With His Music, Will.i.am Proves Change is Possible

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With His Music, Will.i.am Proves Change is Possible
by Alexis Andrews - November 28, 2008

Yes, Will.i.am can: from fashion to music, politics, and now, film

Yes We Can. It has been a couple of weeks since the results of the general election, yet the Will.i.am record that was released in support of Barack Obama’s 2008 US presidential campaign still echoes as resoundingly as the images of its official music video. Oh, we’d all watched it on Youtube – helped it rack up a total of 21 million views in fact. Moreover, the song was critically acclaimed, garnering praise in Time Magazine as well as receiving an Emmy Award for Best New Approaches in Daytime Entertainment.

“Yes We Can,” the lyrics of which Will.i.am had composed almost entirely from Obama’s speech last January shortly after the New Hampshire primary, is at once glamorous and inspiring. The Obama campaign said it had nothing to do with the creation and production of the record, but later on they used it anyway and made it available on the Obama campaign community blog. The video was directed by Jesse Dylan, the son of Bob Dylan, and featured appearances by a number of Obama-supporting musicians, actors, and celebrities: Scarlett Johansson, John Legend, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Aisha Tyler, Kate Walsh, Nick Cannon, Herbie Hancock, Nicole Scherzinger of the Pussycat Dolls, Common, and Kelly Hu, among others. At the center of this – spearheading the uniquely musical political advocacy effort – was Will.i.am, a multiplatinum hip hop rapper, dancer, songwriter, and producer.

“We made the song and video, usually this process would take months,” he said. “But this time I took it in my own hands...and instead of putting it in the hands of profit we put it in the hands of inspiration.”

Despite the song, the Los Angeles-born Will.i.am admitted to not really being “big on politics”. But that doesn’t mean that the founding member and frontman of the hip hop/ pop group Black Eyed Peas fell short in standing as a monolith of positive change. Before making a name for himself in the arts and entertainment industry, he attended L.A.’s Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising. And then from fashion his career took a turn towards the musical.

He raps and produces for one of the world’s most intriguing – not to mention popular – groups, the Black Eyed Peas, which has since then released Grammy-winning albums such as Elephunk and Monkey Business. Known for its conscious, edgy lyrics and eclectically-crafted arrangements (courtesy of Will.i.am), Black Eyed Peas was responsible for hits like "Where Is The Love” and “My Hump”. Always in demand, Will.i.am has also produced records and music albums for other artists, among them the Pussycat Dolls, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Lil Wayne, Ciara, Macy Gray, and Black Eyed Peas bandmate Fergie.

But now, after fashion, music, and politics, Will.i.am is focused on making waves in yet another creative endeavor: film. He is the voice of the romantic hippo Moto Moto in the animated Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa, and has recently been cast as the mutant John Wraith in the upcoming X-Men prequel. Excessively ambitious? Maybe, but as Will.i.am has shown time and again – yes, he can.

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