Black Eyed Peas hit the clubs hard on ‘The E.N.D.‘
By Phillip Sayblack
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
‘The E.N.D.‘ is an album that hip-hop and rap fans will either love or hate. This album leaves fans no middle ground on whether or not they like it. As will.i.am said in the interview included on the bonus disc’s video content, most people probably expected the group to put out another rap album this time around. But after hearing someone make the comment that rap and hip-hop were dead, the group decided to go a different way this time around. Thus ‘The E.N.D.‘ was created.
The direction that the group decided on was a decidedly different one alright. This time around, the group has gone from hip-hop to club songs. This is ironic in that on the group’s previous album, ‘Monkey Business’ there was a song called “They Don’t Want Music.“ That song was basically the group speaking on the state of rap and hip-hop today. They were saying that so much of that music is more focused on bass than on actual content. However, exactly what they spoke against on that song is what they’ve done with this album. Being that the album is basically a club album, it is very bass heavy from start to finish. Yes, will.i.am and company do rap on this album. But for the most part, the rapping takes a backseat to the bass.
The bonus disc included in the limited edition is not that much of a bonus. Out of the ten extra songs on the bonus disc, only about four are worthwhile. The best of those four is “Pump It Harder” It’s no surprise, either, that the bonus tracks are techno-based, too, in keeping with the feel of the rest of the album. The interview video material is not all that insightful, either. The only worthwhile portion of the video segment comes in the discussion of how and why the group decided on the format for this album. The problem is that that part of the video footage comes at the very end of the interview segment. In other words, those who want to have some insight on the album will have to fast forward through everything else to get to it.
‘The E.N.D.‘ is not the best album from The Black Eyed Peas. But because it is a completely different direction for the group, it would be unfair to say that this is the group’s worst work, too. It is merely an experiment at something different. With this in mind, ‘The E.N.D.‘ is an album worth at least one listen, if no more. Some will like it. Others won’t. Regardless, it will be an album that fans of the Black Eyed Peas, and of hip-hop and rap alike will never forget.
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