← The Breakfast Club
The Breakfast Club
INTERVIEW: will.i.am & Taboo Talk 'East LA, Black Eyed Peas, Childhood, Giving Back To LA Communities, AI +More
00:45:49
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- [00:00]
Will.i.am
This is an iHeart podcast.
- [00:05]
DJ Envy
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- [00:42]
Will.i.am
Wake that ass up early in the morning. The Breakfast Club.
- [00:47]
Charlemagne tha God
Morning, everybody. It's DJ Envy. Just hilarious. Charlemagne the guy. We are the Breakfast Club. We got some special guests in the building.
- [00:54]
Angela Yee
Oh, guys.
- [00:55]
Charlemagne tha God
Will, I am a table. Welcome fellas.
- [00:57]
Will.i.am
What's up? What's up? What's up?
- [00:58]
Charlemagne tha God
How you feeling?
- [00:59]
Will.i.am
It's good to be here. Good to see you, man.
- [01:01]
Angela Yee
Y' all got the new record out east la. Yeah, talk to us about that, man.
- [01:05]
Taboo
I'm sorry, thank you.
- [01:08]
Will.i.am
So much.
- [01:09]
apl.de.ap
Appreciate the love.
- [01:11]
Will.i.am
Obviously we sampled Carlos Santana, so thank you for clearing that. It's been sampled a bunch, but there's a part in the song where he says, Maria, Maria fell in love with east la. So I just wanted to like highlight that part of the song and shout out the community that's being hit pretty hard by the ice raids. And what's beautiful about that is I also got a. I also got a text from Wyclef saying he's a producer of the song. Like, yo, let me get a clip of the video so I can post that. So that I meant a lot. But what's going on in our communities is pretty harsh. And I'm all for, you know, making sure our borders are safe, but it's just inhumane to go after anybody that looks Latin that, you know, there's people that have been detained that are residents and citizens. There was a person who served in our military that was been, that has been detained. I just think that's a, a pretty, you know, bad execution that took a good idea and turned into a bad idea because they could have been going out to making sure our communities are safer by apprehending, you know, criminals. But to go after hard working folks, people that are working two to three jobs to keep, you know, food on their table, their kids going off to four year colleges I know this firsthand because of my program, my foundation, the work that we do getting kids to go off to four year colleges. We've witnessed the fear that's been instilled in our neighborhood. So I just wanted to lift up the vibration and celebrate the community.
- [03:03]
apl.de.ap
And also as Angelenos, born and raised in East Los Angeles, his mom went to Roosevelt High School, my mom went to Garfield. So there was always this beautiful rivalry, but at the end of the day, it was about uniting and bringing East LA together and standing in solidarity with those folks that, you know, that are crying out for help, justice.
- [03:21]
Angela Yee
So what does East LA mean to both of you personally? Like, is this record like more of a tribute? Is it a time capsule or is it something else?
- [03:27]
Will.i.am
Well, for me it's a thank you. It's a I see you, I love you. I have a lot of just beautiful memories there. I was born and raised there, spent 25 years of my life there in the project streaming, was able to move my family, you know, and we migrated out of the projects. But I still, you know, loved my neighborhood, my pro, My program. I got a robotics program right in the middle of the projects that I'm from. My. My after school program is right down the street from that. My aunt still works at the homeless shelter there, my uncle still works at the park, you know, keeping the kids off the streets. So although we moved out of the projects, we're still in the heart of the community. So East LA is like an ongoing dialogue of commitment, dedication to, you know, change the vibration of the neighborhood.
- [04:25]
apl.de.ap
And for me, as a native Mexican kid from la, it means a lot to be able to not only give back to the community, but in a sense of championing the idea of solidarity and oneness, but also to be able to rap in Spanish or Spanglish. Like that was dope for us, you know, using slang, specifically from. From East LA or Ball Heights. Really loving the vibration and the frequency that is the color and the texture of East Los Angeles. And that's why the video is so colorful.
- [04:53]
Charlemagne tha God
Yeah, you know, it's crazy. You know, you said something earlier that a lot of people don't necessarily say. You were saying that you're not mad if they're taking criminals off the street, taking people that are doing bad things off the street, but there has to be a process and procedure to do it and to figure out the good from the bad. Is that what you're saying?
- [05:10]
Will.i.am
Yeah. Like you remember during COVID they did a really good job making sure everybody got swabbed making sure everybody got vaccinated. And specifically in Los Angeles, they kind.
- [05:20]
Charlemagne tha God
Of forced it on most people, but.
- [05:22]
Will.i.am
Yeah, well.
- [05:25]
apl.de.ap
That.
- [05:26]
Will.i.am
That's a different subject. Yeah, but there was like a. Of where you volunteered and drove to the nearest stadium or the arena to get swabbed and. And vaccinated. And. And a lot of the folks that did that. Not a lot. A portion of the folks that did that were undocumented. So they know where the undocumented people actually live. They got all the information, but the way that they went about doing it is inhumane. There is a path that they could have taken to boost our economy by turning undocumented folks to documented folks. Because these folks that have these jobs, income taxes, are taken from their paycheck. And people in Beverly Hills and Brentwood, they know their services are needed. Altadena and Malibu, Palisades burned down. In reconfiguring these neighborhoods, they know the value of these people's services. And so I just think the way they went about it is horribly wrong. There could have been a better tactic that, you know, gave people dignity, gave them the opportunity to become citizens, just the way other countries do. Just a blanket. Just go into a neighborhood mass. People right. In unmarked vehicles. You're inciting kidnapping because there's no way to be able. Like, who was that person? You couldn't even. You couldn't even describe them, you know, what car was that? Well, you wouldn't even know. What if that was a government vehicle? I just think the tactic was just poor, you know, and it doesn't reflect America's best. It doesn't reflect. That sounds like a third world country. That doesn't sound like America.
