Songs About Girls

Infobox Album
Name = Songs About Girls
Type = studio
Artist = will.i.am


Released = September 21-25, 2007
Recorded = 2006–2007
Genre = Hip hop, pop rap
Length = 60:00
Label = will.i.am music group, Interscope
Producer = will.i.am, Polow da Don, Fernando Garibay, Paper-Boy
Reviews = * Allmusic Rating|4|5 [http://wm04.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=10:anfoxztgldae link]
* TheDailyYo! Rating|3.5|5 [http://thedailyyo.blogspot.com/2007/09/album-review-william-songs-about-girls.html link]
*Entertainment Weekly C- [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20057888,00.html link]
*Famoso Magazine Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.famosomagazine.com/music/albums/william-songs-about-girls link]
*RapReviews.com (7.5/10) [http://www.rapreviews.com/archive/2007_09F_songsabout.html link]
*Rolling Stone Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/16587986/review/16590886/songs_about_girls link]
*Sputnikmusic Rating|1.5|5 [http://www.sputnikmusic.com/review_13657 link]
*DJBooth.net Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.djbooth.net/index/albums/review/william-songs-about-girls-0926071/ link]
* Time Off Rating|3.5|5 [http://www.timeoff.com.au/index.php?area=Archive&pg=42&subarea=37&sel=7115&showcontent=7115 link]
*Yahoo! Music UK Rating|3.5|5 [http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/071005/33/21mfl.html link]
Last album = "Must B 21"
(2003)
This album = "Songs About Girls"
(2007)
Next album =Singles
Name = Songs About Girls
Type = studio
single 1 = I Got It from My Mama
single 1 date = September 24, 2007
single 2 = Heartbreaker
single 2 date = May 5, 2008
single 3 = One More Chance
single 3 date = August 18, 2008

"Songs About Girls" is the debut album by will.i.am, known from his work with the Black Eyed Peas. The original title of the album was "Keep the Beeper". The album was released on September 25, 2007.cite web |url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003617523|title=will.i.am Has Love On The Brain For Solo Debut |accessdate=2007-08-19 |work=Billboard.com] The first single released from the album was a club track titled "I Got It From My Mama" which debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 at #93 on the 17th of August 2007.cite web |url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/chart_display.jsp?cfi=379&cfgn=Singles&cfn=The+Billboard+Hot+100&ci=3085774&cdi=9357067&cid=08%2F25%2F2007|title=I Got It from My Mama |accessdate=2007-08-19 |work=Billboard.com]

Background

The album has been described by will.i.am as semi-autobiographical conceptual album "where all the songs could tell a story of falling in love, falling out of love, trying to get back in love, destructing love and destroying love and then starting a new situation. That journey is what makes this unique."cite web |url=http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003617523|title=will.i.am Has Love On The Brain For Solo Debut |accessdate=2007-08-19 |work=Billboard.com] The album is partially based on a seven year relationship that will.i.am experienced and the infidelities and the break-up of that relationship.cite web |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article2229512.ece|title= Peas in our time |accessdate=2007-08-19 |work=Times Online] According to will.i.am's video on MySpace TV, he considers "Songs About Girls" to be his debut album, with his first two being production compilations.

Collaborations

will.i.am revealed on the Canadian MTV e2 show that the album would feature collaborations with: Slick Rick, Ice Cube, Q-Tip, Common, Snoop Dogg, Too Short, Busta Rhymes and Ludacris.cite web |url=http://www.mtv.ca/tvshows/show.jhtml?id=1340|title= MTV e2: will.i.am|accessdate=2007-08-19 |work=MTV.ca] However, the only collaboration that made it to the final cut is the Snoop Dogg collaboration. Cheryl Cole also sang backing vocals for the single version of "Heartbreaker".

Album release

In September 2006, will.i.am became the head of marketing of the online music distribution company Musicane cite web |url=http://remixmag.com/beat_science/will-i-am-musicane-092606/|title= WILL.I.AM JOINS MUSICANE AS HEAD OF MARKETING |accessdate=2007-02-24 |work=Remix Mag] . Musicane allows artists to directly sell their songs to the public without a record company overseeing the distribution of the album cite web |url=http://top40-charts.com/news.php?nid=34752|title=Musicane Announces Launch of the DRM-free will.i.am On-Line Music Store |accessdate=2007-08-19 |work=top40-charts.com] . will.i.am has stated that he intends for "Songs About Girls" to be an infinitely expandable collection of songs that are distributed through Musicane and other online music services cite web |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article2229512.ece|title= Peas in our time |accessdate=2007-08-19 |work=Times Online] .

According to will.i.am; "If I have an album filled with songs about girls, what happens if tomorrow I write another song about a girl?", he explains. "So something that started off just with 15 songs, in the next ten years could have 100 songs. Having 12 songs on a record? That day is done" cite web |url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article2229512.ece|title= Peas in our time |accessdate=2007-08-19 |work=Times Online] .

Despite Will's success with Black Eyed Peas and as a producer for numerous other aritsts, the album flopped. It debuted at a disappointing #38 on the Billboard 200 with sales of just 21,000 copies according to Nielsen SoundScan [Katie Hasty, [http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003650421 "Rascal Flatts Races To No. 1 In Debut-Heavy Week"] , Billboard.com, October 3, 2007] . This was extremely less than Black Eyed Peas' "Elephunk" (#14) and "Monkey Business" (#2) and also Fergie's solo effort "The Dutchess (#2).

The album leaked to the Internet on September 19, 2007. The album debuted on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart on October 1, 2007 at number fifty-eight with sales of 870 copies. The album was released on Argentina on October 5, 2007. The album went Gold in Poland three days before its release.

Track listing

All songs produced by will.i.am unless otherwise noted. "Dynamite Interlude" has no writing or production credits.
#"Over" - 4:00
#"Heartbreaker" - 5:27
#"I Got It from My Mama" - 4:01
#"She's a Star" (Produced by Polow da Don) - 3:47
#"Get Your Money" - 5:28
#"The Donque Song" (featuring Snoop Dogg) (Produced by Fernando Garibay) - 4:29
#"Impatient" (featuring Dante Santiago) - 4:16
#"One More Chance" (Produced by Fernando Garibay) - 4:24
#"Invisible" (Produced by will.i.am and Paper-Boy) - 3:56
#"Fantastic" - 3:25
#"Fly Girl" - 4:46
#"Dynamite Interlude" - 1:19
#"Ain't It Pretty" (Produced by Polow da Don) - 4:35
#"Make It Funky" - 3:59
#"S.O.S. (Mother Nature)" - 4:17

Bonus tracks

#"Spending Money" - 3:57 (México/Japan/Russia/Germany/Taiwan/Brazil/UK bonus track) (not listed as bonus track in the UK)
#"Mama Mia" - 3:39 (Japan/UK bonus track)
#"Damn Damn Damn" - 4:28
#"will.i.am vs. Superblack" (iTunes preorder only)

ingles

#"I Got It from My Mama"
#"Heartbreaker"
#"One More Chance"

amples

#"I Got It from My Mama" samples "Don Quixiotte" by "Magazine 60"
#"Over" samples "It's Over" by Electric Light Orchestra A.K.A. ELO
#"Fantastic" samples "I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5
#"S.O.S. (Mother Nature)" samples "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover"by Paul Simon
#"Get Your Money" samples "Body Language" by M.A.N.D.Y. & Booka Shade
#"Mama Mia" samples "What'd I Say" by Ray Charles

Charts

References

External links

* [http://www.will-i-am.com Official will.i.am website]