| Masters of the Sun Vol. 1 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | October 26, 2018 (2018-10-26) | |||
| Genre | Hip hop | |||
| Length | 58:16 | |||
| Label | Interscope | |||
| Producer |
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| Black Eyed Peas chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Masters of the Sun Vol. 1 | ||||
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Masters of the Sun Vol. 1 is the seventh studio album by American musical groupBlack Eyed Peas. Apolitical album loosely inspired by thegraphic novel of the same name and the contemporary social climate of the United States, it is a departure from the Black Eyed Peas'electronic dance andpop-influenced albumsThe E.N.D. andThe Beginning, marking a return to the group'ship hop andboom bap style of their early career. The album was Black Eyed Peas' first in eight years, and their first album to featureJ. Rey Soul as the newest member of the group, following the departure ofFergie earlier in 2018. It is also their first where they are credited asBlack Eyed Peas (without the 'the' prefix) sinceBridging the Gap in 2000. Preceded by numeroussingles andmusic videos,Masters of the Sun Vol. 1 was released on October 26, 2018, and it is the last Black Eyed Peas album with longtime labelInterscope Records.
Described bywill.i.am as "party album[s]", the Black Eyed Peas released theelectronic dance-influencedThe E.N.D. andThe Beginning in 2009 and 2010,[2] following the2008 election ofBarack Obama asPresident of the United States.[3] The band welcomed Obama's election;[3] will.i.am had recorded and released "Yes We Can", a single that promoted Obama's election campaign during theDemocratic Party primaries,[4][5] and often claims the song had helped Obama get elected.[3][6] The band's most commercially successfulsingle during this period, "I Gotta Feeling", was inspired by the band's perception of being "in the center of a ginormous change in America".[7] The track became thebest-selling digital song of all time until it was surpassed byPharrell Williams' "Happy" in 2014.[8][9] By the end of 2010,The E.N.D. had sold over eleven million copies worldwide, whileThe Beginning had sold over two million copies worldwide.[10][11] The band had intended to return to the studio to create their seventh studio album soon after the release ofThe Beginning, though frequent delays andTaboo's diagnosis withtesticular cancer in 2014, along with his subsequent treatment and recovery, led to the project being put on hiatus.[12]
The deteriorating political and social climate in the United States towards the end ofObama's presidency caused concern in the band, withdeaths by law enforcement and theunrest inFerguson,Missouri, inspiring the band to write "Ring the Alarm" in 2014.[13] In August 2016, the band releaseda remake of "Where Is the Love?", with updated lyrics and numerous featured artists, addressing topics such as theBlack Lives Matter movement,gun violence in the United States, theSyrian civil war andrefugee crisis, andterrorism in Europe.[14][15][16] The band purposed the remake as a "[call] for calm" that asked "to stop the hate and violence that has resulted in many lives lost."[17] In 2017, the Black Eyed Peas collaborated withMarvel Comics to releaseMasters of the Sun, ascience fictionsuperherographic novel that references social issues and street culture inLos Angeles.[18][19] The novel's adaptation foraugmented reality devices featured a downbeatjazz andsoul soundtrack composed byHans Zimmer,[20] which inspired the "mood" of the next Black Eyed Peas album.[21] will.i.am was adamant about departing from thepop-centric sound ofThe E.N.D. andThe Beginning, to the dismay of the group's record labelInterscope.[22]
Masters of the Sun Vol. 1 is apolitical album that addresses social issues such asgun violence,police brutality,race relations, and the effects ofsocial media.[23][24]will.i.am allegorizes the album's lyrical themes to aGPS, feeling that the "world wants some direction."[25] The group stuck to a general philosophy of "art, smart, and heart" during the creative process, aiming to depict theirphilanthropic career through their music, in contrast to their earlierproduction-centric albums,[26] and challenging themselves to constantly re-write lines to make them better.[27] Musically, the album is a return to the group'ship hop andboom bap style fromBehind the Front andBridging the Gap, their first two albums released in 1998 and 2000, respectively.[28][29] The Black Eyed Peas also took inspiration fromAtban Klann, an early 1990s hip hop group that involved a teenage will.i.am andapl.de.ap; the group often envisioned what their teenage selves would have written about the world today.[30] "Big Love" is apop-rap track penned with the premise of "reminding the world the importance of love", drawing comparisons to "Where Is the Love?" from the Black Eyed Peas' 2003 albumElephunk.[31][32] The song is based on a simple piano progression and gritty drum pattern, with lyrics referencinggovernment corruption,drug addiction andgun control in the frame of a "day in the life of a kid in America", the song's opening line.[33]
