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Masters of the Sun Vol. 1 Interscope Verdict: A cool nostalgiasoaked comeback, but is there staying power?

THE BLACK Eyed Peas are back with their first album since 2010 and the first album since Fergie left the group in 2017.

But they’re also back in another sense — Will.i.am, Apl.de.ap, and Taboo return as a hip-hop group after years floundering in the electronic pop space.

As such, the lead track is titled

Back 2 Hip Hop, which features rap heavyweight Nas and a sample of Soul II Soul singing “Back to life, back to reality”. If that isn’t a mission statement, I don’t know what is.

The album sounds as nostalgic as a comeback could, throwing in more old-school samples like Slick Rick’s La Di Da Di on Constant Pt 1

and 2, and references like the Nina Simone-inspired Wings.

Then you’ve got guest spots from Ali Shaheed Muhammad, Posdnuos from De La Soul and even the late Phife Dawg, who apparently recorded his verse before he died in 2016.

Without Fergie, they bolster the tracks with other female vocals, putting Esthero on 4Ever and Nicole Scherzinger on Wings, plus Voice of the Philippines finalist Jessica Reynoso features more than once.

Lyrically — as is always the case with the Peas — there’s some onthe-nose social awareness and calls for love and unity, but for the most part, you’re left wanting.

But even so, it’s all a vast improvement on the likes of My

Humps and Boom Boom Pow.

Is it going to carve them a place in modern hip-hop? Doubtful. But it’s a nice nod to a different era of hip-hop and a promising stepping stone for what could come next.