- [07:26]
Charlemagne tha God
I agree.
- [07:27]
Angela Yee
Why was west side Story the right song to sample for this record?
- [07:31]
Will.i.am
Oh, because it said east la.
- [07:34]
Charlemagne tha God
Is that part that said east la.
- [07:35]
Will.i.am
That's the part. I just love that part. And he said it with so much emotion. And I just wanted to just highlight that part.
- [07:44]
apl.de.ap
Yeah.
- [07:44]
Will.i.am
You know, I wanted to highlight, you know, and. And Carlos Santana has always been a hero in the Chicano community. Me, growing up, you know, his brother did an awesome song. Shout out to Kid Frost for sampling his brother's record. You know, it's a. It's. It's. You know, and I salute Carlos Santana once again for. For clearing that record.
- [08:09]
apl.de.ap
Yeah, yeah. And it was beautiful to have, like the. The musical transitions from the trio, which we're used to in East Los Angeles. When you're on a date or you're doing something with family, you see trios in restaurants. And then to go, what is that taboo?
- [08:23]
Angela Yee
I don't know what that is.
- [08:24]
apl.de.ap
Three. Oh, is like a. Like a three guitar. Yes.
- [08:27]
Angela Yee
Okay.
- [08:28]
apl.de.ap
So that frequency that you first hear, that's a trio and there three dudes playing, usually at restaurants or, you know, at different events. And then to be able to have it go into a transition of a cumbia, but the undertone of a hip hop bop, as you said, like, that's. It's really dope.
- [08:43]
Angela Yee
What's the. Was it Kumbaya?
- [08:45]
Will.i.am
What did you say? Cumbia is a style of music that originated out of Colombia, and then a lot of Central American countries have adopted it. The Mexicano acumbia is really awesome. It's popular, but originated in Colombia. It's like a. It's like this rhythm. Like, you know, reggaeton is poops and, you know, trap has its signature rhythm. You know, there's all these house hat obviously has their four on the floor, but a cumbia's on the percussive. That. That's a signature rhythm throughout every cumbia. And so we. We wanted to go from a trio to a cumbia because that's what growing up in East LA felt like. I grew up in a predominantly Mexican neighborhood, which was, you know, beautiful.
- [09:39]
Angela Yee
I heard you was the only black family there.
- [09:41]
Will.i.am
There was like, okay, there was the Hamers. There were.
- [09:45]
Angela Yee
We don't know these people. Will.
- [09:47]
Charlemagne tha God
No.
- [09:47]
Taboo
He say who they were?
- [09:49]
Charlemagne tha God
He's counting on his head.
- [09:50]
Will.i.am
How many people. There's a Hamer family, the Rose family, the Walkers, my family, which is pretty. Pretty large. No canes.
- [10:01]
apl.de.ap
Okay, The Canes.
- [10:04]
Will.i.am
And Clifford. There's about five black families in our neighborhood. But to all the Mexicans, it was just one black family. You know, I mean, and it was beautiful. It was beautiful growing up there.
- [10:20]
Taboo
People say you said that. People tell you that you're not from east la, but you're from Boyle Heights. What's the difference?
- [10:27]
Will.i.am
So growing up East LA was East LA, but then we. They like 20 years ago, they specified, like, no, we from Boyle Heights and Boyle Heights. Boyle Heights is, you know, just east of downtown, but not as east as east la. And these two schools, I think, really, you know, define the rivalry between East East LA and Boyle Heights, Roosevelt and Garfield. There's a lot of, like, as far as the vibe, it's the same as far as, like. But the high schools, the gangs are totally, totally different. Yeah, but to. To East Siders, it's all one thing. But then there's. There's a lot of people that's going to be listening, watching this. So I have to be super careful to be like, Willie's boy or high school. Don't be giving of, you know, separating us or like, you know, saying we're all together. But right now, we are we all together. Right now, we all together, right?
- [11:30]
Charlemagne tha God
You know what I want to ask? You know, we talk about, you know, black and the Latin culture a lot, especially in New York, right? It's different. It's more Puerto Rican than dominicans, right?
- [11:39]
Angela Yee
And MB's Dominican, by the way.
- [11:40]
Charlemagne tha God
I'm not Dominican. I'm black. He says, I'm Dominican.
- [11:42]
Will.i.am
You look Dominican. Everybody say.
- [11:45]
Charlemagne tha God
I'm not. I'm fully black.
- [11:46]
Will.i.am
I'm black. Okay, good.
- [11:47]
Charlemagne tha God
But, you know, growing up, it was kind of like. It was when I say us versus them and not us as in, it was the blacks, Puerto Ricans and Dominicans.
- [11:56]
apl.de.ap
We stood together, we stuck together, right?
- [11:57]
Charlemagne tha God
We clubbed, we partied together. It was against. So it's nothing to hear somebody Puerto Rican say, nigga, you know, that's my nigga. That's that. This to the other. So a Mexican OT recently said it. People had a problem with it. It's different here because we didn't grow up with the Mexican community. We grew up with Puerto Rican Dominicans. So Fat Joe saying nigga was never a problem. Jlo saying it. We didn't think, oh, my God. It was how we grew up. Especially in Bronx, Queens, Brooklyn, whatever. How was it growing up in la? Because people were disturbed by that one time. But I'm like, that might be the same thing as how we grew up here.
- [12:29]
Will.i.am
It depends. Northinos, they say they drop in bombs all the time.
- [12:36]
apl.de.ap
Northerners, Northern people.
- [12:45]
Will.i.am
And, you know, Richmond and they. They inbomb all the time. Southern Cali, they don't really do that. Our manager, Polo, he be dropping it crazy. He ain't here, though.
- [13:01]
Charlemagne tha God
Paulo's Mexican.