Prior to the announcement and release ofMasters of the Sun Vol. 1, the Black Eyed Peas released numeroussingles throughout 2018 from recording sessions for the album: "Street Livin'" on January 9,[34] "Ring the Alarm" on May 18,[35] "Get It" on July 10,[36] and "Constant" on August 30,[37] each with accompanyingmusic videos, the former three of which politically-charged.[34][35][36] Coinciding with the release of "Ring the Alarm", the group's website was updated with interactive features that allowed users to earndigital tokens for positive interactions with the group on social media, which were redeemable for exclusive content and meet and greets with the group.[38]Masters of the Sun Vol. 1 was announced via apress release by The Black Eyed Peas andInterscope Records on September 12, 2018.[39] "Big Love" was simultaneously released as thelead single promoting the album.[31][40] Its two-part music video raising awareness ofgun control andanti-separation movements in the United States was released on September 21,[41][42] and profits from sales of the single were donated to gun control activist groupMarch for Our Lives and the anti-separation activist groupFamilies Belong Together.[39]Masters of the Sun Vol. 1 was released on October 26, 2018, byInterscope Records,[43] after being delayed a fortnight past its intended release date of October 12.[39]Pre-orders for the album started on October 19.[43] It was the group's first album in eight years after the release ofThe Beginning in 2010.[24]
The group appeared as one of twopre-match entertainment acts at the2018 AFL Grand Final, along with Australian rock musicianJimmy Barnes,[44] performing "Big Love" along with a number of their earlier hits withThe Voice of the Philippines finalist Jessica Reynoso.[45] The performance was met with criticism, especially for a moment in which will.i.am pulled out his phone mid-performance,[45] prompting an apologetic response from will.i.am and Taboo onTwitter.[46][47] The group embarked on the Masters of the Sun Tour to promote the album, performing fourteen shows acrossEurope in October and November 2018.[39][40] A second leg of the tour in Asia occurred in 2019.[28]
British electronic musicianLone, along with his record labelR&S, publicly accused the Black Eyed Peas ofillegally sampling his 2013 track "Airglow Fires" forMasters of the Sun's fifth track, "Constant".[43][48] R&S alleged that neither the band orInterscope Records contacted them orWarp Publishing for permission to sample the track.[49] Both the Black Eyed Peas andwill.i.am had previously been embroiled in similar legal controversies over "Party All the Time" fromThe E.N.D. and "Let's Go" from#willpower.[50][51]
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [52] |
| HipHopDX | 4.1/5[53] |
| Newsday |  [54] |
| Rolling Stone | [55] |
Masters of Sun Vol.1 generally received positive reviews by themusic critics,Glenn Gamboa ofNewsday praised the album as a "welcome return" for the band, writing that the band had "[recaptured] the edge the Peas once had" on "Yes or No", and singled out the socially conscious lyrics of "Ring the Alarm",jazz influences on "Vibrations", andNicole Scherzinger's performance on "Wings" as positives.[54]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Back 2 Hiphop" (featuringNas) |
|
| 5:18 |
| 2. | "Yes or No" |
|
| 5:04 |
| 3. | "Get Ready" |
|
| 4:10 |
| 4. | "4ever" (featuringEsthero) |
| will.i.am | 3:48 |
| 5. | "Constant pt.1 pt.2" (featuringSlick Rick) |
| 5:03 | |
| 6. | "Dopeness" (featuringCL) |
| will.i.am | 4:38 |
| 7. | "All Around the World" (featuringPhife Dawg,Ali Shaheed Muhammad andPosdnuos) |
|
| 5:01 |
| 8. | "New Wave" |
| 4:54 | |
| 9. | "Vibrations pt.1 pt.2" |
| 4:21 | |
| 10. | "Wings" (featuringNicole Scherzinger) |
| will.i.am | 5:17 |
| 11. | "Ring the Alarm pt.1 pt.2 pt.3" |
| will.i.am, DJ Motiv8 | 5:58 |
| 12. | "Big Love" |
| will.i.am | 4:35 |
| Total length: | 58:16 | |||
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13. | "Street Livin'" |
|
| 3:04 |
| 14. | "Get It" |
| will.i.am | 3:30 |
| 15. | "Constant pt.2 (Extended Version)" |
|
| 6:01 |
| Total length: | 70:51 | |||
Notes[57]
Black Eyed Peas
Additional musicians
| Chart (2018) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[58] | 167 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[59] | 158 |
| French Albums (SNEP)[60] | 112 |
| Japan Hot Albums (Billboard Japan)[61] | 94 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)[62] | 118 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[63] | 55 |
| UK Album Downloads (OCC)[64] | 72 |
| UK R&B Albums (OCC)[65] | 27 |
| US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Album Sales (Billboard)[66] | 35 |
| Country | Date | Format | Label | Catalogue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia[67] | October 26, 2018 | Interscope | 1439145773 | |
| Australia[68] | November 9, 2018 | CD | 360391 | |
| Japan[56] | December 5, 2018 | CD | Universal Music Japan |
Bibliography
Citations
Hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas song I Gotta Feeling is the best-selling digital song of all time, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
It was the most successful song of the 21st century worldwide until 2014, when it was surpassed by Pharrell's "Happy".
