The Black Eyed Peas delivered their eighth album today and it’s a genre-spanning music safari
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19.06.2020

The Black Eyed Peas delivered their eighth album today and it’s a genre-spanning music safari

Image by Nabil Elderkin
Words by Tom Parker

The Black Eyed Peas are back with their eighth studio album.

One of popular music’s premier outfits of the past two decades, The Black Eyed Peas, are back with a new album, and it beams with vitality and versatility as the band look to outside voices to complement their transcendent pop.

Across the 15-track release, titled TRANSLATION, the band have recruited the likes of Shakira, Tyga, French Montana and J. Rey Soul while also welcoming a host of revered reggaeton singers onto the release such as Nicky Jam, Ozuna and J Balvin.

Prior to this, the band had been largely comfortable capitalising on their own voices – the likes of will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo are revered songwriters in their own right – but as they pervade a music realm that’s never been more fast-paced and multifarious, The Black Eyed Peas are taking themselves on an adventure.

The record takes listeners to all corners of the globes with influences spanning all continents – it’s only fitting that the album is named TRANSLATION.

Right off the bat, The Black Eyed Peas put the music world in a spin with their lead single, ‘RITMO (Bad Boys For Live)’, a song which catapults off Corona’s 1993 classic ‘The Rhythm of the Night’ to produce a summer spin that would be the perfect soundtrack to a Colombian beach party.

The Black Eyed Peas are peering into 2020 with a keen eye, delivering evocative observations throughout the release while also staying true to their pop-making ability. As the world currently navigates its biggest challenges, it’s obvious there is still an appetite for music that’s catchy and melodious, and not necessarily forthright in its narrative.

Case in point: Since ‘RITMO (Bad Boys For Live)’ was revealed in October 2019, the song has blown up, notching over 1.5 billion streams and views and garnering dozens of platinum certifications in the process.

Through collaboration and broad appeal, it’s clear The Black Eyed Peas are onto a good thing and they’ll continue charting as long as the world can still resonate with their pop intuition.

So what’s next, BEP?

The Black Eyed Peas’ new album, TRANSLATION, is out now via Epic Records/Sony Music Entertainment. Give it a spin via streaming services.

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