The Non-Stop Life Of Will.I.Am

Black Eyed Peas Producer/Rapper Expands His Creative Horizons

(CBS)  Will.I.am was hesitant about asking Timberlake to get involved in the project, because he was working on the young singer's sophomore album, "FutureSex/LoveSounds"

3"I didn't want him to think that I'm overstepping my boundaries and expect him to fall in love with bossa nova and samba the way I love it," he said. "I was trying to figure out a way to ask him.

"One day we did the India Arie song and everyone was listening to it and Justin walks in," he continued. "He was like, 'wow, let me get down.' I asked him if he wanted to do that song and he said, 'Yeah man I love this stuff.' I was like, damn, OK!"

According to will.i.am, Timberlake is much more of an all-around musician and producer than people realize. After being approached by Timberlake's manager Johnny Wright to work on the singer's album, will.i.am suggested that Timberlake just produce himself.

"Of course, I had two glasses of wine, so I normally wouldn't have said that, but I was being honest," he laughed.

Eventually, will.i.am agreed to do three songs on the album, but said he allowed Timberlake to participate in the production.

"(Timberlake) produces great vocals. I never had to say, 'that harmony you got right there is clashing, the fifth harmony you added is making everything sound dissonant,' I never had to say that to him. He just needs someone to press buttons.

"That dude is dope man," he continued. "He plays drums, he plays the bass, he plays the keys, he writes and he sings his ass off, and he can produce. So he's more like Prince than anything. I'm not talking about the music, not the obvious Prince, the genius side of things. He's like Prince, dude."

Will.i.am said that the Black Eyed Peas are planning a 10th anniversary album for Christmas 2007. "That's three tours away and two albums away — that's not far at all," he laughed. "I want it to be jazzier, I want us to go more jazzy, and more poetic, rather than rapping."

Meanwhile, The Black Eyed Peas' relentless touring schedule continues with a series of concerts in South America in November. Somewhere in there, will.i.am also makes time to support his Peapod Foundation, a global children's charity.

In the near future, will.i.am plans to release his first solo album. He said the hardest part for him is trying to figure out what his sound as a soloist should be.

"I don't want to dilute our brand, Black Eyed Peas, by putting out BEP music without the rest of the Peas," he said. "I don't want to switch it up too much, because I don't want it to sound pretentious."

One thing the album will include is songs with socially conscious lyrics.

"I wrote this song called 'The World Is Dying,' which is really talking to the youth, you know, and it's like 'Lord come down and help us out/send us an angel to help us out. Looks like we ain't gonna figure it out/the world is changing. Open up your eyes you can see things rearranging/the world is ending. And if they say it's going to be OK/they're just pretending.'"

"But then I have a lot of fun songs," he added. "I don't want to preach to people. There's a lot of fun songs. I have a song about MySpace, just a bunch of fun things."

Interscope Records wants the album out in December, according to will.i.am. He said that he's got "like 200 songs" but is hoping to have time to "put a little more dream juice on it."

He may not have a lot of time to sleep, but it's nice to know will.i.am still makes time for dreams.