- [13:02]
Will.i.am
Paulo's Mexican. Like, okay, yeah, so it all depends on what, which part of California you talk about. But because there's more black and Latin communities in Northern California, where it's tightly niched together, I could see why that. That. That has, like, a tolerance. In Southern California, there has been a division between blacks and Latins highly because of prisons. So the prisons have separated blacks and Latins. And so there was like, this notion that, wow, you survived. How did you get. How did you survive being one of the only black families in all Mexican neighborhood? For me, it was. It was. It was awesome. There's a lot of black people in Southern California. That probably had a tougher time, but for my family, it was. And the other black families in our neighborhood and Aliso Pico, Iliso Village, it was awesome.
- [14:04]
Charlemagne tha God
In Taboo.
- [14:06]
apl.de.ap
Well, growing up in Dogtown Projects, which is close to where he grew up, and then I moved to Rosemead, California, it was predominantly Asian and Mexican, so we didn't really have to worry about that. It was more like, you know, the Mexican Asian War, because it was heavy in the 80s, like, the watchings versus, like, Bartlett street or, you know, all these gangs that were in the San Gabriel Valley. But I always knew that, you know, there was, like, this divide and the separation. So when Black Eyed Peas was formed, it was like, yo, hip hop brought us together. It was not a cultural thing. It's not like, oh, Tab's Native American and Mexican and Will's Black and Apple's Filipinos. More like, nah, we hip hop kids. We grew up on Daeline Tribe. So that whole essence of just, like, you know, standing together for hip hop, b boying, MCing, it was that thing so that the word was never really, like, a thing for us.
- [14:58]
Will.i.am
But you had. In your neighborhood, you. You got a lot of flack.
- [15:02]
apl.de.ap
Oh, because I hung out with. Yeah.
- [15:05]
Will.i.am
They'll be like, hey, the fool hangs out with the blacks.
- [15:08]
apl.de.ap
Oh, yeah. So. So my son's mom, Josh, my oldest son, his mom was black.
- [15:13]
Will.i.am
Yeah.
- [15:14]
apl.de.ap
So I got a lot of flack. Like, hey, you're living a taboo lifestyle. You have a black girlfriend.
- [15:18]
Angela Yee
That's what the name came from.
- [15:19]
apl.de.ap
Yeah, that's the taboo lifestyle. Yeah.
- [15:21]
Angela Yee
Wow.
- [15:22]
apl.de.ap
So. So I was like, yeah, well, if I'm living the taboo lifestyle, I am taboo.
- [15:26]
Will.i.am
Yeah.
- [15:27]
apl.de.ap
So then that whole energy came about, like, yo, I don't. I'm down with the blacks, down with the Filipinos, down with the Mexicans, the Asians. And that's that. That connection that I had growing up.
- [15:37]
Will.i.am
Yeah.
- [15:38]
Angela Yee
How does, like, when you talk about East LA and, you know, y' all are mentioning all the different types of music that y' all were influenced by that went into this record, how did that show up in y' all musical identity before?
- [15:48]
Will.i.am
Oh, oh, oh. So if you listen to, like, songs like, on our first album, you listen to, like, songs like Latin girls on our third album, or people that we've collaborated with, like Jus and Juan Sebastian, Debbie Nova. Debbie Nova. Or a few Sergio Mendes. If you see records on, like, Translation where we went and dove into, like, reggaeton, or when I collaborated with Daddy Yankee, like, on his first record, we've always been like, fusing Latin rhythms. Like, our Bio was in 1998 was like, why is Black Eyed Peas different? We were like. We infuse Latin rhythms because of our, you know, upbringings. Like, you could Google it. Google it. But, yeah, if Google has it.
- [16:38]
apl.de.ap
And it was dope being able to drop Spanish verses back then.
- [16:42]
Will.i.am
Yeah.
- [16:42]
apl.de.ap
So I was dropping. Like, we did a song called Release, and I was like, srca esto es offer you Spanish tongue is pink and true.
- [17:00]
Taboo
So that was like, you be talking that shit.
- [17:03]
apl.de.ap
You don't know what he said. I could have said, this shit sucks. This show.
- [17:08]
Will.i.am
I'm saying it. We would always be like, yo, tab. Like, yo, you gotta dig in. You gotta go in your Latin bag, bro, on this one. Like, let's. Let's really, like, hone into our individualities, our cultural differences, you know? Like, you the Latin native dude. You know what I'm saying? I'm the black dude from an all Mexican neighborhood. Apple's, like, super Filipino. Straight from the Philippines. He only been speaking English for, like, 20 minutes. And, you know, that's. That's why Black Eyed Peas is, like, super international.
- [17:45]
Taboo
Y' all just let Fergie just be white. Like, you know, just be white.
- [17:49]
apl.de.ap
You know, this before we even met.
- [17:52]
Will.i.am
Before we even met Fergie. Before we met Fergie. And so Black Eyed Peas.
- [17:59]
DJ Envy
Stop.
- [18:00]
Will.i.am
That's the way she said it. That was funny. But our. Our biggest audience outside of the not, we're more. We have more success in Mexico than the States. Really? Really? Yeah. Like, yeah. Yeah. Like, we could play, like, multiple stadiums at our height, we was playing at Steca Stadium.
- [18:20]
apl.de.ap
Yep.
- [18:20]
Will.i.am
Was playing stadiums all throughout El Salvador and, you know, Guatemala, Chile, Brazil, Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Venezuela. Like, yeah. Like, that's where we would go to those places. That's the reason why the only stadium we played in America was in Miami. We didn't play no stadiums in the States. Really?
- [18:42]
apl.de.ap
At the height of our career, the.
- [18:44]
Will.i.am
Height of our career, we never played a stadium in America, just in Miami.
- [18:50]
Angela Yee
In our mind, Black Eyed Peas was just big. And that's all y' all did was stadiums.
