Creative Research Assignment

When observing the cover artwork, the mystifying digital headshot looks like a futuristic robot or holograph, creating a very technological or even futuristic atmosphere. Similarly, nearly all the album’s songs have the same electronic vibe, due to the heavy use of synth anthems, high tempos, and extreme auto-tune on the vocals to make them sound robotic. Besides the music, many of the songs’ lyrics also refer to technology and the future, such as ‘Boom Boom Pow’: “I got that rock and roll / That future flow / That digital spit / Next-level visual s***” (Black Eyed Peas). Hence, both the production of the electronic sound, combined with the lyrics about technology, give the album an intentionally futuristic aesthetic, which is then mirrored in its digital-looking cover.

As previously mentioned, one of the album’s songs that connects to the cover the most is ‘Boom Boom Pow’—so much so that the same robotic figure appears in the song’s music video. This song’s repetitive beat and lyrics are deeply influenced by the idea of the future, made evident in the lyrics “I'm so three thousand and eight / You so two thousand and late / I got that boom boom boom / That future boom boom boom” (Black Eyed Peas). Likewise, the song ‘Imma be’s lyrics refer to the future and technology as well: “We on some next level shit / Futuristic musically / Power will full with energy / From the soul we sonically / Sending positivity” (Black Eyed Peas). In summary, both songs focus on the same theme as the cover. Also, the electronic beats in both are repetitive and the vocals are heavily autotuned to make the members sound like robots, again alluding to this fixation with technology and future advancement (Bierut, Patrick).

I enjoyed both the cover and music when I was younger, since the fast pace and cool autotune made the album fun and exciting. However, now being much older, I do not necessarily have the same affection for the tacky autotune and overly repetitive nature of the songs as I used to. Though it is safe to say that electronic music and pop have only grown in popularity since The Black Eyed Peas’ prime years, their sound seems to be very specific to its time and died in its decade. Therefore, listening to the album feels like opening a time capsule back to the early 2000s and makes me feel ten years old again, rather than a musical experience that feels timeless.

For the same reasons, I connect to the album and cover very strongly, but on a purely nostalgic level. Considering how dominant the Black Eyed Peas were in the music industry during most of my childhood, many of their hits played at nearly every event I went to, from weddings and parties, to school dances and sleepovers. Thus, their songs, and especially those from this album, are part of many of my fondest early memories and make this album very special to me. Though I doubt I would be able to connect to it that profoundly if it had been released any later, I still genuinely like the album and love to dance to it every now and then. And, as many of my current favourite genres like bedroom pop and rap incorporate electronic sounds, I have no doubt this album influenced the some of my now favourite artists.

Works Cited

Bierut, Patrick. “The END: How The Black Eyed Peas Forged The Future Of Pop.” UDiscover Music, 3 June 2019, www.udiscovermusic.com/stories/black-eyed-peas-the-end-album/.

Black Eyed Peas. “Boom Boom Pow (Official Music Video).” YouTube, YouTube, 16 June 2009, www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m48GqaOz90.

Black Eyed Peas. “Imma Be (Official Music Video).” YouTube, YouTube, 22 Mar. 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=kdAj-dBNCi4.

“Official Cover Art of Black Eyed Peas' New Album 'The E.N.D.'.” AceShowbiz, AceShowbiz.com, 1 May 2009, www.aceshowbiz.com/news/view/00023930.html.

“The E.N.D.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Mar. 2021, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_E.N.D.

The E.N.D. by the group Black Eyed Peas was released on June 3rd, 2009. The title, an abbreviation of ‘The Energy Never Dies’, effectively captures the album’s fast paced tracks energetically mixing hip hop, pop and EDM. In addition, the album granted the band the top spot on the Hot 100 list for 26 consecutive weeks (Wikipedia), making The E.N.D. a worldwide success.

The album cover consists of a futuristic, digital headshot of a green face against a black background, with the band name and album title on its forehead. According to group member William James Adams Jr, known as Will.i.am, the album art is what all four of the group members’ faces look like when combined digitally, resulting in an unrecognizable face. He also noted that “the photo is ‘the face of digital energy’” (AceShowbiz), and thus expresses the group’s goal with their electronic album.