Monkey Business

by Black Eyed Peas

Overview

Hip-hop artists with commercial aspirations need never appear pandering to their audience, since a tough, defiant stance -- aka keeping it real -- is exactly what will draw in most crossover listeners anyway. Nevertheless, the Black Eyed Peas quickly embraced the pop world after the surprising success of third album Elephunk, and only continued their repositioning as a mainstream act with 2005's Monkey Business. That focus is immediately clear on the opener, "Pump It Up," where they gladly welcome listeners on a track whose sample -- Dick Dale's "Misirlou," already ubiquitous before it appeared in Pulp Fiction -- has to replace "Walk This Way" or "I'll Be Missing You" (more on Sting later) as the most conspicuous case of an unmissable rock riff being used on a rap track. With the Wal-Mart audience safely in tow, the group moves on to motivate its hip-hop base by reaching for every trick in the grab bag of contemporary urban music. These attempts are either serviceable or wildly unsuccessful. "Disco Club" is one of the few serviceable tracks, an apt re-creation of Cassidy's "Hotel." Wildly unsuccessful is the group's utilization of its newest member, Fergie, to function as an imitator of the hyper-sexual Kelis/Ciara archetype on "My Humps," which makes for one of the most embarrassing rap performances of the new millennium (sample lyric: "My hump (9x)/My lovely little lumps"). Unlike Elephunk, the Justin Timberlake feature here ("My Style") is placed early in the program, and it's bolstered by a Timbaland production, which eases the strain of an otherwise featherweight jam. Most of the songs on Monkey Business are the same type of party rap singalong that Black Eyed Peas made their name with on Elephunk. But other than "Disco Club," the only one that works as anything but background party music is "Feel It," a rare production by the group's apl.de.ap (will.i.am handles most of the rest). At the very tail end of the disc, there's one brief glance at Black Eyed Peas' history as a socially conscious group -- "Union," featuring Sting and Branford Marsalis, which floats the usual bromides about peace and equality (and swipes the sound and speak of Bob Marley in the process). Monkey Business could easily sell just as well, or better, than Elephunk, but what the group made sound effortless in the past sounds strained and canned here. ~ John Bush

Product Details

Release Date:	06/07/2005
Label:	A&M
UPC:	0602498804803
Rank:	45529

Tracks

1. Pump It
2. Don't Phunk with My Heart
3. My Style
4. Don't Lie
5. My Humps
6. Like That
7. Dum Diddly
8. Feel It
9. Gone Going
10. They Don't Want Music
11. Disco Club
12. Bebot
13. Ba Bump
14. Audio Delite at Low Fidelity
15. Union

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Black Eyed Peas   Primary Artist
John Legend   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guest Artist,Featured Artist
CeeLo Green   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Talib Kweli   Primary Artist,Rap,Guest Artist,Featured Artist
Jack Johnson   Primary Artist,Guitar
James Brown   Primary Artist,Guest Artist
Sting   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Bass,Featured Artist,Vocals
Q-Tip   Primary Artist,Rap,Guest Artist,Featured Artist
Justin Timberlake   Primary Artist,Guest Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist
Dante Santiago   Primary Artist,Vocals,Featured Artist,Vocals (Background)
Taboo   Vocals
A.P.L.   Vocals
Sid Page   Violin
Branford Marsalis   Saxophone
Brian Dembow   Viola
Kenny Kirkland   Keyboards
Bruce Dukov   Violin
Ray Brady   Guitar
Robert "Mousie" Thompson   Bass,Drums,Organ,Clavinet
Mike Fratantuno   Bass
Jacqueline Brand   Violin
Chaos   Bass
Joel Derouin   Violin
Cecilia Tsan   Cello
Ron Fair   Conductor,Harmonica,String Conductor
Tim Izo Orindgreff   Flute,Saxophone
Sarah Thornblade   Violin
Stephen Erdody   Cello
Apl.de.Ap   Vocals,Strings,Clavinet
Josefina Vergara   Violin
Simon Oswell   Viola
The Bittersweets   Vocals (Background)
Julie Gigante   Violin
Manu Katche   Drums
will.i.am   Bass,Drums,Organ,Vocals,Clavinet,Synthesizer,Fender Rhodes,Organ (Hammond),Moog Synthesizer
Fergie   Vocals
Roberto Cani   Violin
Natalie Leggett   Violin
David Low   Cello
Suzie Katayama   Cello
The Horndogs   Saxophone
Kevin Rudolf   Guitar
James H. Brown   Vocals
Charlie Bisharat   Violin
Printz Board   Bass,Drums,Trumpet,Mellotron,Synthesizer,Fender Rhodes,Moog Synthesizer
Mino Cinelu   Percussion
Endre Granat   Violin
Tippa Irie   Vocals (Background)
Jeff Watkins   Saxophone
Songa Lee   Violin
Katia Popov   Violin
Alan Grunfeld   Violin
Robert "Dandy" Thompson   Bass,Drums,Organ,Clavinet
Matthew Funes   Viola
Mario de Leon   Violin
Tamara Hatwan   Violin
Jimmy Limon   Bass,Organ,Guitar,Clavinet,Percussion
Charlie Baccarat   Violin (Electric)
Venus Brown   Scratching,Vocals (Background)
Rene Mandel   Violin
Cynthia Morey   Vocals (Background)
Sheila Wheat   Vocals (Background)
Phillip Levy   Violin
Victoria Miskolczy   Viola
Damon Wood   Guitar
Keith Harris   Drums,Keyboards,Percussion
George Pajon Jr.   Guitar
Cynthia Moore   Vocals (Background)
Damon Woods   Guitar
Kelly Jarrell   Vocals (Background)
Michael Matthews   Guitar
Mike Fratantuono   Bass

