''Songs About Girls'' is the third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American rapper

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "Will-I-am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He is the founding and lead member of the musical group Black Eyed Peas. ...

, known from his work with

The Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie, who replaced Kim Hil ...

. The original title of the album was ''Keep the Beeper''. The album was released on September 19, 2007. The first single released from the album was a club track titled "

I Got It from My Mama "I Got It from My Mama" is a hip hop song by American rapper will.i.am. The uncredited female vocals in the song are from singer Kat Graham. It was released as the lead single from will.i.am's third solo album, ''Songs About Girls''. It's primari ...

" which debuted on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 at #93 on August 17, 2007. will.i.am enlisted guest appearances from

Cheryl Cheryl is a female given name common in English speaking countries. There are several prevailing theories about its etymology. The most common is that it has Italo-Celtic roots and is an Anglicised version of either the French name Cherie (from ...

and

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

. The album was recorded by Pardraic Kerin and will.i.am, and mixed by

Dylan Dresdow Dylan Dresdow aka "3-D", is an audio mixer. He has mixed songs for such artists as Prince, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Usher, Black Eyed Peas, Nas, Afrojack, Talib Kweli, Britney Spears, Ice Cube, Redman, The Wu Tang Clan, Bone Thugs-n-Harmon ...

Background

The album has been described by will.i.am as semi-autobiographical conceptual album "where all the songs could tell a story of falling in love, falling out of love, trying to get back in love, destructing love and destroying love and then starting a new situation. That journey is what makes this unique." The album is partially based on a seven-year relationship that will.i.am experienced and the infidelities and the break-up of that relationship. According to will.i.am's video on MySpace TV, he considers ''Songs About Girls'' to be his debut album, with his first two being production compilations.

Collaborations

will.i.am revealed on the Canadian

MTV e2 ''MTV e2'' was a Canadian entertainment news program that aired on MTV and A; hosted by Anna Cyzon; produced at the Masonic Temple in downtown Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a ...

show that the album would feature collaborations with: Slick Rick,

Ice Cube An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...

, Q-Tip,

Common Common may refer to: Places * Common, a townland in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland * Boston Common, a central public park in Boston, Massachusetts * Cambridge Common, common land area in Cambridge, Massachusetts * Clapham Common, originally com ...

, Too Short,

Busta Rhymes Trevor George Smith Jr. (born May 20, 1972), known professionally as Busta Rhymes, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. Chuck D of Public Enemy gave him the moniker Busta Rhymes, after NFL and CFL wide receiver ...

and Ludacris. Unfortunately, the only collaboration that made the final cut is the Snoop Dogg collaboration.

Kat Graham Katerina Alexandre Hartford Graham (born September 5, 1989) is an American actress, singer and dancer (now distributing music under the stage name Toro Gato). She is widely known for her role as Bonnie Bennett on The CW supernatural drama seri ...

sings in "I Got It from My Mama", "One More Chance" and "The Donque Song" but she is not credited. will.i.am also recorded a song with American R&B singer

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

on a song called: "Going Crazy" - though never made the final album cut.

Album release

In September 2006, will.i.am became the head of marketing of the online music distribution company Musicane. Musicane allows artists to directly sell their songs to the public without a record company overseeing the distribution of the album. will.i.am has stated that he intends for ''Songs About Girls'' to be an infinitely expandable collection of songs that are distributed through Musicane and other online music services. According to will.i.am; "If I have an album filled with songs about girls, what happens if tomorrow I write another song about a girl?", he explains. "So something that started off just with 15 songs, in the next ten years could have 100 songs. Having 12 songs on a record? That day is done". Despite Will's success with

and as a producer for numerous other artists, the album was not a commercial success. It debuted at #38 on the ''Billboard'' 200 with sales of just 21,000 copies according to

Nielsen SoundScan Luminate (formerly Nielsen SoundScan, Nielsen Music Products, and MRC Data) is a provider of music sales data. Established by Mike Fine and Mike Shalett in 1991, data is collected weekly and made available every Sunday (for albums sales) and eve ...

.Katie Hasty
"Rascal Flatts Races To No. 1 In Debut-Heavy Week"
Billboard.com, October 3, 2007 This was significantly less than The Black Eyed Peas' '' Elephunk'' (#14) and '' Monkey Business'' (#2) and also Fergie's solo effort ''

The Dutchess ''The Dutchess'' is the debut solo studio album by American singer and rapper Fergie. It was released on September 13, 2006, through A&M Records and the will.i.am Music Group as her first solo album. The album was recorded between The Black Eye ...

'' (#2). The album leaked to the Internet on September 19, 2007. The album debuted on the Australian ARIA Albums Chart on October 1, 2007 at number 58 with sales of 870 copies. Cashmere, Paul, (October 1, 2007)
"Foo Fighters Slaughter Competition for Number 1 Spot"
. Undercover Media Pty Ltd. Retrieved November 16, 2007. The album was released on

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

on October 5, 2007. The album went Gold in Poland three days before its release. "Dynamite Interlude" has no writing or production credits.

Track listing

All songs produced by will.i.am, except where noted. ;Samples credits: * "Over" samples " It's Over" by

Electric Light Orchestra The Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1970 by songwriters and multi-instrumentalists Jeff Lynne and Roy Wood with drummer Bev Bevan. Their music is characterised by a fusion of pop, classical a ...

and it samples a break from T-Ski Valley's 1981 rap classic "Catch the Beat". * "Get Your Money" samples "Body Language" by M.A.N.D.Y. and Booka Shade * "Impatient" samples "

Love Foolosophy "Love Foolosophy" is the third single from British funk and acid jazz band Jamiroquai's fifth studio album, ''A Funk Odyssey'' (2001). The song was written by Jason Kay and Toby Smith. The song's title is a play on words, using a made-up homop ...

" by Jamiroquai * "Fantastic" samples the guitar hook played by

David T. Walker David T. Walker (born June 25, 1941) is an American guitarist, born in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to numerous session musician duties since the early 1970s, Walker has issued fifteen albums in his own name. Career David T. Walker was born to ...

in " I Want You Back" by the Jackson 5 * "S.O.S. (Mother Nature)" samples Steve Gadd's drumming in "

50 Ways to Leave Your Lover "50 Ways to Leave Your Lover" is a song by the American singer-songwriter Paul Simon. It was the second single from his fourth studio album, ''Still Crazy After All These Years'' (1975), released on Columbia Records. Backing vocals on the single ...

" by

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and actor whose career has spanned six decades. He is one of the most acclaimed songwriters in popular music, both as a solo artist and as half of folk roc ...

* "Mamma Mia" samples "What'd I Say" by

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson Sr. (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential singers in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Ge ...

Charts and certifications

Charts

Certifications

Release history

References

External links

Official will.i.am website
{{Authority control 2007 albums Albums produced by Polow da Don Albums produced by will.i.am Will.i.am albums Albums produced by Fernando Garibay Albums produced by Michael Jackson