|
AP: The Black Eyed Peas announced their hiatus two years ago. When did you start working on the album? will.i.am: I started working on '(hash)willpower' for about two, two-and-a-half years. And when you're in a group like The Black Eyed Peas and you're successful, a lot of times the company that you're with wants you to do just that. And they don't see that you can be successful outside of that. So I had to do
'(hash)willpower' all by myself -- fund it, pay for it. ... There's a lot at stake. You don't succeed, you mess up your group. ... Very few people succeed outside their group when their group is successful. So it's been a hurdle. AP: You dedicated the album to your late grandmother Sarah Ann Cain (who died last Thanksgiving). How did she influence you? will.i.am: We're from the projects -- East L.A. On welfare the majority of our lives. A lot of my friends are dead and in prison. Just like any urban person that comes from areas like I'm from. But my grandma was supergrandma. Ain't nobody mess with our family in my neighborhood because everybody loved my grandma. She was the one that prayed for everybody. ... We were one of the first families in the projects. And I moved them out. Music allowed me, helped me move my family out of the projects. ... If there was anybody who sculpted me, who molded me
-- my mind, my perspective, my heart: my grandma. ... She's not here anymore. But she's still here. ___ Online:
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries
Community |
Perspectives
|
Law & Courts |
Leisure Time
|
Spiritual Life |
Health & Fitness |
Teen Scene
Calendar
|
Letters to the Editor