Apl asked: Has Jessica replaced Fergie as BEP member?
'Black Eyed Peas is always searching and also birthing new artists. Whenever we see a talent, we like to involve them.'
Those who’ve watched the music video of “Ring The Alarm” by Black Eyed Peas (BEP) wonder if “The Voice Philippines” finalist Jessica Reynoso, who sang on the track, has replaced Fergie as key singer in the group.
In a recent interview with Allan “Apl.de.ap” Pineda Lindo, one of BEP members, he began by saying, “This time around we have a lot of messages in our songs not just party songs.”
He continued: “It’s hard to write party songs when all these negative things going on in our society, from police brutality, to inequality, to school shooting and gun control.
“I think this is one of our best projects.”
Apl said the group is back to their “raw sound.”
“It’s like a lot of different types of ‘Where Is The Love.’ We have some lighter issues but we just wanna be more creative and we’re almost like going back to the beginning again.”
The group will start touring again in October. The Phlippines is on the list of stops.
“Of course! There will be no tour if we don’t stop in the Philippines, that’s what I said to the group,” Apl said. “It’s not a tour if we’re not stopping in the Philippines. It's mandatory.”
So, about Jessica and Fergie. Well, Apl said Black Eyed Peas is not just a group but a family “and now Jessica is part of that family.”
“She’s not replacing anybody. You know, she’s my artist,” he clarified
The group has collaborated with other female artists in the past including Esthero and Macy Gray. “Black Eyed Peas is always searching and also birthing new artists. So whenever we see a talent, we like to involve them in every aspect (of BEP),” he said.
Apl as creative advocate
Apl has an organization called Apl.de.Ap Foundation that helps empower the Filipino youth.
He’s also one of the creative advocates of Creative Innovators Programme.
“Creative Innovators Pro- gramme” is project of British Council, Department of Trade and Industries, Design Center of the Philippines, Philippine Trade Training Center and in partnership of Thames International Business School and his foundation. “There’s so many creative Filipino but with no opportunity. I would like to help out and create that opportunity and that awareness ’cause it’s a trillion dollar industry and Filipinos are the most creative people out there but we’re still broke,” Apl said. Since he’s a direct product of the creative industry, “I wanna bring that back home because there’s a lot of Apl.de.ap in the Philippines but they just don’t have the outlet and industry so they can have an employment and the same time being creative.” As an advocate, he will tour the Philippines to research, as well as interview and mentor the creatives. He said they will be giving out scholarships, too. According to him, once the opportunities are widely open in the Philippines then people don’t have to leave their family to make a living. “So I don’t have to keep bringing everybody to the US. If we have the industry here, I could just do it here. “This project is about “bayanihan” it’s like all of us coming together and making it happen,” the rapper added. “Sometimes we have the mentality of ‘Do it yourselves’ or ‘I can do it myself’ but this time it's like how we move house back in the days. We do it altogether.”