Will.i.am 1982061 225875239 2008-07-15T20:29:24Z 201.196.7.206 /* Albums As The Black Eyed Peas */ {{Lowercase}} {{Refimprove|date=February 2008}} {{Infobox musical artist <!-- See Wikipedia:WikiProject Musicians --> |Name = William Adams, Jr. |Img = will.i.am 2007-02-13.jpg |Background = solo_singer |Birth_name = William James Adams Jr. |Born = {{birth date and age|1975|3|15}}<br>[[Los Angeles, California]], [[USA]] |Died = |Instrument = [[Vocals]], [[Keyboard instrument|keyboards]], [[Bass guitar|bass]], [[clavinet]], [[drums]], [[piano]] |Genre = [[hip hop music|Hip hop]], [[pop rap]], [[robot hip hop]] |Occupation = [[Rapper]], [[lyricist]], [[Record producer|producer]] |Years_active = 1989 &ndash; present |Label = [[Ruthless Records]]<br>[[BBE Records]]<br> [[A&M Records]]<br>[[Interscope Records]]<br/> [[will.i.am music group]] |Associated_acts =[[Black Eyed Peas]], <br/>[[Cheryl Cole]], [[Common]], [[Fergie (singer)|Fergie]], [[Flo Rida]], [[Esthero]], [[John Legend]], [[Justin Timberlake]], [[Macy Gray]] |URL = [http://www.will-i-am.com/ www.will-i-am.com] }} '''William James Adams, Jr.''' (born [[March 15]], [[1975]] in [[Los Angeles, California]], [[USA]]), better known by his [[stage name]] '''will.i.am''', is an American [[hip hop music]]ian, [[dancer]], [[songwriter]] and founding member and [[frontman]] of [[Black Eyed Peas]]. He also has his own label called [[will.i.am music group]]. ==Biography== ===Personal life=== In September 2007, will.i.am's record label [[Universal Music Group]] decided on a pilot scheme to reward certain file sharing with cash incentives, including will.i.am tracks from his latest solo album ''[[Songs About Girls]]''.<ref>[http://www.thelondonpaper.com/cs/Satellite/london/news/article/1157149112069?packedargs=suffix%3DArticleController Pay-per-listen innovation from Black Eyed Peas man (thelondonpaper)]</ref> will.i.am has recently been cast as [[Kestrel (Marvel Comics)|John Wraith]] in the upcoming ''[[X-Men Origins: Wolverine]]'', a prequel to the [[X-Men film series]]. ===Fashion=== Before joining the Black Eyed Peas, will.i.am attended the [[Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising]] in Los Angeles. In 2001, he began designing his own signature clothing line, ''i.am'', which made its official debut in 2005 at the Magic apparel trade show in Las Vegas <ref>[http://remixmag.com/transmissions/will-i-am-021705/ Black Eyed Peas’ Will.I.Am Launches Clothing Line<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>. In 2007, will.i.am teamed up with Blue Holdings to design a premium denim collection, ''i.am Antik'', that is scheduled to debut in August of 2007 at the Project Show in Las Vegas <ref>http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/070515/20070515005780.html?.v=1</ref>. He has also designed clothing for the Black Eyed Peas. ===Political advocacy=== In January 2008, will.i.am wrote a song, "[[Yes We Can]]", in support of the [[Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008|2008 U.S. presidential campaign]] of [[Barack Obama]], which in turn became a music video directed by [[Jesse Dylan]]. The lyrics of the song are composed almost entirely of excerpts from Obama's speech on [[January 8]] [[2008]], following the [[New Hampshire primary|New Hampshire presidential primary election]]. The video features appearances from numerous celebrities like [[Scarlett Johansson]], [[Tatyana Ali]], [[John Legend]], [[Herbie Hancock]], [[Kate Walsh (actress)|Kate Walsh]], [[Kareem Abdul-Jabbar]], [[Adam Rodríguez]], [[Kelly Hu]], [[Hill Harper]], [[Amber Valletta]], [[Eric Balfour]], [[Aisha Tyler]], [[Nicole Scherzinger]], [[Nick Cannon]], [[Bryan Greenberg]], [[Common (rapper)|Common]] and first appeared on the website for Dipdive, and within a week of its appearance racked up three million views, and over four million views on [[YouTube]]. On February 29, 2008, a second video, "[[Yes We Can#"We Are the Ones"|We Are the Ones]]" was released on [[Dipdive]] and YouTube. Including cameo appearances from [[Jessica Alba]], [[Ryan Phillippe]], [[Kerry