- [18:54]
Will.i.am
Yeah. Yeah. Outside of America.
- [18:56]
Angela Yee
Wow.
- [18:57]
Charlemagne tha God
I don't know why. I could have sworn they did the Garden. They did.
- [18:59]
apl.de.ap
No, no, we did. We did arenas.
- [19:03]
Charlemagne tha God
Arenas.
- [19:05]
Will.i.am
20, 30,000 stadiums is 88,000.
- [19:08]
Charlemagne tha God
So no. MetLife. None of those.
- [19:10]
Will.i.am
No, we didn't do that just in Miami, but we was able to do.
- [19:13]
apl.de.ap
83,000 in France three times. Three times in a row.
- [19:16]
Will.i.am
Yeah. Japan. Yeah.
- [19:18]
Charlemagne tha God
Did that bother you that you were able to do it there and not necessarily here. Did you want to do it here or you didn't care? Success, you know, it didn't matter to you?
- [19:24]
Will.i.am
No, no. Can't nitpick be like, no, because some.
- [19:29]
Charlemagne tha God
People want to do home. Like, I want home like that, you.
- [19:31]
Will.i.am
Know, home is earth.
- [19:33]
Charlemagne tha God
Okay.
- [19:34]
apl.de.ap
And we've. We've always had. It's true. We've always had the mentality like Apple's from the Philippines. Our goal is less perform in the Philippines.
- [19:42]
Will.i.am
Yeah.
- [19:43]
apl.de.ap
We got to go back to Apple's motherland. So it meant international. The idea was, we are going to take this international.
- [19:50]
Will.i.am
Yeah.
- [19:51]
Angela Yee
You know, will being one of the only black people growing up in that Mexican community in Taboo, you know, you know, getting flack, I guess, from your own community about, you know, being with a black woman. Did y' all have any identity issues growing up?
- [20:05]
Will.i.am
No. Hip hop did a really good job. That was like, hey, Willie, rap, Don. Hey, rap about the neighborhood, they said. Or like, hey, that dance is dope. And so because do they get better your acting not even homes. They're like, hey, that's. Hey, that fool gets it.
- [20:27]
apl.de.ap
Now.
- [20:27]
Will.i.am
You come. Come to all the kind of inside of parties with us home. But like, that's how I. That's how I talk growing up, like. And that's how I talk growing up. If you would. If you were to see me 15 years old, like, hey, that's what it was.
- [20:40]
Charlemagne tha God
What did your mother and pop say when you came home talking like that?
- [20:43]
Will.i.am
Oh, my mom. What are you talking about? My mom talks like that? No, my mom don't talk like that.
- [20:51]
Taboo
What about your cousins? Oh, so in the hood.
- [20:54]
Will.i.am
Hood.
- [20:54]
Taboo
And you came around with the head home.
- [20:56]
Will.i.am
So I just took my mom. We had a. Every. Every summer, my mom comes with me to Europe on tour for the past, like, eight years. So we were just there. We were in Turkey and. And France this summer. So my mom's like, hey, Willie, look, I got some pictures. So my mom's showing me pictures. I'm like, where's that? She's like, ah, that's Merea's quinceanera. I'm like, wait, when was me, Willie? That was last week. I'm like, why didn't I do. Why didn't I go and perform at it, Willie? Cause y' all was out here. So a quinceanera for those that's listening is like a Latin Sweet 16. Sweet 16. So, you know, my. My cousin wanted to make sure her daughter had a quinceanera because she's Half black, half Mexican. A lot of my nieces and nephews and cousins are half black, half Mexican, and half black, half Mexican. They end up looking Dominican. I call it homemade Dominican.
- [22:00]
Angela Yee
Homemade Dominican?
- [22:01]
Will.i.am
Yes. We got homemade Dominican.
- [22:02]
Taboo
Yes, yes.
- [22:03]
Will.i.am
In our. In our. In our neighborhood, like, so a lot of our niece. My cousins look like you, cuz he's.
- [22:09]
Charlemagne tha God
You ain't.
- [22:09]
Will.i.am
You ain't Dominican. But they look like. You know what I mean? They look like Alpha. Jess.
- [22:14]
Charlemagne tha God
Jess married a Mexican man.
- [22:15]
Taboo
I did. You did, yes.
- [22:17]
Will.i.am
You look like my cousin. Okay, thank you. Y' all could look like sisters, but absolutely.
- [22:24]
Taboo
Thank you. My daughter is Mexican and black.
- [22:27]
apl.de.ap
You know, that's dope. Dope.
- [22:28]
Will.i.am
Yeah.
- [22:28]
Taboo
So I have a homemade Dominican.
- [22:30]
Will.i.am
You got a homemade Dominican. That's a dope, man.
- [22:33]
Angela Yee
Dominican. Because Chris ain't Dominican.
- [22:35]
apl.de.ap
No, no, no.
- [22:36]
Will.i.am
Aren't you just listening to the story? Black and Mexicans, their kids look like Dominican, therefore they're homemade.
- [22:41]
apl.de.ap
Yeah, Homemade. Homemade Charlemagne.
- [22:43]
Angela Yee
So Envy might be homemade, then.
- [22:45]
Charlemagne tha God
I'm not Dominican.
- [22:47]
Will.i.am
Dominican. Here's the reason why, if you think about, like, what's that island on the other side of Dominic? Dr. Is hated. So people look like us.
- [23:00]
Taboo
Gotcha.
- [23:01]
Angela Yee
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [23:01]
Will.i.am
And so obviously, if you have black, Any African descendant, this is going to go. That's not going to go right to the Dominican.
- [23:08]
apl.de.ap
Right.
