New Black Eyed Peas album (and a U2 collab?) for will.i.am

The Black Eyed Peas haven’t released a record since their 2005 smash, Monkey Business, but frontman will.i.am (birth name: William Adams) has remained nearly as ubiquitous in pop culture as lady-Pea-turned-solo-star Fergie. This year alone, there were the much-watched celebrity-stuffed Obama videos he spearheaded, the score he co-wrote with legendary film composer Hans Zimmer for Madagascar 2, an Election-night appearance as a hologram(!) on CNN, and more recently, several newsy announcements the recent multiple-Grammy nominee sat down to discuss (or, in some very top-secret cases, beg off).

First order of business? A role in the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine. “I’m a big fan,” i.am says, “But I know I’m not allowed to say much. What I can talk about is that I’m in it and that I’m a mutant, John Wraith, and I have the power to teleport.” He recently flew to London (the old-fashioned way) to work with U2 as well, but alas, on that topic his lips are even more sealed. “I can’t say anything,” he promises, “I swear!”

So what can can talk about? The upcoming BEPs record, due next spring and entitled The E.N.D.
(a.k.a. The Energy Never Dies). “We’re gonna try to experiment with
what a song is, what an album is,” he says passionately. “The world’s
different, and this is our attempt to get in on that. These kids that
are on the Internet are utilizing all these tools, they’re being more
creative than artists that have million-dollar contracts. So here we
are talking about yesterday’s culture, saying what’s the first single
or whatever. F— yesterday, it’s about what are we going to do to
define tomorrow. I’m really trying to push what it is and how we do it
and why we do it. With technology, a song can do anything, and I don’t
want to give away too much because I don’t want motherf—-s biting on
what I’ve been working hard for, but there will rollouts on my network,
DipDive.com, rolling out different versions and different songs and
interactive stuff…I’m moving away from the record business and
starting the experience business.”

Don’t look for his Go-Bama stance to make any big waves on The E.N.D.
(“it’s not fair to the people who aren’t as passionate as I am about
the political endeavors,” he claims), but do look for Fergie to return
to the fold, refreshed and ready to reunite for a tour with the band
through next summer. Says will.i.am: “We’re all one big family, you
know? We didn’t break up, we still toured while she was promoting her
solo record, and there’s no division because of our solo efforts. It
pretty much made us appreciate what we bring to the table individually,
and it strengthened us by knowing how powerful we are. There are
certain things that BEP as a group does that we can’t achieve on our
own…. We’re looking forward to new realms of ways to do things. Now
that there’s no records stores, it’s gonna take some real visionary
people to see around those corners and formulate a new plan.”

More Will.i.am:

Will.i.am’s solo album re-release with new tracks

Will.i.am on the hologram: “It was crazy!”

Will.i.am trapped in the hologram at 236.com