"Where Is the Love?" is the first single from the Black Eyed Peas' third album, Elephunk. Released in 2003, the single (which features an uncredited vocal from Justin Timberlake) peaked at #8 in the USA becoming The Black Eyed Peas' first Top 10 hit; the single also peaked at #1 in Australia and the UK. The single is most known as the breakthrough single of the Black Eyed Peas.
Song information
"Where Is the Love" logoThe song was written by will.i.am, Taboo, apl.de.ap, Justin Timberlake (for technical reasons, Timberlake is not credited on the song), Ron Fair, P. Board, G. Pajon Jr, M. Fratantuno, and J. Curtis, and co-produced by will.i.am and Ron Fair. In this anti-war pacifist anthem, The Black Eyed Peas lament on various worldwide problems. Many issues are discussed, which include but are not limited to terrorism, U.S. government hypocrisy, racism, war, intolerance and greed. Disturbed by these problems, The Peas call on assistance from Timberlake who pleads (presumably to God), "Father, Father, Father help us, send us guidance from above...'cause people got me got me questioning: 'Where is the love?'". The single is notable for being the first Black Eyed Peas single to feature Fergie. Early on, the Peas had been a trio, then before Fergie they had featured Kim Hill in two of their albums. Some view this song as an anthem against the War on terror and the 2003 invasion of Iraq since it was released shortly after the invasion began.
Although the song was one of the biggest worldwide hits of 2003, it almost did not happen. Following the commercial failures of their previous albums and singles, The Black Eyed Peas had become depressed and were about to quit the music industry. Although they had been praised critically and had a huge underground following, they had failed to garner a major pop or hip-hop following. One day, will.i.am ran into A&R executive Ron Fair whom Fair had recruited for a movie soundtrack. After realizing that The Peas were actually on a related label on their company's label, Fair offered to have them transferred to his part of the label to help with their career. Knowing that he might offend them as a corporate head with his ideas of a pop crossover, Fair asked will.i.am if the band might consider doing more poppish music.
As expected from Fair, will.i.am was not pleased with the notion, and thought that the band might be considered as a "sell-out" if they did it. Fair stood strong on his ground, and reminded The Peas that this could possibly be their last chance to succeed and as The Peas did want a second chance, they accepted. Fair then randomly suggested Justin Timberlake. To the surprise of Fair, The Peas did not resist and actually agreed, noting to Fair that Timberlake was a personal friend of theirs. Fair was surprised at the turn of events, but warned The Peas to be dilligent in their recruitment of him, as musicians often engage in bureaucratic music industry politics, Fair advised The Peas to go to Timberlake directly to avoid drama with his label or management.
The Black Eyed Peas and will.i.am noted the advice and began writing a song that could be performed with Timberlake. Shortly after Christmas 2001, will.i.am created a loop and a guitar part that he liked. Repressing his emotions since September 11, will.i.am was able to get a few things off his chest as lyrics like, "Overseas we tryin' to stop terrorism, but we still got terrorists here livin', in the U.S.A., the big CIA, the Bloods and the Crips and the KKK...". Taboo and Apl.de.ap also heard the track and were able to write similar lyrics over it. Timberlake also got his chance to hear the track that will.i.am created. Impressed with the music, melodies immediately came racing to Timberlake along with the words "Where is the love?" Soon Timberlake had written the song's chorus and went to record it.
Although The Peas and Timberlake were happy with it, Fair still had issues with the song. He felt that the song's production was too rough and needed new post production. will.i.am was not pleased and tried to resist at first, but finally relented to Fair. Given clearance, Fair then went with his production asssistants and made numerous changes to the song: Timberlake's vocals were edited, Fergie (who had joined since the making of the song) had her vocals added, the song's famous string section was added, and verses were switched around. Following the additional production of Fair, will.i.am was still not pleased and was able to reach a compromise that blended the best of both versions. When the song is performed live, Fergie does Timberlake's parts.
Despite the song's rough path to production, it was rewarded with a nomination at the 2004 Grammys for Record of the Year.
The Black Eyed Peas are a Grammy award-winning American hip hop/pop group from Los Angeles, California. The group is currently composed of will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo, and Fergie. Since their breakout album Elephunk in 2003, they have seen international fame for their pop/dance-oriented style of hip hop music. The Black Eyed Peas have sold an estimated twenty-seven million albums and singles worldwide.
History
The Black Eyed Peas got their start in 1988 when will.i.am (born 1975 William James Adams Jr.) and apl.de.ap (born 1974 Allan Pineda) began rapping and performing together around Los Angeles. The pair signed to Ruthless Records (run by Eazy-E) after catching the attention of the nephew of Jerry Heller (Eazy-E's manager). Along with Mookie Mook (Burning Star), Dante Santiago & DJ Motiv8, they called their group "Atban Klann". Their debut album, Grass Roots, was never released because Ruthless did not consider the social themes reflected in the group's music to be marketable to their audience. After Eazy-E died of AIDS in 1995, They changed their name to The Black Eyed Peas; will.i.am explained on the front cover of the Monkey Business album that "Black Eyed Peas are food for the soul", hence the name. will.i.am has cited the Red Hot Chili Peppers as an influence and said he named his band after a food, like them. They replaced their original third member Mookie, with Dante Santiago the Peas original singer. Then Taboo (born Jaime Gomez) joined the group. In 1996, they produced and appeared on a song entitled "That's Right" for Brian Austin Green's hip-hop album One Stop Carnival. Later, they began using Kim Hill as a steady background singer. Unlike many hip-hop acts, they chose to perform with a live band and adopted a musical and clothing style that differed wildly from the "gangsta rap" sounds of other Los Angeles-based hip-hop acts at the time. Through the mid-'90s, they performed in the local club circuit alongside fellow acts such as Ozomatli and Jurassic 5.
The group were signed to Interscope Records and released their debut, Behind the Front, in 1998. The album won the group (and their accompanying live band, the Bucky Jonsons) critical acclaim. The album featured the single "Joints & Jams", which was included on the Bulworth soundtrack. Their second album, Bridging the Gap, was released in 2000; it featured the single "Request + Line" featuring Macy Gray.
Updated: Jul 29, 2010
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