13,
2008, "Yes We Can" won an award at the 35th Annual Creative
Arts and Entertainment Daytime Emmy Awards for "New Approaches
in Daytime Entertainment".[20]
On February 29, 2008, a second video, "We Are the Ones",
was released on Dipdive and YouTube. Including cameo appearances
from Jessica Alba, Ryan Phillippe, Kerry Washington, pop punk band
Yellowcard's front man, Ryan Key, John Leguizamo, Regina King, Tyrese
Gibson, Eric Mabius, Tichina Arnold, Adrianne Palicki, comedian George
Lopez, and singers Macy Gray, Zoe Kravitz and The Black Eyed Peas'
Taboo, the video features everyone chanting "O-BA-MA" as
a portrayal as their hopes and wishes for Barack Obama and his presidential
campaign.
On November 4, 2008, will.i.am spoke to CNN's Anderson Cooper about
his support for then-Senator Obama using CNN's 'hologram' technology.[21]
After the 2008 election, will.i.am released "It's a New Day".
The video reflects on the historical events that led to the election
of the first African-American president and the public's reaction
to his election. The video features celebrities such as Fergie, Olivia
Wilde, Kanye West, Harold Perrineau, Kevin Bacon, and his wife Kyra
Sedgwick. The video first debuted on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The
track also appears on the 2009 compilation album, Change is Now:
Renewing America's Promise.
In honor of the inauguration of Barack Obama as president, will.i.am
collaborated with producer David Foster on the patriotic song "America's
Song", with contributing vocals from Seal, Bono, Mary J. Blige,
and Faith Hill.
In response to Barack Obama's reaction following Kanye West's interruption
of Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards will.i.am penned "The
Jackass Song". It features a sample of Kanye West's "Heartless".[22]
will.i.am wrote a blog post along with the song on Dipdive.[23]
will.i.am attended and spoke at the FIRST Robotics Competition Kickoff
on January 8, 2011, declaring, "I am a FIRST fan." [24]
He has also named FIRST Founder Dean Kamen "one of [his] heroes" on
his verified Twitter account.[25]
[edit] Controversies
On June 22, 2009, blogger Perez Hilton accused will.i.am and his
entourage of assaulting him in Toronto after the MuchMusic Video
Awards, a charge will.i.am denied in a video posted on his blog.[26]
From his account, Hilton was rude to Fergie and will.i.am confronted
the blogger. will.i.am gave his account on his blog:[27]
I didn't hit you. I told you that I didn't like the fact that you
disrespected us. It’s cool to have your opinion, but dude,
apparently you were bleeding outside the club, I was like next to
you by a tree, waiting for my car and instead of calling the police
you Twittered that I assaulted you. Sounds like somebody wants mad
attention and is not really concerned about his health. I didn’t
hit you, and this is very wrong that you are Tweeting that I did
that, once again disrespecting me and everything I stand for. And
they’re lies and that’s wrong. Shame on you, shame on
your behavior. And that’s just messed up.
According to news reports, AP article via MSNBC,[28] Hilton called
will.i.am a faggot in the club, but Polo Molina – Black Eyed
Peas's tour manager – was responsible for punching Hilton from
behind. The incident was caught on photo by a nearby photographer[29]
and by a video which documents the encounter. Gossip website TMZ
released a video showing the encounter.[30] Liborio Molina, a 36-year-old
California resident, has been charged with one count of assault.[31][32]
Since the incident, will.i.am has received support from a variety
of other celebrities including Josh Duhamel, John Mayer, Kelly Clarkson,
LMFAO, Zac Efron, Breckin Meyer and Jimmy Kimmel.[33][34][35][36][37]
[edit] Discography
will.i.am in January 2010
Main articles: will.i.am discography and will.i.am production discography
See also: Black Eyed Peas discography
* Lost Change (2001)
* Must B 21 (2003)
* Songs About Girls (2007)
[edit] Awards
[edit] Daytime Emmy Awards
* 2008, New Approaches in Daytime Entertainment: "Yes We Can"[38]
[edit] Grammy Awards
will.i.am has won 7 Grammy Awards:
* 2005, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: "Let's Get
It Started", The Black Eyed Peas
* 2006, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: "Don't Phunk with My Heart",
The Black Eyed Peas
* 2007, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: "My Humps",
The Black Eyed Peas
* 2009, Best Urban/Alternative Performance: "Be OK"
* 2010, Best Short Form Music Video: "Boom Boom Pow", The Black Eyed
Peas
* 2010, Best Pop Vocal Album: "The E.N.D.", The Black Eyed Peas
* 2010, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group: "I Gotta Feeling",
The Black Eyed Peas[39]
[edit] Latin Grammy Awards
* 2006, Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album: "Timeless",
Sérgio Mendes (producer)
[edit] BMI Awards
* 2010, BMI presented the BMI President’s Award to will.i.am
in recognition of his work as an artist, producer, and humanitarian.
The honor is bestowed on an individual who has distinctly and profoundly
influenced the entertainment industry.