Will.i.am Discusses New Solo Album ‘#willpower’

While the Black Eyed Peas are on indefinite break, Will.i.am is busy finishing his fourth solo album. A follow-up to Songs About Girls, #willpower is apparently “finished four times over,” he told Billboard in a recent interview, and is scheduled for a fall release. The Black Eyed Peas leader considers it one of the best things he has ever done – even in comparison to his band’s output.

Apparently, Will.i.am recorded 200 to 300 songs for #willpower but only a dozen will make it onto the album. His recent singles, including “T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)” and “Check It Out,” will not appear on it. Instead, he explained, he described the types of songs and sounds listeners should expect to hear: "There's classical sh-t, like just me and a guitar and an orchestra or me with just an orchestra and a kid's choir. There's some ghetto, ugly, dirty stuff. And then there's dance stuff, global world stuff and, like, avant garde, left-of-center, for-art's-sake music that has nothing to do with getting played on the radio. I'm just art-ing out. It's pretty diverse."

Justin Bieber, Ne-Yo, LMFAO, and Nicole Scherzinger are also making guest appearances.

In speaking about the Black Eyed Peas, the rapper mentioned the rest of the group wants to take a break, but eventually, they will put together another record. On the other hand, Will.i.am senses listeners still compare his solo tracks with his Black Eyed Peas works and aims to do something different with #willpower. He said: "I can't just go out with a bunch of background dancers to make up for the fact Fergie, Ap and Taboo aren't there. So I have to come up with a different idea and invent something to make people say, 'Dang, that was better than what you were doing with the Peas!' That won't be easy, but if I can't do that, I'm staying home."