Serious music fans often wonder what makes mainstream pop so appealing. Bouncy beats and big choruses are a major part of it, but modern pop music is a cult of personality. Justin Timberlake could take a mediocre song and take it to the top of the charts solely on the basis of his charisma. It doesn’t say much for the taste of the average record buyer. In a genre where personality is everything, the success of The Black Eyed Peas is rather puzzling. The hooks are there, but they are the most faceless band in modern pop music. The E.N.D. is supposedly a sonic leap forward for the band, but it’s really the same album they’ve been peddling since 2005.
The album’s lead single and opening track, “Boom Boom Pow,” sets the tone for the entire album. There are no live instruments, just drum machines, keyboards, synths and the ubiquitous vocoder. Electro-pop is the big trend in hip-hop and R&B right now, so those clichés can be forgiven, but the vocoder is so overdone that it has lost all meaning. One of the best parts of hip-hop is falling in love with the vocal style and cadence of an MC. Biggie’s lyrics were incredible, but would he have broken through without his voice? The vocoder makes everyone sound the same, so the voice becomes irrelevant. will.i.am doesn’t have much to say, but the vocal effects sap what little personality he has.
The Black Eyed Peas are the modern equivalent of the C+C Music Factory. will.i.am is the pedestrian pitchman. He has been all over the news in the past year bragging about what a deep thinker he is. He’s so politically switched on, so thoughtful, so awesome. The way he talks, you’d think he is the second coming of Chuck D. For all of his political bluster, will.i.am doesn’t have much to say beyond party clichés, talking about having a good night, and chanting his band’s initials and proclaiming how he has so much love in this world.
Fergie is the pretty girl of questionable talent. The energy that supposedly never dies does not apply to her. She sleepwalks through the entire album, rapping a verse here and singing a chorus there. She raps in a very grating, bratty tone. Her singing voice is inoffensive as usual, she sounds like a million other female pop stars. apl.de.ap and Taboo are just along for the ride. ap raps a few verses, but this is clearly the will.i.am and Fergie show.
The Black Eyed Peas are the weakest link in their own album. Some of the beats are really great, especially “Gotta Feeling,” which is just a catchy keyboard riff. The E.N.D. also suffers from inept sampling. Rob Base’s iconic “I wanna rock right now” from “It Takes Two” is used on “Rock That Body.” It’s the seemingly perfect sample, but Rob Base has no place against icy keyboards and sound effects. The sounds don’t mesh, so the chorus disrupts the entire flow of the track.
In many ways, The Black Eyed Peas are the definition of pop music. Its music of the moment, meant to be consumed immediately and forgotten. It’s cool to say that top 40 is the most forgettable genre of music, but memorable pop singles live forever. “My Humps” is a terrible song, but it will have a spot on the inevitable “Greatest Hits of the 2000s” collection. Nothing on The E.N.D. will experience that kind of immortality. The album buzzes by without making an impression. The moment the record is over, it’s forgotten.