Released in June 2009, The E.N.D. has sold more than 11 million copies worldwide...
The group has changed some of the lyrics to reflect current situations, hoping to bring attention to the terrible gun violence that has plagued the United States recently.
The band has remade the song in response to the numerous terror attacks on 2016, the ongoing crisis in Syria...
...a powerful message on the refugee crisis and the Black Lives Matter movement.
A statement says the song and accompanying video "calls for calm, asking citizens of the world to stop the hate and violence that has resulted in many lives lost."
...tackling elements like music and L.A. street culture. Scifi, alien invasions, zombie apocalypses, social issues...
...Masters of the Sun embodies real life social allegories that include L.A. gangs, hip-hop and street dance culture.
...musical score from Academy Award winning composer Hans Zimmer.
"Big Love" tackles everything from gun violence and police brutality to race relations and the effects of social media.
...the UAE show will happen as part of the Asian leg of the tour in 2019 [...] their upcoming albumMasters of the Sun, which is out on October 12 and will see them return to their hip hop roots...
...the track is heavier on the pop side than their previous releases "Ring The Alarm" and the Slick Rick-assisted "Constant Part 1 & 2", which find the trio heading back to their boom bap roots.
...its strong political stance resembles that of the group's multi-platinum global smash hit, Where is the Love from their album Elephunk [...] "Big Love" features the band's signature pop-rap song...
The single echoes the sentiments reflected in their hit 2003 song, "Where is the Love?"
Over a simple piano progression and gritty drum pattern, the rappers nod to depressing headlines about war, government corruption, drug addiction and gun control – contrasted with an optimistic chorus. will.i.am frames the song as a "day in the life of a kid in America,"...
...the politically charged video...
The hard-hitting progressive video is broken down into three parts...
Politically charged video features Trump look-alike, alludes to wrongful deaths of Eric Garner, Walter Scott.
Proceeds from the song will go to via the March for Our Lives [...] and the Families Belong Together foundation coalition [...] The Black Eyed Peas will also be heading out on 'The Masters of the Sun Tour.'...
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)The Black Eyed Peas tackle gun violence at schools and immigration in two new music videos for their song, "Big Love." The trio released the videos Friday...
Highlighting the migrant separation crisis currently occurring across the United States as well gun violence...
...Masters of the Sun Vol. 1, which arrives October 26 via Interscope. [...] The record has already caused controversy prior to its arrival, with Lone accusing the Black Eyed Peas of using a sample from "Airglow Fires" on "Constant Part 1 & 2" without permission. [...] The album is available for pre-order as of today.
The American band will— led by Will.i.am— will entertain the crowd ahead of the Saturday's Grand Final between Collingwood and West Coast Eagles.
The frontman was criticised for whipping out his mobile phone halfway through a song on Saturday [...] The trio received mixed reviews for a performance that included hits Let's Get It Started, Big Love, Where Is The Love? and I Gotta Feeling. [...] Reynoso is a former finalist on "The Voice of the Philippines"
"That's me being a performer and camera man, showing the world how awesome Australia is... Sorry if I offended anyone by sharing my love," he wrote.
"I will lead with ultimate Big Love and say u must have been in a different mode if u thought we where not interested We love Australia and enjoyed every minute of our set .. Love to u all 🇦🇺 [sic]," he tweeted.
UK producer Lone and Belgian electronic label R&S have accused Black Eyed Peas of lifting from Lone's track "Airglow Fires" on their recent single "Constant Part 1 & 2."
...the label said, "No one from The Black Eyed Peas or their label has contacted R&S or Warp Publishing."
[Freeland]'s had offered them a beat and it was a case of working together." However, because the Peas were unable to "finalize legalities," as Will.i.am explains, "clearance was not done and that was what it was about.
A Russian producer and DJ named Arty is accusing the Black Eyed Pea of stealing the tonal structure and hook of his 2011 song "Rebound" and using it in "Let's Go,"...
And it's a welcome return [...] the socially conscious "Ring the Alarm." The well-crafted "Yes or No" recaptures the edge the Peas once had [...] The jazzy grooves on "Vibrations" and Nicole Scherzinger's Nina Simone-influenced vocals on the ambitious "Wings" remind old-school stans about why they first backed the group.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
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