Washington]], [[John Leguizamo]], [[Regina King]], [[Tyrese Gibson]], [[Eric Mabius]], [[Tichina Arnold]], [[Adrianne Palicki]], comedian [[George Lopez]], and singers [[Macy Gray]], [[Zoe Kravitz]] and Black Eyed Peas' [[Taboo (rapper)|Taboo]], the video features everyone chanting "O-BA-MA" as a portrayal as their hopes and wishes for [[Barack Obama]] and his presidential campaign. ==Discography== {{See also|will.i.am production discography}} {{main|will.i.am discography}} ===Studio albums=== * 2001: ''[[Lost Change]]'' * 2003: ''[[Must B 21]]'' * 2007: ''[[Songs About Girls]]'' ===Albums As The Black Eyed Peas=== * 1992: [[Grass Roots]] (As [[Black Eyed Peas|Atban Klann]]) * 1998: [[Behind The Front]] * 2000: [[Bridging The Gap]] * 2003: [[Elephunk]] * 2005: [[Monkey Business]] * 2008/2009: [[The Black Eyed Peas#Discography|The E.N.D (Energy Never Dies)]] (Unconfirmed Title) ===Singles=== * 2007: "[[I Got It from My Mama]]" * 2008: "[[Heartbreaker (will.i.am song)|Heartbreaker]]" <small>(featuring [[Cheryl Cole]])</small> * 2008: "[[One More Chance (will.i.am song)|One More Chance]]" * 2008: "[[Yes We Can]]" * 2008: "[[Yes We Can#"We Are the Ones"|We Are the Ones]]" ===Featured singles=== * 2006: "[[Beep (song)|Beep]]" <small>([[Pussycat Dolls]] featuring will.i.am)</small> * 2006: "[[I Love My Bitch]]" <small>([[Busta Rhymes]] featuring [[Kelis]] & will.i.am)</small> * 2006: "[[Fergalicious]]" <small>([[Fergie (singer)|Fergie]] featuring will.i.am)</small> * 2006: "[[Hip Hop Is Dead (song)|Hip Hop Is Dead]]" <small>([[Nas]] featuring will.i.am)</small> * 2006: "[[A Dream]]" <small>([[Common (rapper)|Common]] featuring will.i.am)</small> * 2007: "[[Baby Love (Nicole Scherzinger song)|Baby Love]]" <small>([[Nicole Scherzinger]] featuring will.i.am)</small> * 2007: "[[Hot Thing (song)|Hot Thing]]" <small>([[Talib Kweli]] featuring will.i.am)</small> * 2007: "[[Wait a Minute (Just a Touch)]]" <small>([[Estelle (singer)|Estelle]] featuring will.i.am)</small> * 2007: "[[I Want You (Common song)|I Want You]]" <small>([[Common]] featuring will.i.am)</small> * 2007: "Pick It Up" <small>([[Fergie (singer)|Fergie]] featuring [[will.i.am]])</small> * 2008: "[[The Girl Is Mine#Thriller 25 version|The Girl Is Mine 2008]]" <small>([[Michael Jackson]] featuring will.i.am)</small> * 2008: "[[Here I Come (Fergie song)|Here I Come]]" <small>([[Fergie (singer)|Fergie]] featuring will.i.am)</small> * 2008: [[In The Ayer]] <small> ([[Flo Rida]] feat. [[will.i.am]]) </small> * 2008: [[Funky Bahia]] <small> ([[Sergio Mendes]] feat. [[will.i.am]]) </small> * 2008: Picture Perfect (Chris Brown featuring will.i.am * 2008:"What's Your Name?" (Usher feat. will.i.am) * 2008 : "Give it to Me" (on Day One album's "Probably Art") ===Filmography === * [[2008]]: ''[[Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa]]'' - Moto Moto (voice) * [[2009]]: ''[[X-Men Origins: Wolverine]]'' ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== * [http://will-i-am.blackeyedpeas.com/ Official website] * [http://www.thelondonpaper.com/cs/Satellite/london/videos/article/1157149086938?packedargs=suffix%3DArticleController Up close and personal with Will.I.Am - Video interview (thelondonpaper)] * [http://iamclothing.net/ i.am.clothing website] * [http://www.will-i-amglobal.com/ will.i.am global] * [http://www.will-i-am.com/ will.i.am] * [http://www.yeswecansong.com/ "Yes We Can" Music Video] * {{imdb name|1443238}} {{Will.i.am}} {{Black Eyed Peas}} {{DEFAULTSORT:William}} [[Category:1975 births]] [[Category:American record producers]] [[Category:American rappers]] [[Category:Black Eyed Peas members]] [[Category:Hip hop record producers]] [[Category:Living people]] [[Category:People from Los Angeles County]] [[Category:Ruthless Records artists]] [[cs:Will.i.am]] [[da:Will.i.am]] [[de:Will.i.am]] [[es:Will.i.am]] [[fr:Will.i.am]] [[it:Will.i.am]] [[lt:Will.i.am]] [[ms:Will.i.am]] [[nl:Will.i.am]] [[ja:ウィル・アイ・アム]] [[no:Will.i.am]] [[pl:Will.i.am]] [[pt:Will.i.am]] [[ru:Will.i.am]] [[fi:Will.i.am]] [[sv:Will.i.am]] [[th:วิล.ไอ.แอม]] [[tr:Will.i.am]]