Plugged in and ready to fall

It was an agonizingly hot summer day- even by Atlanta standards- back in '00, when my editor dispatched me to interview the Black Eyed Peas at the Tabernacle. The Peas would be performing later that night as an opening act for No Doubt. Keep in mind, the group I interviewed that day in no way resembled their current incarnation. It was the summer of 2000- two years after BEP had generated a nice bit of buzz with the Native Tongues-esque backpack rap of "Behind the Front." When I met them, they were touring with a pre-Hollaback Gwen Stefani, and promoting a mediocre sophomore album ("Bridging the Gap") that wasn’t exactly flying off the shelves.

When I arrived at the Tabernacle, Will, Taboo, and Apl. De. Ap were in the parking lot shooting hoops. I nervously introduced myself as "The guy from Insite," and followed them into their tour bus. The bus was so unbearably hot and humid; my face was, literally, bathed in sweat by the time we'd taken our seats in the rear. I sat to the right of Will. I. Am (who was nice enough to offer me a bottled water) while Taboo glared at me, and Apl (I feel so weird typing that ridiculous name) stared out the window.

After fumbling through my hastily scribbled list of lame, soft ball questions, Will suddenly became animated and genuinely intrigued when I brought up the idea of "mainstream VS. alternative" hip-hop. He asked me to explain what I meant by "mainstream hip-hop artist." I replied that a "mainstream hip-hop artist is someone who alters, or waters down their art to make it more appealing to a larger group of people."

Will bristled at this comment, claiming- as he grew increasingly more animated, moving closer and closer until his face was just inches away from mine- "See? You're wrong right there! There is no such thing as mainstream and alternative hip-hop. The only difference is how they're marketed."

"But what about Kool Keith?" I countered. "On his last album, he was rapping about 'remote control alligators,' and toured the country dressed as 'Black Elvis.' No marketing strategy in the world could ever put him on the same level as Jay-Z and Puff Daddy, because the music isn't all that accessible."

"It's NOT the music," Will claimed. "With the right kind of marketing, Kool Keith could be every bit as popular as Jay-Z without having to water down his style. You don't have to sell out and change your whole style to be on a mainstream level. It's all about how the product is marketed."

Cut to three years later: The little-known alternative hip-hop group critics once hailed as "smart" and "thought-provoking," reinvented themselves by ditching all that "socially conscious" nonsense and recording an awful (yet inexplicably successful) pop album with the woman from failed pop/R&B act, "Wild Orchid."

So much for not having to "change your whole style to be on a mainstream level," eh?