Two years after their debut album 'Behind The Front', and several months later than originally scheduled, The Black Eyed Peas trio of Will I. Am, Apl.D.Ap and Taboo return with another long playing slab of old skool hip hop meets nu school eclectic breaks.
Riding in on the slow rolling funk of 'The BEP Empire' the Peas lay out their "gotta keep it moving" philosophy before gliding into a break from Sly Stone's 'Family Affair' as the first of many carefully selected collaborations, this time with Esthero on 'Weekend', kicks in.
In a year that has seen a wealth of hip hop acts release albums that heavily feature collaborations, the Peas insist their choice of artists has grown organically, rather than following any musical or marketing trends.
"We chose Macy Gray because she was on the first album and liked working with her. We're kind of like, if it worked the first time we do it again," explains Will I. Am. "We toured with De La Soul and I'm probably their biggest fan. With Les Nubians I wanted to do an R&B song but I don't know what 'On My Own' is. It isn't R&B but it has that beat which has Mos Def written all over it.
"Everyone on the album Charlie Tuna, Wyclef, Esthero are people we have toured with or people who were on the first album. None of them were done because we needed help, they were artistic creations. A lot of the time you know why people have collaborated and the idea is bigger than the song. With us the song is bigger than the idea."
He's not wrong. 'Bridging The Gap' is loaded with well crafted tunes and displays a devout attention to detail. Although there are stand out tracks, such as 'Weekend', 'Hot', 'Cali To New York', 'Request Line', 'Little Little' and 'On My Own', there is barely a duff track on the album.
Will puts this down to the act's attitude to music - as the album title suggests they see their mission is to use hip hop to unite music and in the process bring people together spiritually.
"We try to say shit in our songs," says Will. "But we want to make people want to hear and say it subtly.
"We aren't doing what everyone else is doing. Our songs are more structured, we have a formula we have a verse, chorus and we have a bridge. We ain't just up there kicking lyrics."
Their deliberate song structures have caused bemusement amongst the purist corners of the hip hop scene, but the band is un-repentant
"We called it 'Bridging the Gap' because of all the things we've been doing. We're bridging gaps to bring people together, to bring people to hip hop music and bring rock to hip hop people.
"There's a whole bunch of gaps in hip hop and ten years from now what happened to jazz and blues is going to happen to hip hop, but people are too busy chasing money to see shit. Fatboy Slim is hip hop that 'funk soul brother' song is hip hop - but it's like hip hop guys are doing their whack shit and chasing money while other people are doing hip hop but calling it electronica or trip hop and doing it better."
The Peas are acting as guardians of hip hop's soul, anchoring the present to hip hop past and future. And as long as the sounds are this good, they can take it to the bridge as often as the please.
by Ben Osborne