The Beginning (The Black Eyed Peas album)

The Beginning
Studio album by The Black Eyed Peas
Released	November 26, 2010 (2010-11-26)
Recorded	2010
Genre	Pop, dance, hip hop[1][2]
Length	54:05
Label	Interscope
Producer	will.i.am, DJ Ammo, Free School, David Guetta, Giorgio Tuinfort, Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins, apl.de.ap, Replay
The Black Eyed Peas chronology
The E.N.D (2009) The Beginning (2010)
Singles from The Beginning
"The Time (Dirty Bit)" Released: November 5, 2010 (2010-11-05) "Just Can't Get Enough" Released: February 18, 2011 (2011-02-18) "Don't Stop the Party" Released: June 24, 2011 (2011-06-24)

The Beginning is the sixth studio album by American hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas. The album was released on November 26, 2010 by Interscope. It is a prequel to the group's previous album The E.N.D (2009). The lead single, "The Time (Dirty Bit)," was released on November 9, 2010. The second single was "Just Can't Get Enough" and it was released on February 18, 2011. The final single was "Don't Stop the Party" and was released on June 24, 2011. The album debuted at number six on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 119,000 copies.

Background

On June 6, 2010, the band confirmed that they were working on a new album in an interview for The Big Issue. The album was described as a sequel to The E.N.D. will.i.am announced that the new album, which "symbolizes growth, new beginnings, and starts a fresh new perspective," would be titled The Beginning and be released on November 30, 2010.^[3] The album was officially announced in a press release on October 26, 2010.^[4]

Some songs were made available as promotional singles for the album release. The first, "Do It Like This", was released on November 15, 2010,^[5] and the second, "Light Up the Night", on November 22, 2010.^[6] The Beginning was one of Oprah's Favorite Things for 2010, and members of Oprah's audience were given copies of the album 11 days before its official release.^[7]

A tour called "The Beginning Massive Stadium Tour" began in June 2011 in France and ended in November 2011 with a total of 20 shows.^[8]

Reception

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number six on the Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 119,000 copies in the United States.^[9] It is their third album to chart inside the top ten, but their lowest charting album since Elephunk, which peaked at number 14 in 2003. As of October 2011, the album had sold over 800,000 copies in the United States.^[10]

In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number 17 selling 34,006 copies. After a performance on The X Factor on December 5, 2010, the album rose eight places to number nine and subsequently spent three weeks in the top ten. In Canada, it debuted at number two selling 27,400 copies in its first week, being kept off the top spot by a margin of 200 copies behind Susan Boyle's The Gift.^[11] The album debuted at number one in France, selling 35,653 copies in its first week.^[12] It is The Black Eyed Peas' third consecutive number-one album in the country.

In Germany, the album debuted at number five and started to slowly fall down. In its third week, the album was at No. 9 but could jump to No. 7 the following week. Following the success of the single "The Time (Dirty Bit)", the album rose from No. 7 to No. 2 in its fifth week, the album's peak position.^[13][14]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	47/100[15]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[2]
The A.V. Club	F[16]
Consequence of Sound	[17]
Entertainment Weekly	B+[1]
The Guardian	[18]
Los Angeles Times	[19]
musicOMH	[20]
Rolling Stone	[21]
Slant Magazine	[22]
Spin	(7/10)[23]

The Beginning received generally mixed reviews from most music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 47, based on 19 reviews, which indicates "mixed or average reviews."^[24]

Monica Herrera wrote for Billboard that "the music is expertly produced, but problems arise when Will.i.am claims the same of his wordplay. On the track "Don't Stop the Party," he chest-thumps, "Kill you with my lyricals/Call me verbal criminal." It's a silly boast for an artist who clearly focuses on beats over rhymes, and is probably better off for it."^[25] Kevin O'Donnell of Spin described the album as "one of the year's wildest sonic stews" and concluded "Pop's reigning peddlers of dumb fun are actually starting to sound stylishly avant-garde on their sixth album." The Guardian‍ '​s Caroline Sullivan gave the album 3 out of 5 stars calling it "upscale hip-pop" and said that "the Black Eyed Peas have created an album similar to 2009's enormously successful The END, but with more Auto-Tune and less input from the wonderful Fergie."^[18] Rolling Stone reviewer Jon Dolan viewed that the album "largely picks up where The E.N.D. left off" and felt that "they give themselves over more fully than ever to the groove palette of club culture, stirring up electro funk, Euro-trance and classic disco."^[21] John Bush of Allmusic gave the album 2 out of 5 stars, and noted that although David Guetta only appears on one track "his production job for 2009’s “I Gotta Feeling” casts a long shadow on this record of don't-stop-the-party jams and club-life tracks."^[2]

Entertainment Weekly writer Simon Vozick-Levinson gave the album a very positive review and stated "The Beginning wisely sticks with the heavier electronic beats they began importing from European clubs for The E.N.D. — a key ingredient that transformed the Black Eyed Peas from merely major stars to arguably the biggest chart act going [...] Every song is piled high with sticky pop melodies, slick hip-hop rhythms, bright synth parts, and vocals that have been diced and processed to high heaven, all furthering the goal of maximum catchiness."^[1] Greg Kot of Chicago Tribune gave the album 1.5 out of 4 stars and called it "the quartet’s tamest, most hook-deprived album in the Fergie era" and stated "the music’s reliance on rhythmic and lyrical repetition (as opposed to progression and surprise) becomes wearying."^[26] In his review for The Independent, Andy Gill gave it three out of five stars and wrote "It's a textbook blend of the over-familiar and the electronically treated, though their use of auto-tune and digital-stutter vocal effects is a touch more restrained than usual. From there on, the aspect never extends beyond the dancefloor, with martial synth-stomp riffs, spartan electro beats and loping bass grooves driving tracks."^[27] Ben Ratliff of The New York Times gave the album a negative review and noted it similarities with its predecessor, The E.N.D. with few differences, "less of Fergie’s actressy, un-Autotuned belting (too bad about that), bolder two-step techno beats, more heavily draped synthesizer tones and a fascination with late ’70s and early ’80s pop radio." and found the lyrics "soggy" and "cynical."^[28] musicOMH writer Luke Winkie stated that "will.i.am's productions sound like the bare minimum one could throw together and call a beat, usually encompassed by a simplified drum sequence and a buzzsaw synth turned up to the red and repeated long enough for DJs to make their paycheck" and wrote "the band has a knack of elongating their elementally good ideas into preposterously tiresome compositions."^[20]

Singles

• "The Time (Dirty Bit)" was released as the lead single from The Beginning on November 5, 2010. It officially debuted on United States radio on November 16, 2010.^[29][30] The music video for "The Time (Dirty Bit)" was released on November 23, 2010 and was directed by Rich Lee, who had previously directed the video for "Rock That Body" and "Imma Be".The song topped the charts in more than 15 countries.

• "Just Can't Get Enough" was released as the album's second single when it impacted U.S. mainstream on February 8, 2011.^[31][32] It was announced on January 21, 2011 via Twitter and their official site that it would become a single.^[33] The music video for "Just Can't Get Enough" was directed by Ben Mor. It was shot over a three-day period in Tokyo just one week before the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.The song topped the charts in many countries.

• "Don't Stop the Party" was announced as the third single from The Beginning by will.i.am on May 9, 2011. A music video for the song was released on iTunes the next day, along with the single.^[34] The video, which is directed by Ben Mor, features on stage and backstage footage of the group during their 'The E.N.D World Tour' throughout 2009 and 2010.^[35]

Promotional singles

• "Do It Like This", was released on November 16, 2010 worldwide and on November 26 on iTunes. It was the first promotional single from the album as part of "The Countdown to The Beginning".
• "Light Up the Night" was the second promotional single from the album and was released on November 24, 2010 worldwide and on November 26 on iTunes. The song charted at number 99 at the Canadian Hot 100.

Other notable songs

• "Love You Long Time" had charted, at the first week after the album's release, at number 36 on the UK Dance Chart chart.
• "Someday" had charted in 2011. The first was featured in the 2010 movie Knight and Day and charted at number 80 on the Canadian Hot 100 and the second at number 16 on the French Singles Chart.
• "Whenever" also serves as the fourth single from the album in France, and is used to promote the album in TV spots.

Track listings

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"The Time (Dirty Bit)"	William Adams Allan Pineda Damien LeRoy Franke Previte John De Nicola Donald Markowitz	will.i.am DJ Ammo	5:07
2.	"Light Up the Night"	Adams Pineda Keith Harris Ricky Walters	will.i.am	4:21
3.	"Love You Long Time"	Adams Stacy Ferguson Joshua Alvarez	will.i.am	3:45
4.	"XOXOXO"	Adams Pineda Jean Baptiste	will.i.am	3:45
5.	"Someday"	Adams Baptiste Pineda Jaime Gomez	will.i.am Free School[a]	4:33
6.	"Whenever"	Adams Ferguson	will.i.am	3:16
7.	"Fashion Beats"	Adams Ferguson Harris Nile Rodgers Bernard Edwards	will.i.am DJ Ammo	5:20
8.	"Don't Stop the Party"	Adams Pineda Gomez Ferguson Alvarez LeRoy	DJ Ammo will.i.am[a]	6:07
9.	"Do It Like This"	Adams Pineda Gomez LeRoy	DJ Ammo	5:29
10.	"The Best One Yet (The Boy)"	Adams Pineda Gomez David Guetta Giorgio Tuinfort Sylvia Gordon Baptiste	will.i.am Guetta Tuinfort	4:25
11.	"Just Can't Get Enough"	Adams Pineda Gomez Ferguson Alvarez Stephen Shadowen Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins Julie Frost	will.i.am Jerkins[a]	3:39
12.	"Play It Loud"	Adams Michael McHenry Baptiste	Free School	4:21

Deluxe edition
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
10.	"The Situation"	Adams Pineda Ferguson Ryan Buendia	apl.de.ap Replay DJ Ammo	3:45
11.	"The Coming"	Adams Pineda Gomez Baptiste Alvarez Barrington Levy Paul Love	will.i.am	4:19
12.	"Own It"	Adams	will.i.am	3:13
13.	"The Best One Yet (The Boy)"	Adams Pineda Gomez Guetta Tuinfort Gordon Baptiste	will.i.am Guetta Tuinfort	4:25
14.	"Just Can't Get Enough"	Adams Pineda Gomez Ferguson Alvarez Shadowen Jerkins Frost	will.i.am Jerkins[a]	3:39
15.	"Play It Loud"	Adams McHenry Baptiste	Free School	4:21

Super Deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
16.	"Everything Wonderful" (featuring David Guetta)	Adams, Baptiste, Guetta, Tuinfort, Pineda	4:03
17.	"Phenomenon"	Adams, Alvarez, Baptiste, Ryan Buendia, Ferguson, Pineda	3:40
18.	"Take It Off"	Adams, Gomez, Beleegh Hamdi, Ferguson, Pineda, Hamza Mohamed	4:02

Super Deluxe edition (Disc 2 – The Best of The E.N.D)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Boom Boom Pow"	Adams, Pineda, Ferguson, Gomez	will.i.am, Jean Baptiste*, Poet Name Life*	4:11
2.	"I Gotta Feeling"	Adams, Pineda, Ferguson, Gomez, Guetta, Riesterer	David Guetta, Frédéric Riesterer	4:49
3.	"Meet Me Halfway"	Adams, Pineda, Ferguson, Gomez, Harris, Baptiste, Gordon	Keith Harris, will.i.am	4:44
4.	"Imma Be"	Adams, Pineda, Ferguson, Gomez, Harris, Jared Tankel, Daniel Foder, Thomas Brenneck, Michael Deller	Keith Harris, will.i.am	4:17
5.	"Rock That Body"	Adams, Pineda, Gomez, Ferguson, Guetta, Mark Knight, Adam Walder, Baptiste, Jamie Munson, Robert Ginyard	David Guetta, will.i.am, Mark Knight*, Funkagenda*	4:32

Notes

• ^{^a} signifies a co-producer
• "The Time (Dirty Bit)" interpolates "(I've Had) The Time of My Life," originally performed by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes in the 1987 film Dirty Dancing.
• "Light Up the Night" contains a sample of "Children's Story" by Slick Rick.
• "Fashion Beats" contains a sample of "My Forbidden Lover" by Chic.
• "Love You Long Time" contains a sample of "Give It Up" by KC and the Sunshine Band.

Personnel

Credits for The Beginning adapted from Allmusic.^[36]

Joshua Alvarez – composer Eddie Axley – logo design Jean Baptiste – composer Davis Barnett – viola Chris Bellman – mastering Michelle Bishop – violin Jennifer Bowling – marketing coordinator John DeNicola – composer Dennis Dennehy – publicity William Derella – management DJ Ammo – drum programming, Moog bass, producer, synthesizer Dylan Dresdow – mixing Bernard Edwards – composer Stacy Ferguson – vocals, composer Ghislaine Fleischmann – violin Ruth Frazier – viola Julie Frost – composer Free School – producer Larry Gold – conductor, string arrangements Jaime Gomez – vocals, composer Sylvia Gordon – composer David Guetta – composer, drum programming, producer, synthesizer Keith Harris – composer, Fender Rhodes, grand piano, piano, synthesizer Julie Hovsepian – product manager Tomoko Itoki – marketing Neil Jacobson – A&R Rodney Jerkins – composer Thomas Brown – composer Justin Franks (DJ Frank E) – producer Rodney "Darkchild" Jerkins – producer Andy Kalyvas – mastering assistant Olga Konopelsky – violin Tom Kraines – cello Emma Kummrow – violin Tamae Lee – violin Damien Leroy – composer

Jonathan Levine – booking Josh Lopez – guitar Jennie Lorenzo – cello Deborah Mannis-Gardner – sample clearance Donald Markowitz – composer Michael McHenry – composer Erica Miller – violin Polo Molina – management Huan Nghiem – art direction Padraic 'Padlock' Kerin – engineer, production coordination Charles Parker – violin Allan Pineda – vocals, composer Franke Previte – composer Brenda Reynoso – publicity Nile Rodgers – composer Dante Santiago – A&R Stephen Shadowen – composer James Durkin – recording assistant Pasha Shapiro – art direction Hillary Siskind – publicity David Sonenberg – management Caleb Speir – bass Anthony Taglianetti – mixing assistant Gregory Teperman – violin Scott Thomas – booking Giorgio Tuinfort – composer, drum programming, producer, synthesizer Andrew Van Meter – producer Jorge Velasco – mixing assistant Ricky Walters – composer Ernst Weber – art direction Alain Whyte – guitar William Adams – vocals, art direction, bass, composer, drum programming, engineer, executive producer, Fender Rhodes, logo design, Moog bass, producer, synthesizer Ianthe Zevos – creation

Charts and certifications

Charts Chart (2010–11) Peak position Australian Albums Chart[37] 8 Austrian Albums Chart[37] 7 Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[37] 6 Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[37] 2 Brazilian ABPD Top 50 Albums Chart[37] 1 Canadian Albums Chart[11] 2 Czech Albums Chart[38] 18 Dutch Albums Chart[37] 34 French Albums Chart[37] 1 German Albums Chart[39] 2 Greek Albums Chart[37] 7 Hungarian Albums Chart[40] 34 Irish Albums Chart[41] 13 Italian Albums Chart[42] 25 Japanese Albums Chart[43] 10 Mexican Albums Chart[37] 2 New Zealand Albums Chart[37] 12 scope="row" Polish Albums (ZPAV)[44] 27 Scottish Albums Chart[45] 13 Spanish Albums Chart[37] 17 Swedish Albums Chart[37] 58 Swiss Albums Chart[37] 3 UK Albums Chart[46] 8 UK Dance Albums Chart[47] 1 US Billboard 200[9] 6

Year-end charts Chart (2010) Rank Australian Albums Chart[48] 42 German Albums Chart[49] 52 Mexican Albums Chart[50] 29 Chart (2011) Rank Australian Albums Chart[51] 57 Austrian Albums Chart[52] 45 Canadian Albums Chart[53] 4 German Albums Chart[54] 52 Mexican Albums Chart[55] 12 Swiss Albums Chart[56] 18 US Billboard 200[57] 27 Certifications Country Certifications Australia Platinum[58] Belgium Platinum[59] Brazil Gold[60] Europe Platinum[61] France Diamond[62] Germany Platinum[63] Ireland Platinum[64] Italy Gold[65] Japan Gold[66] Mexico Platinum[67] Switzerland Platinum[68] United Kingdom Platinum[69]

Chart procession and succession

Preceded by Lunatic by Booba

French Albums Chart number-one album December 5, 2010 – December 12, 2010

Succeeded by Bleu Noir by Mylène Farmer

Release history

List of release dates, showing country, record label, and edition

Region	Date	Label	Edition
Australia[70][71]	November 26, 2010	Universal Music	Standard, Deluxe
Germany[72]
Argentina[73]			Deluxe
Poland[74]			Standard, Deluxe
United Kingdom[75]	November 29, 2010	Polydor	Standard, Deluxe, Super Deluxe
France[76]
Hong Kong[77]		Universal Music
Mexico[78]	November 30, 2010	Interscope
Greece
United States
Italy
Japan[79]	December 1, 2010	Universal Music	Deluxe, Super Deluxe (Limited)
Colombia[80]
Brazil[81][82]	December 3, 2010

References

External links

• The Beginning at Metacritic

The Black Eyed Peas will.i.am apl.de.ap Taboo Fergie Kim Hill Dante Santiago DJ Motiv8 Mookie Mook Studio albums and singles Behind the Front (1998) "Fallin' Up/¿Que Dices?" "Joints & Jam" "Karma" Bridging the Gap (2000) "BEP Empire/Get Original "Weekends" "Request + Line" Elephunk (2003) "Where Is the Love?" "Shut Up" "Hey Mama" "Let's Get It Started" Monkey Business (2005) "Don't Phunk with My Heart" "Don't Lie" "My Humps" "Pump It" The E.N.D (2009) "Boom Boom Pow" "I Gotta Feeling" "Meet Me Halfway" "Imma Be" "Rock That Body" "Missing You" The Beginning (2010) "The Time (Dirty Bit)" "Just Can't Get Enough" "Don't Stop the Party" Promotional singles "Bebot" "Alive" "Do It Like This" "Light Up the Night" Featured singles "Mas que Nada" Compilation albums Renegotiations: The Remixes The E.N.D. Summer 2010 Canadian Invasion Tour: Remix Collection Video albums Behind the Bridge to Elephunk Live from Sydney to Vegas Tours Monkey Business Tour Honda Civic Tour Black Blue & You Tour The E.N.D World Tour The Beginning Massive Stadium Tour Related articles Discography Atban Klann The Black Eyed Peas Experience Book Category