- [23:09]
Will.i.am
Community. They're going to be like, we're not African descendants. We're not black. Which is a different conversation. Conversation. But if you unpack it all they, you know, ancestors look like me and Gotcha. You know, we look alike.
- [23:28]
Taboo
Yeah.
- [23:29]
Will.i.am
We could be in the same family.
- [23:31]
Taboo
Yeah.
- [23:31]
apl.de.ap
Envy, have you guys noticed ICE out here, like, the way it is in la?
- [23:35]
Charlemagne tha God
Oh, yeah, absolutely.
- [23:37]
Angela Yee
Not like la, though.
- [23:38]
Charlemagne tha God
No, not like la, but yeah, like, you see them over in Jersey Heavy. In Jersey Heavy.
- [23:43]
Will.i.am
You see it?
- [23:43]
apl.de.ap
That's Puerto Ricans and Dominicans.
- [23:46]
Charlemagne tha God
Dominicans. Yeah. You see it and you know they're all online and they'll send out a text, hey, just let you know, ICE is in Patterson today. ICE is in this town. ICE is in this town. And, you know. Yeah, they running up, grabbing.
- [23:56]
Angela Yee
Envy never used to let people know he not Dominican more than he do now. Before he used to kind of embrace it.
- [24:02]
Charlemagne tha God
He's a liar.
- [24:03]
Angela Yee
That's a fact. He did a whole interview with tmz and the headline is like, I am black. I'll show you the headlines.
- [24:13]
Charlemagne tha God
That's according to him. Side not plays around all the time. He says, I'm Dominican. He was even gonna say, I'm gonna do a Ride along and call ICE to see if they grab you. Like he was gonna do that.
- [24:23]
Angela Yee
Crazy Envy confirms he's 100% black. Why?
- [24:28]
Will.i.am
Because you keep saying I'm Dominican.
- [24:34]
Taboo
He's not.
- [24:35]
Charlemagne tha God
I want a Dominican award too. But I'm not Dominican.
- [24:37]
Will.i.am
I'm black.
- [24:37]
apl.de.ap
I want a Dominican award.
- [24:39]
Angela Yee
I don't get it. What about you, Tab? Did you have any identity issues?
- [24:43]
apl.de.ap
So, growing up in Los Angeles is a mosaic of cultures. So I just felt comfortable moving through, understanding and loving and appreciating, learning about all these different cultures growing up. Dude, I'm native and Mexican. So on one end, my grandmother was connected to the Jerome roots, which is the native side. And on another end, I got my Mexican Chicano roots. Right? Growing up, growing up in LA.
- [25:08]
Taboo
Hey, what up, y'?
- [25:09]
Will.i.am
All?
- [25:09]
Charlemagne tha God
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- [26:04]
DJ Envy
Panoramic moonroof, ambient lighting, bows, and massaging leather. Appointed seats are optional features.
- [26:09]
apl.de.ap
So it was a tough, heavy lift to like bring other nationalities to the house sometimes. But at the end of the day, it was like, this is who I am. And so I'm gonna be. I'm live this taboo lifestyle. People rock with it. Or not. It's all good. This is who I am. I stand on business.
- [26:26]
Will.i.am
Yeah, you know what's dope too? Like, I was, look, I'll be reading the comments on YouTube and there's this. There's a. There's a couple of people that are like, hey, Willie, your mom, your romp. Your mom raised me at the park. Mom took care, you know, yeah. So my mom in the projects was the mom that took care of people's kids. And so there's a lot of people that are on that want to travel out there when I'm out in the streets, when I. On the. On the comments on the videos that are like, your mom took care of me. Your mom raised me. Your mom helped raise my kids. And so the love and in the community was real. The only time I. I wouldn't say it was an identity issue. My mom was real strict growing up. Like, I couldn't really go outside and play too far from where she could in line of sight. And so. And then a lot of my friends growing up, their fam. Their. Their. Their parents were kind of like, you know, Free Willy. They go out and do whatever they wanted. And so I would always be like, damn, my mom was mean. I wish my mom was like Andy's mom. I wish my mom was like Lalo's mom. But now that I got older, I'm so happy that my mom was strict. You know, rest in peace, Lalo.
- [27:40]
Angela Yee
Rest in peace.
- [27:41]
Will.i.am
That I grew up with. But, yeah, my mom was. My mom was strict. And they would. They would be like, where you going, Willie? Your mom told you to get a switch, huh? So my mom would be like, go get a switch. She'll make sure that I went and got a switch by where people were playing.
- [27:56]
Angela Yee
I thought that was just some down south shit.
- [27:58]
Will.i.am
We was born. My mom was born in the South.
- [28:01]
Angela Yee
Okay, okay.
- [28:01]
Will.i.am
She was born in Louisiana. My grandma was born in Picayune, Mississippi, and then brought a lot of that Southern, like, you know, raising how we. How she disciplined us. She kept that in ongoing and how she raised us. She'll be like, get your butt out there and go give me a switch from over there. Where they at? So I had to go get a switch. And your mom's gonna hit you, huh? Damn. Your mom mean hom. So they would follow me just to go see me get disciplined. Damn.
- [28:29]
apl.de.ap
Yeah.
- [28:29]
Taboo
Damn.
- [28:29]
Angela Yee
And then the ill thing about it, if you picked the wrong switch, like you came back with, go back and get another one.
- [28:35]
Will.i.am
Yeah.
- [28:35]
Angela Yee
That taught you a lot about consequences and accountability, though, at a very young age.
- [28:39]
Will.i.am
Yeah.
- [28:40]
apl.de.ap
Yeah.
- [28:40]
Charlemagne tha God
Now that's considered abuse.
- [28:41]
apl.de.ap
Yeah, it's different. Different time period, you know? Speaking about moms, my mom sent us a nice text about the song. She said, I'm proud of you and Willie taking it back to the neighborhood. My memories of growing up in East LA start with the music playing loud and watching Chicano culture evolve and Take over the streets. I never thought that my son would bring the music to my childhood neighborhood. Love you forever, Mom.
