As with their last hit, Elephunk, Black Eyed Peas' new disc Monkey Business is a joyful cross-genre journey with musical props to hip-hop, rock, folk, funk, and pop. The reason the Black Eyed Peas have audience appeal that crosses over many styles is because the band members are such obvious fans of diverse music. Nowhere is this more apparent than on Monkey Business's high-profile guest list. After Justin Timberlake's contribution to the massive "Where Is the Love" breakout hit from Elephunk, their inclusion of big names once again was a smart, respectful move on the part of the band as well as their guests. "My Style" is Timberlake's BEP foray number two; while the song is funky pop fun, those looking to hear Justin in the forefront are likely to be disappointed, as his vocals are mixed evenly, no sweet soulful solos this time. Other guests of note are Jack Johnson, who cowrote the bling-bashing "Gone Going," Sting on "Union" (sonically inspired by the former Police-man's "Englishman in New York"), while funk legend James Brown contributes to a scorching soul track dubbed "They Don't Want Music." The contribution of female vocalist Fergie--who joined the band partway through their last CD--has raised up considerably on the band's fourth disc, their second as a quartet. Sassily fronting her way through songs like "My Humps," the "Hey Mama"-esque "Dum Diddly" and the first single "Don't Phunk With My Heart," Fergie's melodic contributions make for a record that will likely be heard by wider audiences than ever, making this a truly accessible `hip-pop' CD. --Denise Sheppard

Recommended Black Eyed Peas Discography

Behind the Front

Bridging the Gap

Elephunk

I've always thought the Black Eyed Peas were reminiscent of The B-52s. It's not that their sound is so much like theirs' (They sound nothing alike.), it's that they have the same quirky, fun, spirit.
This is the way pop music should be. It's incredibly corny, the lyrics are dumb and shallow, but it just sounds right.
You can tell they don't take themselves too seriously, and that's a good thing... to me at least.

i like this album. the beats keep it going. definite switch from when they first popped onto the scene.

Fergie is awesome! Rest is okay. Good cd overall though if you like their music.

My first reaction to an album like "Monkey Business" is to rip it to shreds and drone on and on about how it is virtually void of any musical significance, which I'll get to in a moment. But I stop and think back to some of the awful music that I listened to briefly in the 80's. Acts like The B-52's and Culture Club, and I wonder, "was I listening to music that was any better than The Black Eyed Peas? Most of those 80's acts were silly and asinine but at least they were musical and melodic. The B-52's were an actual band, playing musical instruments (badly), sang (badly) and they actually wrote music. Boy George had a decent singing voice and Culture Club was basically a R&B act. R.E.M. and Echo & The Bunnymen were channeling The Byrds. Duran Duran was a Roxy Music imitation and Bauhaus were a dark version of Bowie. And Kraftwerk were doing some innovative and creative things with synthesizers, geiger counters and various electronic toys that were new on the toy market.

But The Black Eyed Peas and most of the pop acts today, are a novelty act. These guys aren't interest in making a musical statement. They're merely a hit machine. Crank out a few hits, make some dollars and then fade out. Where's the musicianship? This music is merely a product of computers, sequencers and samplers (as heard on the opening track, courtesy of surf guitarist Dick Dale). Sure, Modern English's "Melt With You" was only 2 chords but those chords were part of a melody that was written, a human was playing that melody and someone was singing (as opposed to rapping).

This actually should be called "punk funk." A punk version of the soul and R&B acts of the 70's - a rebellion of sorts. Like the punk bands reacting to Emerson, Lake & Palmer and Jethro Tull by playing their instruments badly as to mock the huge recording acts of the 70's, rap seems to be the same thing. Ghetto thugs who can't sing or play instruments, rebelling against Sly Stone or Stevie Wonder, sampling them and mangling black R&B.

Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R3F7RY5KDTQJNJ So the time has come for me to step outside of the things I love and review something I really hate. I know this album is old news with Fergie extending her personal 15 minutes of fame by launcing a solo career and all, but I'm in the mood for a rant. If there's one thing that ticks me off, it's when an art form that I respect becomes nothing but a bad joke for the untalented to tell over and over and again while every real artist creating something new and exciting is ignored completely. Payola is the name of the game here and the success of this group of living hate crimes against hip-hop proves that with enough money to back you up and a glorified stripper in the mix, people will pay to eat a pile of musical excrement and then smile and ask for more.

Rappers that barely rap, a singer that can barely sing, some dudes who pretty much just stand there on stage and look dumb, and not a song writer or legitimate musician among them. That's right, it's a recipe for a Grammy and #1 album; just ask Milli Vanilli. It's a sad statement on our society that grown men and women will accept this as "art" and even pretend to enjoy it as it destroys the validity hip-hop artists past fought so very hard to obtain. This isn't culture; this is some rich white corporate scumbag's prefabricated idea of what he thinks we, the lower classes, want to see and will identify with: something so mindless and schmaltzy it brings Barney and Friends to mind. The worst of it is he's right. This is as bad as music of any genre gets. Period.