Will.i.am
William James Adams, Jr. (born March 15, 1975), better known by his stage name will.i.am ("will I am") and occasionally by his other stage name Zuper Blahq, is an American rapper, musician, songwriter, singer, actor and producer. will.i.am came to prominence in the late 1990s as a member of the hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas along with rappers apl.de.ap and Taboo and, later, singer Fergie. As a music producer, he has produced with other artists including Michael Jackson, Britney Spears, U2, Rihanna, Usher, Justin Timberlake, Nicki Minaj, Cheryl Cole, 2NE1, Daddy Yankee, and Juanes.
will.i.am, Nicki Minaj - Check It Out
Usher - OMG ft. will.i.am
The Pussycat Dolls - Beep ft. will.i.am
will.i.am - Heartbreaker ft. Cheryl Cole
Early life
will.i.am was born and raised in the projects of East Los Angeles. He never met his father, William Adams, Sr., and grew up with his mother, Debra, who encouraged him to be unique and to avoid conforming to the tendencies of the other youth in his East L.A. neighborhood. She encouraged him to begin working on his musical career by sending him to school in Pacific Palisades.[3] While attending Palisades Charter High School, will.i.am became best friends with Allan Lindo (stage name apl.de.ap), who was also a future member of The Black Eyed Peas. While still in high school, will.i.am and apl.de.ap performed in East L.A. clubs and were soon joined by three other entertainers to form the socially conscious rap group, Atban Klann. Atban Klann caught the eye of Compton rapper Eazy-E and was signed to his label, Ruthless Records, in 1991.
will.i.am used to attend raves while in high school, and claims that his history with rave culture is why he chose a more electro sound for The Black Eyed Peas' albums The E.N.D. and The Beginning. Despite the use of electro and house music elements, will.i.am prefers to separate the underground from pop in order to maintain the theory that rave music is for esoterics of rave culture (such persons are otherwise known as 'ravers'). In an article with Los Angeles Times, he mentions that secrecy over the whereabouts of raves is what made raving special, and different from the mainstream.[6]
[edit]Career
[edit]Music career
will.i.am performing with the Black Eyed Peas in June 2009
In late 1991, when 16 years old, William (will.i.am) started rapping under the name "Will-1X" after being discovered by Compton rapper and former N.W.A. leader Eazy-E and signed a deal to Eazy's Ruthless Records. will.i.am's first rap song was "Merry Muthafuckin' Xmas" from Eazy-E's 1992 EP 5150: Home 4 tha Sick. Shortly after Eazy-E's death in 1995, Will left Ruthless to start a group that would later be called The Black Eyed Peas.
will.i.am was featured in 2002, singing "Secrets" on Dexter's Laboratory: The Hip-Hop Experiment for Dexter's Laboratory on Cartoon Network. In 2006 will.i.am was contacted by Michael Jackson. He wanted Will to produce his new album. They recorded until the singers death in 2009. He has said that he will not release any of the music that they recorded, stating that Michael would not want unfinished songs released. In September 2007, will.i.am's record label Universal Music Group decided on a pilot scheme to reward file sharing with cash incentives, which included tracks from his latest solo album, Songs About Girls.[7]
In 2008, will.i.am was hired by Michael Jackson to produce and remix some songs for the Thriller re-release, Thriller 25. Also in 2008, will.i.am contributed the song, "One People", to the Survival International charity album, Songs for Survival.[8][9] will.i.am is featured in Flo Rida's debut album, Mail on Sunday, on the song "In The Ayer", and on Usher's album, Here I Stand. In 2009, will.i.am worked with rappers Flo Rida and Akon on Flo Rida's new album, R.O.O.T.S.. He co-created a girl group in 2007 called the Paradiso Girls. will.i.am also recorded four tracks with Girls Aloud member Cheryl Cole for her debut solo album 3 Words. He also worked with Rihanna on her Rated R album on a track called "Photographs". will.i.am appeared in the We Are the World 25 for Haiti music video. He is featured in the song "OMG" by Usher. He performed at the annual Electric Daisy Carnival in June 2010.[10] In a YouTube video posted by YGLifeOfficial on March 15, 2010, will.i.am expressed his desire to work with and help Korean K-pop girl group 2NE1 achieve international success.[11] In February 2011, he worked on a song with American pop icon Britney Spears for her 7th album Femme Fatale.[12]
Zuper Blahq is a pseudonym for electro house work will.i.am has released,[13] who has had a solo release and one collaboration with Steve Aoki on the single "I'm In The House", which charted at #29 on the UK Singles Chart. In January 2011, a new music video directed by Jam Sutton, entitled "Dance", was released under this electro pseudonym, with a music video featuring Natalia Kills, who also had a brief vocal role in the song.