Technical Credits

Timbaland   Audio Production,Producer,Instrumentation
will.i.am   Audio Production,Mixing,Composer,Engineer,Producer,Instrumentation,Drum Programming,Executive Producer
Larry Blackmon   Composer
Jack Joseph Puig   Mixing
Jack Johnson   Composer,Composer
James Brown   Composer,Sample Source
Ray Brady   Composer
Robert "Mousie" Thompson   Drum Programming
Talib Kweli   Composer
Dylan Dresdow   Engineer,Vocal Engineer
Drew Peters   Composer
Ricky Walters   Composer
Chaos   Engineer,Drum Programming
Mark "Spike" Stent   Mixing
Leslie Bricusse   Composer
Ron Fair   Arranger,Producer,Executive Producer,String Arrangements,Additional Production
Robert Lyn   Composer
Brian Gardner   Mastering
Justin Timberlake   Composer
Ted Howard   Engineer
Tal Herzberg   Engineer,Pro-Tools,Digital Editing
Tim Izo Orindgreff   Composer
Rick James   Composer
Nicholas Roubanis   Composer
Nate Hills   Composer
Kamaal Fareed   Composer
Danja Mowf   Producer
Neil Tucker   Engineer
Jason Villaroman   Engineer
Apl.de.Ap   Producer,Drum Programming
Timothy Mosley   Composer
Ethan Willoughby   Mixing,Engineer
Serban Ghenea   Mixing
Tony Maserati   Mixing
Anthony Newley   Composer
David Payton   Composer
Full Force   Composer
Printz Board   Composer,Producer,Drum Programming
Jaime Gomez   Composer
Demacio Castellon   Engineer
Anthony Tidd   Composer
Dante Santiago   Artist Coordination
Tim Orindgreff   Composer
Fitzroy Simpson   Composer
Lloyd Ferguson   Composer
Darryl Barnes   Composer
Stacy Ferguson   Composer
Shepard Fairey   Logo Design,Cover Design
Jean Baptiste   Composer
Michael Evans   Production Coordination
Justin Siegel   Artist Coordination
John Stephens   Composer,Composer
Mike Jurkovac   Cover Art
Robert "Dandy" Thompson   Drum Programming
Kalyanji Anandji   Composer
Osinachi Nwaneri   Engineer
George Bennett   Composer
Thomas Jenkins   Composer
Venus Brown   DJ
Jimmy Limon   Drum Programming
Chris Peters   Composer
Benjamin Brown   Composer,Composer
Albert Watson   Photography
Michael Mathews   Composer
William E. Pittwar   Production Coordination
David Saevitz   Composer
Lor e Phillips   Stylist
Andrew Van Meter   Production Coordination
Indeewar   Composer
Jaime A. Davila "Tame" Gomez   Composer
Geneva Randolph   Production Coordination
Dennis Gomez   Booklet Design
Sting   Composer
Noize Trip   Producer
Greg O. Mays   Composer
Keith Harris   Composer
Thomas Van Musser   Composer
George Pajon Jr.   Composer
Donat Mittoo   Composer
Leroy Sibblis   Composer
Marcella Araica   Editing,Pro-Tools,Digital Editing,Assistant Engineer
Melvin J. Lewis   Composer
William E. Pittway, Jr.   Production Coordination
Allan Pineda   Composer
William Adams   Composer
Indivar   Composer
Talib Kweli Greene   Composer
Gregg O. Mays   Composer
Nathaniel Hills   Composer