Black Eyed Peas are a 'brotherhood,' says Taboo

Three words were unavoidable this summer.

Boom. Boom. Pow.

They made history this summer as one of the songs with the longest stay atop the Billboard Hot 100 chart.

"Boom Boom Pow" spent 12 weeks at No. 1 while "I Gotta Feeling" was No. 1 for eight weeks. Added together, it's the longest consecutive stay atop a chart in Billboard chart's 51 year history. The two singles are part of a long line of hits by the Black Eyed Peas. The Los Angeles hip-hop-pop group has sold around 18 million albums worldwide.

Made up of four members — will.i.am, Fergie, apl.de.ap and Taboo — the group has been around for more than a decade, and is one of the main draws for Bumbershoot, Seattle's Labor Day weekend arts and music festival.

Jaime Luis Gómez, aka Taboo, talked recently from his home in Los Angeles about the evolution of the group — from its socially conscious roots to its current pop stylings.

Q: How would you describe your group dynamics?

A: What you see is really a friendship, a brotherhood. It's a kinship which has surpassed many years. ... It actually started in 1989 when apl came from the Philippines and met will.i.am and became really good friends. They met me in 1993, and we became a family of producers, emcees, poets.

Q: You all went solo, too?

A: We took time to do individual projects. Fergie did her thing, she became the "Duchess," a success by itself. And will.i.am did "Yes We Can" and "Wolverine" and all those productions by other people. And I did "Streetfighter (The Legend of Chun-Li)," and apl did [work in] the Philippines. We all chased our own individual accomplishments and dreams ... and we all came back for "The Energy Never Dies," our fifth album. This album has been such a blessing, because it's our biggest album to date, with our first two singles. We never imagined it would be so big.

Q: What drove you guys to come back together?

A: We missed each other. Fergie always says, "I miss being on stage with my boys." ... Being by ourselves is great, but when you're with a group of best friends traveling the world and seeing things together, it's much more fulfilling. We started as a group and we never let our individual success and egos get in the way of what our mission is. Black Eyed Peas as a brand surpasses each as an individual. ... We never forget where we came from.

Q: How would you describe each of you?

A: Fergie, first and foremost, she is the super megastar — very amazing, child star. ... For her to keep it together for so many years ... going to Wild Orchid, then becoming a part of the Black Eyed Peas, then having success by herself, and being a great inspiration to me, as an entertainer. She's the person that I go for advice, when it comes to what the industry is about, how to handle certain things. She's such a great sister to me. I enjoy her company, because she's so entertaining to be around. She does these crazy impersonations. ... will.i.am is the genius of the group. He's the one that keeps everything together creatively. He has the vision for what Black Eyed Peas will be the future. ... Apl is the silent assassin. Apl is very humble, but he's humongous in the Philippines. He's like a patriarch when it comes to Filipino culture, because he came from a Third World country to America, and is probably part of the biggest band in the world. He never forgets where he came from. He always goes back to the Philippines and ... does work with nonprofits to benefit the people from Philippines. He's such a great humanitarian, emcee and a dancer. He has great style, and is one of my best friends.

Q: And yourself?

A: I'm the performer of the group. My thing is like, every time I come on stage, I always bring it 120 percent, 150 percent. Not saying that nobody else does, because everybody brings it, but that's where I shine the most, out of anything. I'm not the greatest writer or the great rapper. My thing is being the best performer I can be. ... We all have different powers in the Black Eyed Peas and I feel that my power is being able to control crowds.

Q: Can you describe the evolution of the Black Eyed Peas sound?

A: Each time we did an album we showed a different influence or side of the monster that Black Eyed Peas is. ... In "Elephunk," there was the elephant, big bass, heavy, stomping, marching into the new frontier. In "Monkey Business," was the monkey, which signified more of an intelligent sound, ... a cleaner sound in the production. "The E.N.D." is ... more digital than we've ever experimented with. It was focused on dance, club, something that we've done in the past, but we've never elaborated on. This time we're taking you to the club 24-7. Q: How do you respond to fans who say they miss your socially conscious vibe?

A: Kanye West did it the best when he said "... I don't mind if fans don't agree with my sound, as long as I am proving myself and I'm loving what I'm doing." We don't want to be on stage performing songs that are boring to us, that are stagnant or an example of what we did in the past. We want to have fun with it. If that means that the fans that liked us from "Behind the Front," "Bridging the Gap," "Elephunk," and "Monkey Business," don't like us [now], then we're sorry, but we're moving 3008. We can't allow people to to pigeonhole us. ... We cannot come back and be that vaudeville act.

Q: Why the word "vaudeville?"

A: Because that was the funniest word I could use to describe people looking at groups that do the same things over and over. It's the same rabbit-out-of-the-hat trick. ... We love the fans too much to be stagnant.