- [29:04]
Will.i.am
Wow. And my mom's. My mom's text was, I cannot believe I made a trailblazer, a waymaker, an influencer and innovator. That's my Willy. So.
- [29:16]
Angela Yee
Wow.
- [29:17]
Taboo
I love that.
- [29:17]
apl.de.ap
Yeah.
- [29:17]
Charlemagne tha God
Yeah.
- [29:18]
Angela Yee
You look like a Willie, too, man.
- [29:19]
Will.i.am
Huh?
- [29:20]
Angela Yee
You do look like a Willie. What took y' all so long to create a song, I guess, paying homage to this particular community?
- [29:38]
Will.i.am
That's a really good question.
- [29:39]
apl.de.ap
It is.
- [29:40]
Will.i.am
I tell you. I tell you. So if up until this point, if you did a record, it would be. It would be gang alignment. My neighborhood is, you know, we know the gang in the neighborhood. And I didn't want to make, like, a record that can be misconstrued and we misconstrued as, like, gang alignment. I didn't want to make a record that. That was, like, street, you know, and celebrating, you know, the conditions of life. And so now the record is about. It's urgent. We'll have songs like Latin Girls. We'll have songs that shout out, you know, the lifestyle of where we were raised. But it was all fantasy music. So using your imagination. Most people, like, want to keep it real, living reality. I wanted to stay fantasy. I wanted to make music that was, like, different from, you know, the conditions of life. I don't want to relive that. And so music, especially De La Soul, Tropical Quest. I was escape from my. My. My reality. And I think if I. I look at, you know, it was a heavy question because it makes you reflect on, like, hey, why didn't we do that? Why didn't we have, like, a East LA record in 1998? 99, 2000, 2001, 2002. It's been two decades, you know, plus, so why now? And the reason now is because the urgency and the need for, you know, changing the vibration and, you know, thanking the community and at the same time, letting the community know that we got your back. There's a lot of folks that don't want to speak up because there's a lot of politics on speaking. There's a lot of folks that. That remain silent because of, like, what is it? What is it going to mean? There's a lot of. You don't know who owns what. There's. There's a. You could be signed in a contract. You could be doing something with a certain organization, and that organization owns things, you know, you don't know who owns what. And so for that, like, we've We've already had a. A career and now's the time to do that. There's a. If there was a time, it'd be right now, more so than then.
- [32:41]
apl.de.ap
And I would also add that we are the. From the cloth of like self destruction, boogie down production, Ms. Melody, Dougie Fresh, MC Light, all that era and then you had. We're all in the same game on the west coast with Young mc, Eazy, E. That record. So we've always been pillars of activism, but movement with like songs like where's the Love?
- [33:00]
Will.i.am
Right.
- [33:01]
apl.de.ap
Where we advocate for people that may not have the same platform that we have. And in this, this situation, it was raza. It was people that we grew up with, it was the voices that didn't have the platform. And it was our love letter to our childhood. But also to stand in solidarity with those people.
- [33:18]
Will.i.am
Also. Also there's. You could talk about the community or you could be about the community and go to the community and bring solutions to the community. So I, I'm more solution orientated. Like I don't have to talk about the community to go out there and, and, you know, have success. Come back to the community and build robotics programs, college prep programs. And then during COVID when, when we realized that when people were working from home, when they were educating themselves from home, they didn't have access to the Internet. Go back to the community, provide free WI fi for the project so kids could, you know, learn from their home because we realized that they were putting themselves in harm's way when they had to go up to, you know, an area where they have free WI Fi.
- [34:11]
Angela Yee
Starbucks, just a Taco Bell. Any place.
- [34:13]
apl.de.ap
Any place. Yeah.
- [34:13]
Will.i.am
Yeah. So we brought. So my foundation, in collaboration with WE Link, brought, you know, free WI FI to the projects. And so you could talk about it or you could do about it. And so I, we always wanted to. I always wanted to do about it and now it's time to talk about it and do about it at the same time.
- [34:32]
Angela Yee
That's dope. I did the same thing in South Carolina. Same exact thing during COVID That's dope. Because I usually do like the book bag drives and everything. But during that time, I'm like, all of these kids are having to go to fast food restaurants to get WI fi. And so I did the same exact thing, got WI fi for this, the Colony House of Projects in Columbia, South Carolina.
- [34:50]
Taboo
And then the visual that goes along with it as well. Even your heartfelt message at the end. Well, I thought that was really Dope. Because specifically Boyle Heights have been like. They've been going through a lot, you know, with the LAPD officer shootings and everything like that. I don't know if y' all heard, but it was an unfortunate death recipe to Jeremy Flores. He and his family, they just. They underwent.
- [35:14]
DJ Envy
They.
- [35:14]
Taboo
They underwent like, some crazy trouble, right, when somebody called the police on him because he was driving a white van. And they said that they. That he had a rifle. And then the police came and they killed him. You know what I mean? Like, so this is a great tribute to them. And just this song, just Alone, the visual as well, shines light on East LA and some of those projects and communities because they really, really need, like, some healing right now. So what y' all doing is great. Now, is this a Black Eyed Peas song or Will I Am. And Taboo song is Will I Am Taboo. Okay.
- [35:56]
Will.i.am
We struggle with that. Like, is this Black Eyed Peas? Oh, yeah.
- [35:59]
apl.de.ap
When we first.
- [36:00]
Will.i.am
Yeah. And I'm like, hey, why don't we do something that we haven't done where, you know, we. We. We know what Voltron's like, but if we could, like, you know, highlight different clusters of what we are collectively, that means a Tab and Apple song will come. A Me and Apple song, you know? You know, do it. Doing it like that on this. On this next phase. But I'm in solo mode. I have records coming out and I wanted to put out as much human made music as possible because, hey, I.
