Home > Chicago Music > CD Review > will.i.am, "Songs About Girls"

Backstory: The frontman for the 20-million-plus-selling Black Eyed Peas releases his third solo record, his first since becoming the favorite rapper of sixth grade girls and corporate America. According to will.i.am, the record is semi-autographical, detailing the break-up of a seven-year relationship, “where all the songs tell a story of falling in love, falling out of love, trying to get back in love, destructing love and destroying love and then starting a new situation.”

Why you should care: Truth be told, you probably shouldn’t; buzz on this record has been virtually non-existent, and the album’s lead single, “I Got It From My Mama,” was a brick, peaking at No. 31. That’s a long ways from Will’s chart-topping work with the Black Eyed Peas, not to mention fellow Pea Fergie’s “The Dutchess,” which spawned three No. 1 singles.

Verdict: In a genre filled with vapidity, “Songs About Girls” seems even more empty than usual. Will.i.am seems pathologically incapable of expressing anything beyond regret that he is a “heartbreaker,” nebulous theories about attractive mothers producing “fly” daughters” and his predilection for “donque,” a song featuring Snoog Dogg’s most mailed-in verse ever (and, as you might imagine, “Donque” is not about advocacy for the Democratic Party). While “Songs About Girls” does feature a few catchy basslines, the heavy majority of it is chockfull of ham-handed lyricism, blasé rapping, and an uneasy, novice flirtation with electronica.

X-Factor: So does the impending failure of “Songs About Girls” mean that Fergie will now wear the pants in the Peas, instead of peeing in them?

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