Black Eyed Peas

Are BEP in the throes of an identity crisis? Their fifth album is a sleek, minimalist and kind of dark affair that sounds more like a wasted, exhausted morning-after than the over-the-top, glam party they usually throw. A lot of that mood comes from the group's new techno-aesthetic -- the Peas have discovered Auto-Tune and they do more singing than rapping here. All of which raises the question: Can we even call them a hip-pop crew anymore? Yes. Here's why: They still have the power to make even the silliest stuff incredibly fun (case in point: "Imma Be").

"Tutti Frutti." "Da Doo Ron Ron." "Wannabe." "Macarena." "Who Let the Dogs Out." There is a
hallowed place in music history for dumb songs — a shrine in the high church of pop,
ringed with Roman candles, exploding cigars and blinking hot-pink neon lights. We're
talking aggressively, festively, infectiously dumb — the kind of dumb that offers something
like the reward you get from great art: the pleasure of reveling in the ridiculous,... More >