- [36:37]
Angela Yee
Taking over like that. Damn.
- [36:39]
Will.i.am
Well, yes, it's. It's really dope.
- [36:43]
apl.de.ap
Yeah.
- [36:44]
Will.i.am
The AI stuff is.
- [36:47]
apl.de.ap
Yeah.
- [36:48]
Will.i.am
So I want to.
- [36:49]
Angela Yee
That sounds crazy to even say. Yeah, I want to make as much human made music as possible.
- [36:54]
Will.i.am
Yeah.
- [36:55]
Angela Yee
Damn.
- [36:56]
Will.i.am
How do you feel?
- [36:56]
Charlemagne tha God
You know, people got on Timberland when he signed his first AI artist and people were mad and said, you're taking the jobs from regular artists, taking the creativity away, taking, you know, the fact. What are your thoughts on it?
- [37:11]
Will.i.am
Um, I think it's the way the environment, the proximity of what Timberland was around as he was doing the AI music. So a couple years before that, he was, you know, wanting to sign people by having them submit music. And then the thing that he signed is an AI, not a human. I could see why that ruffled feathers. Like, yo, I thought you just did this campaign. And then the situation with the dude and the beat, it's a. There's a lot of noise around. It had. For example, we did some version of that where we're like, the new member of the Black Eyed Peas is An AI when we were about to do the Vegas. But. But like I said, I think it's the proximity because he was adjacent to, you know, like a call out, you know, magnetizing the community to send music. And then the thing he signs is an AI. But other than that, if you remove that out of the way, there's no. There's no. There's no. It's no different of. Of lending your voice to. To a cartoon. For example, I did Madagascar 2. That hippo. Who's a hippo. I did a bird on Rio 1 and 2. Who's. What the hell is Pedro? So it's using your imagination and, like, building character. You know, Mickey Mouse is the OG AI character outlive freaking Walt. So there's nothing wrong with, you know, avatars or, you know, alter egos. You know, there's nothing wrong with that. It's just you got to be careful in the environment and the. In the environment that you. That you do it in.
- [39:12]
Charlemagne tha God
And what happened with Vegas? Because you mentioned Vegas.
- [39:16]
apl.de.ap
I was affected by the fires, to be honest with you. I'm an LTD in a Pasadena area, and I was displaced for a long time. I didn't have a home.
- [39:24]
Will.i.am
Wow.
- [39:25]
apl.de.ap
Facts.
- [39:26]
Will.i.am
Yeah. So we had a will. We will. We'll revisit that now that, you know, you know, people are safe, people can live.
- [39:34]
apl.de.ap
Yep.
- [39:35]
Charlemagne tha God
Did you lose everything or did we.
- [39:37]
apl.de.ap
I had to get rid of every. Internal damage was bad, so we had to get rid of everything internally. Structurally. Structurally, we were okay, but our surrounding area was devastated. So, you know, my hearts go out to. Yeah, my kid, both of my sons. Preschool burned down. So my heart goes out to Altadena, Malibu, Palisades and all the people affected. Dude, our. Our year started off fucked up. 2025. So to be able to have come back in the summer and have healing, as you said, with this song and this whole idea of how can we be of service and help and do our part to advocate, like, that's. That's a blessing for us as well.
- [40:13]
Will.i.am
We mid year, man. I feel like it was two years so far.
- [40:16]
Angela Yee
I know it's crazy cuz I feel like culturally LA is having such a great moment, right?
- [40:20]
Will.i.am
Not.
- [40:20]
Angela Yee
Not a moment cuz y' all at la. But like, you know, what Kendrick did culturally. But then it's like societally, the fire, ice, rays, it's like, God damn.
- [40:28]
Taboo
Yeah.
- [40:29]
apl.de.ap
Y.
- [40:30]
Taboo
What is 3252? I noticed that it's. It's shouted in a song. A couple songs.
- [40:34]
Will.i.am
3252 is a section and LAFC where the community they made. You know, the team did an awesome job making a space for the community. Evangelinos to really celebrate. You know, they brought a tribal experience to sporting. The only place you actually find that is outside of the States, Real Madrid or the Brazilian football team or Germany. You know, you see this like a different level of fandom. That's, that's tribal. So 3252. I wanted to shout that out because I go to, I go to the games and that section is, you know, a lot of the people from the community that I know. There's people like Boyle Heights, they got the Boyle Heights scarves and the Boyle Heights flags or different cut of hay. You know, the whole east side, East Siders are there in the, in the 3252, like, which is 3000, 3552 seats.
- [41:42]
Taboo
Got you.
- [41:43]
Will.i.am
Is really what it is like with.
- [41:44]
apl.de.ap
The Seahawks, how they have the 12th man like that.
- [41:48]
Angela Yee
Okay, did you have you bounced back Taboo from your house?
- [41:51]
apl.de.ap
We did, yeah. We moved in fortunately. But still we have 800 trash trucks taking the debris out. We probably won't be up and running as a community as far as like good for a couple of years. Some of the lots are being sold, some of the lots are being taken over because they don't have insurance. Some of the people, you got to understand, bro, these are marginalized communities. On the other side of Altadena, a lot of black families and Mexican families that didn't have, you know, the proper insurance. They've been living there for years and they were affected by the fires and unfortunately the city comes in and takes their home because they can't pay for that lot.
- [42:30]
Angela Yee
Is this song gonna be part of a bigger project or just like a one off statement?
- [42:33]
Will.i.am
Oh, no, it's part of my solo project.
- [42:35]
Angela Yee
Okay.
- [42:36]
Will.i.am
One of, one of the three. So I got, I got a all pop record that's like big, big type of records. Then I got like a, just a, like a 90s influence boom bap record. And then I have just like a fusion project. This is the fusion project.