In April 2011, he contributed his singing voice to the soundtrack of the animated film Rio, in which he voiced a character, along with helping out with the music, and produced one of the film's songs titled "Hot Wings (I Wanna Party)", alongside Jamie Foxx and Anne Hathaway.
[edit]Acting career
will.i.am first started acting alongside the rest of the members of The Black Eyed Peas in the commercial series "Instant Def" to advertise Snickers.[14] He starred in Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa as the voice of the character Moto Moto. He contributed a number of tracks to the movie's motion picture soundtrack in collaboration with industry heavyweight Hans Zimmer. will.i.am played John Wraith in his major film debut, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a prequel to the X-Men film series. He also guest starred on the CBS drama Joan of Arcadia as God, one of several actors who played this role during the series. He also starred in the 2011, animated film Rio, as a rapping red-crested Cardinal named Pedro, and like Madagascar: Escape to Africa, he contributed his singing voice to the film's soundtrack, along with his fellow co-stars.
will.i.am played a fathering role in The Urbz: Sims In The City, which uses The Black Eyed Peas' songs as its soundtrack. He briefly played himself in the Tina Fey and Steve Carell Comedy Date Night. He is also coming on the big screen again as A-Guy in Magnet
[edit]Fashion
Before joining The Black Eyed Peas, will.i.am attended the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles. In 2001, he began designing his own signature clothing line, i.am, which made its official debut in 2005 at the Magic Apparel Trade Show in Las Vegas.[15] In 2007, will.i.am teamed up with Blue Holdings to design a premium denim collection, i.am Antik, that was scheduled to debut in August 2007 at the Project Show in Las Vegas.[16] will.i.am instead has new partners and is launching i.am
[edit]Other
will.i.am Speaking at the 2011 FIRST kickoff at Southern New Hampshire University with Dean Kamen.
will.i.am appeared at the kickoff event for the 2011 FIRST Robotics Competition, Logo Motion held at Southern New Hampshire University.[17] He stated the he is "a big fan", and that the newly unveiled game was "dope". During his interview, he said that "his mama will work with yo mama". He also performed a concert for FIRST at the 2011 FIRST World Championship at the Edward Jones Dome.
will.i.am appeared in concert with the Black Eyed Peas as a part of a special concert for 2011 FIRST Robotics Championships. It was recorded for an upcoming special to air on ABC August 14 at 7 pm.
The world's largest chipmaker, Intel Corp., said will.i.am will become a creative director, contributing music and helping in the development of devices such as smartphones, laptops and tablets.[18]
As a “director of creative innovation”, will.i.am is responsible to improve the sales in the company. The collaboration and co-development with will.i.am and Intel on these products will provide new modern music that will create trends in the technological world. will.i.am states that there will be “new ways to communicate, create, inform and entertain..." According to Intel, this relationship will bring the technology and entertainment industry together. It is very important to attract the youth culture.[19]
According to an interview with the British tabloid The Sun, will.i.am says he suffers from Tinnitus. The disorder, which is common among musicians who've been exposed to loud music for prolonged periods of time is characterised by ringing or buzzing in the ears.[20]
[edit]Political advocacy
will.i.am with Sheryl Crow and Herbie Hancock performing We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial concert.
In January 2008, will.i.am wrote a song, "Yes We Can", in support of the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign of Barack Obama, which became a music video directed by Jesse Dylan. The lyrics of the song are composed almost entirely of excerpts from Obama's speech on January 8, 2008, following the New Hampshire presidential primary election. The video features appearances from numerous celebrities including Scarlett Johansson, Tatyana Ali, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Kate Walsh, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Adam Rodríguez, Kelly Hu, Hill Harper, Amber Valletta, Eric Balfour, Aisha Tyler, Nicole Scherzinger, Nick Cannon, Bryan Greenberg, and Common and first appeared on the website for Dipdive. The video racked up three million views within a week and over four million subsequently on YouTube. On June 13, 2008, "Yes We Can" won an award at the 35th Annual Creative Arts and Entertainment Daytime Emmy Awards for "New Approaches in Daytime Entertainment".[21]
On February 29, 2008, a second video, "We Are the Ones", was released on Dipdive and YouTube. Including cameo appearances from Jessica Alba, Ryan Phillippe, Kerry Washington, pop punk band Yellowcard's front man, Ryan Key, John Leguizamo, Regina King, Tyrese Gibson, Eric Mabius, Tichina Arnold, Adrianne Palicki, comedian George Lopez, and singers Macy Gray, Zoe Kravitz and The Black Eyed Peas' Taboo, the video features everyone chanting "O-BA-MA" as a portrayal as their hopes and wishes for Barack Obama and his presidential campaign.
