will.i.am

The brain behind the Black Eyed Peas, as well as Fergie's solo album, has finally gotten down to the business of releasing his own record—and he seems to have been watching Xanadu. It's not just that ELO's "It's Over" is heavily sampled on the opening track, "Over," which also credits Jeff Lynne as co-writer, it's the entire sunny, bouncy feel of the record. Songs About Girls never gets as baroque as Lynne's stuff, but it partakes of that desire for bigness, plus the carefree, airy tone of the songs John Farrar wrote for Olivia Newton-John.

If you've appreciated the pop turn of the Peas but thought they could use an unself-conscious infusion of early '80s synths, "Heartbreaker" and "She's a Star" will grab your attention from the beginning of the album. The first single, "I Got It from My Mama," is (unfortunately) less aggressively dumb than the glorious "My Humps," but it's a similarly rump-twitching tune paired with hardly literary lyrics. Snoop puts in an appearance on "The Donque Song," another track about the power of booty, but the overall characterization of Songs About Girls isn't even R&B, let alone hip-hop. It's pure pop in spirit, a trait perhaps best captured by the sing-songy vocal line, nearly Caribbean guitars and casual bass of "Fantastic."

The record's momentum peters out a little toward the conclusion, with "S.O.S. (Mother Nature)," a sincere appeal on behalf of the environment that inspires one to skip back to the beginning of the album rather than sort one's recycling better. But message tracks aside, we're happy to report that will.i.am solo is at least as good as will.i.am the Black Eyed Peas mastermind.

—Hillary Brown
10.12.07

Boasting the best album-length production of the year, will.i.am's Songs About Girls is a tour de force of next-generation contemporary R&B, all of it devoted to girls -- girls he wants, girls he wants back, girls who are gone, girls he's glad are gone, and, of course, girls trying hard to make a living for their family as strippers. Although the trailer single, "I Got It from My Mama," had threatened to become even more obnoxious and unescapable than Black Eyed Peas' "My Humps" -- replacing Fergie's awkward come-ons with will.i.am's clumsy rapping -- it's the lone note of pandering on this record. (Perhaps another should be guest Snoop Dogg lofting the word "donque" into the popular consciousness.) Recorded everywhere from Rio to The Record Plant, Songs About Girls percolates with more innovation, enthusiasm, and excitement than contemporary work by Pharrell, Kanye West, Mark Ronson, or anyone else remotely in the same league. Fortunately, will keeps the anthemic rapping to a minimum, instead sing-speaking or pleading plaintively behind a parade of filters and emoting rather than motivating. Musically, there's all manner of technical wizardry on display, including vocoderized electronics, surprisingly acid-washed synth on "The Donque Song" (how long has it been since Snoop Dogg rapped over a 303, doctored or not), and "Get Your Money," the latter of which may be the classic tale of a stripper with a heart of gold, but, powered by a swing-house M.A.N.D.Y. sample, should provide the requisite credibility to rehabilitate the man who unleashed "humps" on the populace. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide