Will.I.Am | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | William James Adams Jr. |
Born | March 15, 1975 Los Angeles, California, USA |
Genre(s) | Hip hop, pop rap, R&B |
Occupation(s) | Singer, rapper, lyricist, producer |
Instrument(s) | Singing, rapping, keyboards, bass, clavinet, drums, piano |
Years active | 1989 – present |
Label(s) | Ruthless Records BBE Records A&M Records Interscope Records will.i.am music group |
Associated acts | Black Eyed Peas, Cheryl Cole, Common, Estelle, Fergie, Esthero, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, Macy Gray, Nas, Flo Rida |
Website | www.will-i-am.com |
William James Adams, Jr. (born March 15, 1975 in Los Angeles, California, USA), better known by his stage name will.i.am (formerly Will 1X), is an Emmy Award-winning musician, specializing as a hip hop musician, Rapper, dancer, songwriter and founding member and frontman of Black Eyed Peas. He also has his own label called will.i.am music group.
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In September 2007, will.i.am's record label Universal Music Group decided on a pilot scheme to reward certain file sharing with cash incentives, including will.i.am tracks from his latest solo album Songs About Girls.[1]
will.i.am is also featured in Flo Rida's debut album Mail on Sunday on the song In The Ayer.
will.i.am has recently been cast as John Wraith in the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine, a prequel to the X-Men film series.
In 2008 will.i.am contributed the song "One People" to the Survival International charity album, Songs for Survival.
Before joining the Black Eyed Peas, will.i.am attended the Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising in Los Angeles. In 2001, he began designing his own signature clothing line, i.am, which made its official debut in 2005 at the Magic apparel trade show in Las Vegas [2]. In 2007, will.i.am teamed up with Blue Holdings to design a premium denim collection, i.am Antik, that was scheduled to debut in August 2007 at the Project Show in Las Vegas [3]. He has also designed clothing for the Black Eyed Peas.
In January 2008, will.i.am wrote a song, "Yes We Can", in support of the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign of Barack Obama, which in turn became a music video directed by Jesse Dylan. The lyrics of the song are composed almost entirely of excerpts from Obama's speech on January 8, 2008, following the New Hampshire presidential primary election. The video features appearances from numerous celebrities like Scarlett Johansson, Tatyana Ali, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Kate Walsh, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Adam Rodríguez, Kelly Hu, Hill Harper, Amber Valletta, Eric Balfour, Aisha Tyler, Nicole Scherzinger, Nick Cannon, Bryan Greenberg, Common and first appeared on the website for Dipdive, and within a week of its appearance racked up three million views, and over four million views on YouTube.
On February 29, 2008, a second video, "We Are the Ones" was released on Dipdive and YouTube. Including cameo appearances from Jessica Alba, Ryan Phillippe, Kerry Washington, John Leguizamo, Regina King, Tyrese Gibson, Eric Mabius, Tichina Arnold, Adrianne Palicki, comedian George Lopez, and singers Macy Gray, Zoe Kravitz and Black Eyed Peas' Taboo, the video features everyone chanting "O-BA-MA" as a portrayal as their hopes and wishes for Barack Obama and his presidential campaign.
On 4 November 2008 will.i.am spoke to CNN's Anderson Cooper about his support for Sen. Obama, using CNNs 'hologram' technology.[4]
After the 2008 election, will.i.am released "It's a New Day." The video reflects on the aftermath of electing an African-American as president and features celebrities such as Fergie, Olivia Wilde, Kanye West, Harold Perrineau, Kevin Bacon and his wife Kyra Sedgwick. The video first debuted on The Oprah Winfrey Show.
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