On November 4, 2008, will.i.am spoke to CNN's Anderson Cooper about his support for then-Senator Obama using CNN's 'hologram' technology.[22]
After the 2008 election, will.i.am released "It's a New Day". The video reflects on the historical events that led to the election of the first African-American president and the public's reaction to his election. The video features celebrities such as Fergie, Olivia Wilde, Kanye West, Harold Perrineau, Kevin Bacon, and his wife Kyra Sedgwick. The video first debuted on The Oprah Winfrey Show. The track also appears on the 2009 compilation album, Change is Now: Renewing America's Promise.
In honor of the inauguration of Barack Obama as president, will.i.am collaborated with producer David Foster on the patriotic song "America's Song", with contributing vocals from Seal, Bono, Mary J. Blige, and Faith Hill.
In response to Barack Obama's reaction following Kanye West's interruption of Taylor Swift at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards will.i.am penned "The Jackass Song". It features a sample of Kanye West's "Heartless".[23] will.i.am wrote a blog post along with the song on Dipdive.[24]
will.i.am attended and spoke at the FIRST Robotics Competition Kickoff on January 8, 2011, declaring, "I am a FIRST fan."[25] He has also named FIRST Founder Dean Kamen "one of [his] heroes" on his verified Twitter account.[26]
[edit]Controversies
On June 22, 2009, blogger Perez Hilton accused will.i.am and his entourage of assaulting him in Toronto after the MuchMusic Video Awards, a charge will.i.am denied in a video posted on his blog.[27] From his account, Hilton was rude to Fergie and will.i.am confronted the blogger. will.i.am gave his account on his blog:[28]
I didn't hit you. I told you that I didn't like the fact that you disrespected us. It’s cool to have your opinion, but dude, apparently you were bleeding outside the club, I was like next to you by a tree, waiting for my car and instead of calling the police you Twittered that I assaulted you. Sounds like somebody wants mad attention and is not really concerned about his health. I didn’t hit you, and this is very wrong that you are Tweeting that I did that, once again disrespecting me and everything I stand for. And they’re lies and that’s wrong. Shame on you, shame on your behavior. And that’s just messed up.
According to news reports, AP article via MSNBC,[29] Hilton called will.i.am a faggot in the club, but Polo Molina – Black Eyed Peas's tour manager – was responsible for punching Hilton from behind. The incident was caught on photo by a nearby photographer[30] and by a video which documents the encounter. Gossip website TMZ released a video showing the encounter.[31] Liborio Molina, a 36-year-old California resident, has been charged with one count of assault.[32][33] Since the incident, will.i.am has received support from a variety of other celebrities including Josh Duhamel, John Mayer, Kelly Clarkson, LMFAO, Zac Efron, Breckin Meyer and Jimmy Kimmel.[34][35][36][37][38]
[edit]Discography
Main articles: will.i.am discography, will.i.am production discography, and will.i.am songs discography
See also: Black Eyed Peas discography
Lost Change (2001)
Must B 21 (2003)
Songs About Girls (2007)
[edit]Awards
[edit]Daytime Emmy Awards
2008, New Approaches in Daytime Entertainment: "Yes We Can"[39]
2011, Best Original Song "What I Am"[40]
[edit]Grammy Awards
will.i.am has won 7 Grammy Awards:
2005, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: "Let's Get It Started", The Black Eyed Peas
2006, Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group: "Don't Phunk with My Heart", The Black Eyed Peas
2007, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals: "My Humps", The Black Eyed Peas
2009, Best Urban/Alternative Performance: "Be OK"
2010, Best Short Form Music Video: "Boom Boom Pow", The Black Eyed Peas
2010, Best Pop Vocal Album: "The E.N.D.", The Black Eyed Peas
2010, Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group: "I Gotta Feeling", The Black Eyed Peas
[edit]Latin Grammy Awards
2006, Best Brazilian Contemporary Pop Album: "Timeless", Sérgio Mendes (producer)
[edit]BMI Awards
2010, BMI presented the BMI President’s Award to will.i.am in recognition of his work as an artist, producer, and humanitarian. The honor is bestowed on an individual who has distinctly and profoundly influenced the entertainment industry.
[edit]Kids Choice Awards
2011- Favorite Band.
Reference from Wikipedia.com