I find myself thinking this every time I hear one of his songs. I quite like RnB in moderation so I'm not prejudice against his genre, but I cringe and cringe whenever I hear his music.

Is there anyone else who is totally baffled as to how he's become so popular, and such a powerful force within the industry? I can't wrap my head around it at all!

No, it's not just you, it is (mostly) terrible. He's done the odd good thing (e.g. he co-wrote/produced Brave by Kelis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cihl7uAcoe4) and I do think Where Is The Love is a good track but I've no idea how he's become so ubiquitous.

I really like him as a person though, I just wish his music was better.

His productions used to be ace, but his solo stuff isn't No idea why.

His music has got worse ever since he cut his hair. It's like his hair follicles are getting revenge by brainwashing him into thinking the antithesis of that which made him famous is good music.

He lives off other big names. Collaborations and name drops.... That's all he's about. Certainly not as talented as some within the industry make him out to be.

Funnily enough... Just as I tweeted that, he's at it again on twitter.


"Adam Levine is my neighbour in LA"

Levine is a twonk anyway.

nope its me too.

No offense, but it baffles me when producers like Will I Am are labelled as "r 'n' b". R 'n' b stands for rhythm and blues and his music has neither rhythm nor blues elements, so I think he's more electro/ techno. He hasn't done any r n'b or at least urban pop since 2005

Anyway, I think his music is starting to wear out now. His solo career has been a non-starter so far, the tracks he produces don't become smashes anymore and BEP's last album underperformed, so I hope this is a wake up call for him. He used to be a good producer with a fresh sound, it would be great if he returned to that

I like it...

I like 'One More Chance' released in 2008, but that is about it.Does anyone where that charted when it was released at all because it seemed like an obscure single?

Terrible stuff.

Will.i.am hasnt done RnB for quite a long time now. Do you just mean his solo stuff as ive liked his last two songs (T.H.E. and This Is Love). I think his music is very hit and miss withthe BEP whilst he has some great songs like I Gotta Feeling but he also does some awful songs like The Time and Imma Be.

That "you can go hard or you can go home" song (can't remember the name, sorry! ) is awful, but I quite like his new song, I think it's called This Is Love.

Just Can't Get Enough, which he produced, was the 10th biggest song of 2011 in the US. So he's doing just fine lol. He's only released one mainstream song since then.


Most of what will.i.am has been doing recently isn't really RnB tbh. Most of it is like a dance/electro/pop/hip hop fusion.

He has his own record label, which is one of the reasons he's so powerful in the music indusitry.

I'm not baffled as to how he became popular though. He's had so many hits over the years, it's incredible. Almost 10 years since Where is the Love? now! A lot of the general public really like his songs, and he's very versatile. He's produced songs like Big Girls Don't Cry and Boom Boom Pow, which couldn't be much more different imo.

Some of it is ok.

I think Imma Be is a brilliant song. I love how it goes from a hip hop beat at the beginning to a dance beat at the end, and does it so smoothly. And that's another example of a successful song he did recently, as it got to #1 in the US.

He didn't make I Gotta Feeling though. It was David Guetta who made that song (I always find it funny that the biggest hit by the BEPs is one of the few not produced by will.i.am, and David Guetta's biggest hit is one of the few he doesn't get artist credit on).

I know he wrote it but it is a BEP song.
The phrase Imma Be is said 106 times in the song , i cant take it lol.

That many times? I don't mind the first couple of verses of it but it gets very annoying after a while. Can't stand I Gotta Feeling at all. One of the most annoying songs ever.

His early stuff is much better. Like BEP's Elephunk and Monkey business eras

i agree they are very different productions. he has also written some huge hit singles for john legend, estelle, usher and even cheryl`s 3 words was possibly one of her better singles. `boom boom pow` was really the turning point in terms of genre, but it was nonetheless a great track and sometimes a change helps keep artists relevant.

however, he does have a hit or miss strike rate which clouds his overall consistency. for every `boom boom pow` there is a `the time (dirty bit)`. `t.h.e. (the hardest ever)` is absolutely awful, but with his strike rate a hit single wont be that far around the corner.

i do agree with others that cite his early material as being particularly strong. `shut up` will always be up there with some of his best work.

his new ones pretty decent http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wi91g3_9tqk

I liked 'Heartbreaker' but that's about it.

Will.i.am is a great businessman and certainly knows how the music industry works, much like Simon Cowell does. I can take or leave his music though.

I don't really care for will.i.am, but T.H.E. is so hilariously bad that I have to listen to it whenever it's on a music channel, it just gives me a weird sense of joy.

He co-wrote Ordinary People. That is a great song.

The rest, not so much.