One of the most diverse producers in the music game right now is none other than the lead Black Eye Pea himself, William James Adams, Jr. a.k.a will.i.am. I still remember the first time I saw the Black Eye Peas’ video for “Joints & Jam” back in 1998. At first I thought they were a fake ass Pharcyde, but I realized that these dudes were on a different vibe. Their whole vibe and style was on some retro/b-boy/break dancing type stuff that definitely worked well for them. Most folks never knew that BEP was hip-hop dance group before they ever started rapping. So, I expected big things from this group, and I was pretty happy with their previous releases until Fergie joined the group! Suddenly, they seemed to have left their hip-hop roots behind for pop radio theme music. I know it’s not all Fergie’s fault for this musical shift though. It was obvious that the group was trying to make some new musical opportunities for themselves by reaching a broader audience. Throughout the early days of the Black Eye Peas’ movement, will.i.am handled the majority of their production. Impressively, he continued producing for the group when they crossed over into the pop side. That showed me that will.i.ma has diversity as a producer, which plenty of other producers lack in my opinion.Now, I don’t want to sound like I have hated every song BEP has released since Fergie joined the group, because that’s not true. Shamefully, even some of the bubblegum type records have brainwashed my attention at times over the years. I am only human! I just don’t like as many of the BEP tracks as I did in the past. Outside of working with BEP, will.i.am has been producing for just about everybody that’s anybody in music, such as: Talib Kweli, Nas, Game, Chrisette Michele, Rihanna, Common, Lupe Fiasco, Mariah Carey, Justin Timberlake, Carlos Santana, etc. Will is definitely one of the hottest producers making beats right now, even though the masses never really give him his props! Most folks just totally overlooked his two solo joints “Lost Change” and “Must Be 21,” but hopefully with his upcoming third solo release “Songs About Girls” people will begin to take notice? Just because the dude dresses like your great grandfather on most days doesn’t mean that he can’t make a hot beat, so stop going beddy-bye on this dude…
Okay, it’s mixx time again snitchez. I’m calling this voyage of uptempo soulfulness the “Rhythmatik Sensationz Mixx!” This mixx is dedicated to keeping your head bobbin’, so don’t be fooled by the melodramatic intro. Since, the topic of the day is will.i.am, I have infused a few of his tracks that I like into this mix as well. I also added a little Dwele, J*Davey, Yummy, Common, Donnell Jones, Lauryn Hill and Davina to keep things balanced.
RHYTHMATIK SENSATIONZ TRACK LISTING:
01~Hezekiah - Hurry Up & Wait Intro
02~Pharoahe Monch ft. Dwele - Trilogy Pt. 2
03~J*Davey - Slooow
04~Chrisette Michelle ft. will.i.am - Be Ok
05~Tamia ft. Mario Winans - Mr. Cool
06~Yummy Bingham - One More Chance
07~Talib Kweli ft. will.i.am - Hot Thing
08~Donnell Jones - Feelin' You
09~Dwele - Dance With Me
10~Sergio Mendez ft. Q-Tip & will.i.am - The Frog
11~Fyza - Holla
12~Davina - Let's Stay Together
13~L-Boogie ft. Pain & Live - All My Time
14~Jeff Hendrick - Old School Party
15~Ryan Leslie - Worth The Fight
16~Raheem DeVaughn - Closer (Got Rhythm Remix)
17~Black Eyed Peas - Feel It (Jazzy Jeff Remix)
18~Michael Jackson - Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
19~Rihanna - Don't Stop The Music
20~Common - Go (Remix)
Black Eye Peas - Joints & Jam (Video)
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