Boom Boom Pow
Black Eyed Peas
So The Peas are back with another no-questions-asked-hit single that demonstrates once again that these people will do anything necessary to remain commercial, and shows exactly why they’re as successful as they’ve been since dropping the underground sound and adding a blonde.
The track is irresistible—the beat is body moving, the vocal filters sound rad and the keyboards are straight out of Europe—but what’s kinda funny is the image they’re boasting compared to the image the image they’re presenting. Will.i.am rhymes, “I got that rock and roll, that future flow”, and Fergie blows, “I’m so 3008, you so 2000 and late,” which I’m assuming is referring to the electronic sound of the synthesizers and the effects on their vocals, but what they’re calling “futuristic” is really just a justification of following a trend that’s been in effect now for at least 5 years. While by no means the filter’s origin, Cher’s “Believe” was the first hugely commercial usage of the vocoder effect and everyone scrambled after that one to use it in their own music. And in the last 3 years or so, Hip-Hop seems to be tired of sampling 70s and 80s hits, and has moved on almost entirely to emulating (Timbaland) or straight up borrowing (Kanye West) the hallmarks and successes of house, trance and electronica. Janet tried to do this too, she said that the Discipline album was about her obsession with futuristic sounds and a computerized reality, but in the end it was just a way to not look like a follower. Why is it so wrong to just say, “I know this formula works for popular music and I’m going to follow what’s been done before so I can make some money?”
“Boom Boom Pow” is an incredible club track, probably not something you’re going to hear at the next circuit party, but you’ll definitely hear this one out at any gay bar and it’ll doubtlessly be dominating Top 40 radio throughout the summer, so start loving it.