- [43:03]
Taboo
I just saw that you collaborated with Mercedes.
- [43:08]
Charlemagne tha God
Yeah, yeah, he did it. He did that. I tried to get it for last Call show.
- [43:11]
Will.i.am
I tried.
- [43:12]
Taboo
Oh, you tried?
- [43:13]
Will.i.am
I tried. Damn. Yeah. So we got two pieces of technology inside Mercedes. One, a sound drive that takes all the sensor data.
- [43:18]
Taboo
Yeah.
- [43:20]
Will.i.am
And aims at sensor data to a sound generation platform that allows a driver to remix reimagine songs just by driving. And then I got this AI radio that's in Mercedes vehicles. And because of that, Qualcomm, we just partnered up with Qualcomm and we, you know, just married our systems onto chip so they would get us in more OEM vehicles. So we. I go to India and two weeks to announce our partnership with three OEM auto manufacturers out there in India. What's awesome is one of our kids that joined my program. There's a kid that comes from the same project as me. He joined my, My, my program when he was like, in a 9th grade, 10th grade. He then went to school for computer science. He then graduated, and now he's like one of the in leadership implementing our systems in Mercedes. So I'm just really proud of his dedication, commitment, and we rely on him for his talents. But, you know, just go to show that people from the same projects can. Can align and bring the best out of each other. So, you know, really, really salute his. His growth and now leadership at the company.
- [44:41]
apl.de.ap
So.
- [44:41]
Taboo
I love that you do that. That's really dope.
- [44:44]
Angela Yee
It's great. When I sit here and I listen to you and Taboo talk, man. Then I think about, you know, the other members, Filipino, with all the different cultures in the group. How did y' all land on the name Black Eyed Peas? Because Black Eyed Peas is synonymous with black folks.
- [44:55]
Will.i.am
Yeah, that's. I mean, that didn't come from this.
- [45:02]
apl.de.ap
And on that note, thank you, ladies and gentlemen.
- [45:05]
Will.i.am
You have it here. I just. I just. My grandma, she used to. Used to, you know, force me. Not force me, but like, boy, you ain't getting up off that table till you finish them Black Eyed Peas. And they were dry, like. And I didn't.
- [45:30]
Charlemagne tha God
I'm not grandma.
- [45:30]
Will.i.am
I'm not a fan of the black.
- [45:32]
Angela Yee
I love Black Eyed peas.
- [45:35]
Will.i.am
Over rice is good. It just appeased by itself. Like, I mean, sometimes it's good, but the way that way I had it growing up, it was I. And so the green beans and Black Eyed peas, when they get cold, I ain't trying to have that. And so my grandma would be like, you ain't getting up off that table till you finish the Black eyed peace. So for me, it just meant, like, don't stop until you're done. You can't get up until you finish something. And no matter how hard it is, no matter what it is, if you got a dream, if you were set to do something, you got to see it and you got to complete it. And it's good luck, you know, it's a good luck. And so good Luck and, you know, good vibes once you magnetize and what you attract.
- [46:22]
apl.de.ap
And also, Black Eyed Peas is soul food. And we always felt like our music feeds the soul.
- [46:26]
Will.i.am
Gotcha.
- [46:27]
apl.de.ap
And it would have been weird being like, okay, cause you're Mexican, let's name the group Renudo.
- [46:32]
Will.i.am
But they had that.
- [46:32]
apl.de.ap
Or Beans and Rice. Rice and Beans ain't gonna arroz con frijoles.
- [46:37]
Angela Yee
Nah, Rice and Beans might have hit.
- [46:40]
apl.de.ap
Rice and Beans.
- [46:40]
Will.i.am
Black Eyed Beans.
- [46:41]
Angela Yee
Listen, Black Eyed Beans probably would have been whack if y' all didn't make it.
- [46:44]
Will.i.am
That's true.
- [46:47]
Charlemagne tha God
Change the name though. Did somebody ever like Black Eyed Peace?
- [46:50]
Will.i.am
No.
- [46:50]
apl.de.ap
No. Because the. The idea of soul food is dope. We feed the soul with our music.
- [46:54]
Angela Yee
Absolutely.
- [46:55]
Will.i.am
And you know, there was two groups that were out that was named after food, like the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I'm like Smasher Pumpkins. I'm like, yo, they got food names, bro. Like.
- [47:07]
Charlemagne tha God
Well, let's get into the joint right now. Let's get into. You want to introduce it?
- [47:12]
Will.i.am
Yo, what's up? This is Will, I am Taboo. And this is a new record that we got called east la.
- [47:17]
Charlemagne tha God
That's right. And we appreciate you guys for joining us, man.
- [47:19]
apl.de.ap
Thank you guys.
- [47:20]
Will.i.am
Thank you for having us all the time. Seriously.
- [47:22]
Charlemagne tha God
Breakfast Club, good morning. Let's get into it.
- [47:24]
Angela Yee
Wake that ass up in the morning.
- [47:26]
Will.i.am
The Breakfast Club.
- [47:31]
Charlemagne tha God
Meetings, deadlines, emails. Don't you wish you could escape the chaos? That's where the all new Nissan Murano comes in. With available features like the relaxing, massaging seats to ease stress and the beautiful skyline views that bring in natural light. It's like cruising in your personal Oasis. And if you need to set a vibe, 64 colors of purple, personalized lighting and a Bose premium sound system have you covered. Hands down, the all new Nissan Murano is your stress free getaway. Sometimes the greatest rush isn't rushing at all. Drive the all new Nissan Murano today.
- [47:58]
DJ Envy
Panoramic moonroof, ambient lighting, bows and massaging leather. Appointed seats are optional features.
- [48:01]
Will.i.am
This is an Iheart podcast.