Black Eyed Peas' "Alive"

Why do the Black Eyed Peas even pretend Fergie is not their star? She carried the hooks for "Don't Phunk With My Heart," "Don't Lie," "Shut Up," "Where Is The Love?", and "My Humps." Seriously. will.i.am's production may be top-notch, but this group is nothing without Fergie's signature rasp. Or, signature growl. Or signature vocal personality.

Fergie's a vocalist-of-all-trades. And Fergie's importance is evident in both of the BEP's new singles. "Imma Be" is a blast--leagues better than the atrocious "Boom Boom Pow"--with excellent base and drum work. (Shockingly subtle for a will.i.am production.) But Fergie's opening rap, complete with the quintessential Fergie Ferg and "hips" references, saves the track from sinking into a safe pocket musically.

"Alive," assumedly the third(-ish) single off the yet-to-be-released The E.N.D., surpasses any previous BEP efforts since "My Humps." The chorus is derivative lyrically--no surprise for the Peas--but the production here is superb. "Alive" opens with a piano-driven melody, and as the track builds, the piano chords are replaced with vibrant synths and increased vocoder use. It's incredibly underplayed; when any BEP song peaks during an electronic organ solo, you know there is a good deal of innovation at work.

Black Eyed Peas' "The E.N.D."

The album cover for the BEP's new album is really neat conceptually. Individual images of all four members were digitally transposed over each other and formed this one, all-encompassing face. Great concept.

You can see the hints of femininity (Fergie) and masculinity. Hopefully the album is as cutting-edge as their cover, and hopefully nothing like "Boom Boom Pow."

Fergie: A Legitimate Proposal

Fergie (a.k.a. Stacey Ferguson) is a total badass. She's not the prettiest flower in the field (stem not included), but she's persistent, completely open about her oft-shallow lyrics, and has an extremely definitive style for sell-out pop radio. She wasn't always sell-out pop radio either, spending half a decade in the adult-alternative rock band Wild Orchid. But this is not about Fergie as a person. This is about Fergie as a rapper.

Female rappers are never on the radio anymore. "Lights Go Off," Foxy Brown's November 2007 attempt at a comeback, did not even chart. Honestly, if these women weren't in jail so often perhaps their music would play on the radio. Fergie, on the other hand, is relatively wholesome in the criminal category and has mad rhythm. She's demonstrated her rapping abilities on a number of ridiculous songs, like the genre-defining "My Humps," the horrid 2008 Nelly duet "Party People," and apparently the new Sex & The City movie "theme song." Like "My Humps," she starts rapping near the end, mostly listing labels and designers (a Fergie constant), and seriously--magic happens.

Therefore, in light of this evidence, I propose Fergie's next album be heavily weighted in reggae-tinged rap. Nelly raps in tune (which is strange, but works for him), and Fergie should do the same. Or perhaps the way they "rap" is really just singing quickly? I don't know, and I don't care. I'm ready for the next Fergie album to be under the "Genre: Rap" label on iTunes.