Apl de Ap ‘In every album, we try to push the envelop and try new sounds. And you know we’ve done a lot of pop records; we’ve done electro music. And you know we’ve gone to the top.’

The Peas are back, and many of their fans from way before they hit it big with Elephunk in 2003 rejoiced at hearing the old school hip-hop sound of the group.

Fans left positive remarks on the YouTube page of The Black Eyed Peas’ latest single “Ring The Alarm.”

“They’re back,” “RIP Replay Button” and “Finally, the real BEP,” were just some of the comments left on the video uploaded on May 17, 2018. As of press time, the video has been viewed more than 4 million times.

The video showed will.I.am, Taboo and Apl.de.Ap taking turns in dishing how the world has gone “bonkers.” At one point, Apl goes on about how the highest office in the land of milk and honey, ironically, leads the world in crumbling. “Villains in White House, heroes seen in coffins/Leaders stumbled ‘cross while we leading to our crosses/Whose policin’ the police, why they socking?”

The prose and poetry of will.i.am and Apl come into climax with the refrain and bridge repeatedly sung with “Wake up” and “Ring the alarm.”

While most of the comments were commending the newest work from the Grammy-winning group, there were some wondering about the identity of the woman singing the bridge and refrain. They could barely make her out since she was garbed in all-black – from her head covered in facial mask and beret with only her mouth visible, busy rhyming with the melody.

It was easy to see it was not Fergie, the last known female member of BEP. Fergie, who had been with the group since their breakout in Elephunk, is reportedly working on her own music. Even Apl confirmed this.

So who is this lady? This writer asked Apl to clarify this bit and he confirmed that his ward Jessica Reynoso was, indeed, the female in question.

“Yeah, she is the one in the MV and the one singing the chorus in our brand new single ‘Ring The Alarm’. We’re always searching and birthing new artists, also collaborating with other female artists like Esthero, Macy Gray, Kim Hill. BEP is a family, it’s not just a group. Whenever we see a talent, we’d like to involve them in every aspect of BEP,” stated Apl.

He added that Reynoso, whom he discovered and took in as an artist in his Jeepney Music label after serving as her mentor in the first season of The Voice of the Philippines, is not replacing anybody.

He also reassured fans that as a group, BEP is continuously evolving. Their evolution includes experimenting with different genres that they incorporate with their music.

“In every album, we try to push the envelope and try new sounds. And you know we’ve done a lot of pop records; we’ve done electro music. And you know we’ve gone to the top.

Now what gets us excited is that we’re now going back to that raw sound, that raw BEP sound along with positive messages. That’s what excites us right now. And so that’s what we’re focusing on,” commented the singer after this writer asked him for his opinion about some of the comments regarding their more popsy tunes after Fergie joined the group.

Apl.de.Ap will be as busy as ever. He’ll be in and out of the country, and while here, he will be touring around the Philippines as an advocate for the Creative Innovators Programme, a cross-sectoral collaboration involving several institutions including the British Council of the Philippines, Department of Trade and Industry, Thames International and his own Apl.de.Ap Foundation.

Also, BEP will have a tour starting in October with a stop in the Philippines, a condition he said he states with the BEP management every time they go on tour. Along with that, he said that they are very much excited with writing more songs to follow “Ring The Alarm.”

His enthusiasm about the songs that they’re writing were akin to the excitement they had with their first album Behind The Front (1998).

“We’re back to that creative, artistic sound like our first album again. This time around, we have a lot of messages in our songs, not just party songs. You know it’s hard to write party songs when all these negative things are going on in our society from police brutality to inequality; from school shootings to gun control. So we make sure that this time around we’re utilizing our voice to relay positive messages. I think this is one of our best projects as Black Eyed Peas. We really took our time to write. We just don’t wanna make music, we want to make messages along with our music this time around,” explained Apl.

Indeed he is going to be busy, and his position at the newest season of The Voice of the Philippines might still be unsure but Apl.de.Ap leaves a teasing answer to the question of him returning as a coach.

“I love being on The Voice. But, of course, just like I said before, ‘My chair never stops turning.’ I love being on the show,” ended Apl.

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