Where Is the Love?

"Where Is the Love?"
Single by The Black Eyed Peas
from the album Elephunk
B-side	"Somethin' for That Ass" "What's Goin Down"
Released	June 16, 2003
Format	CD single
Recorded	December 26, 2001–March 3, 2003
Genre	Conscious hip hop, R&B
Length	8:29 (2003 Album Version) 4:34 (Single Version/2004 Album Version) 3:51 (Radio Edit)
Label	A&M, will.i.am, Interscope
Writer(s)	William Adams, Justin Timberlake, Jaime Gomez, Allan Pineda, Printz Board, Michael Fratantuno, George Pajon, Jr., J. Curtis
Producer(s)	will.i.am, Ron Fair
The Black Eyed Peas singles chronology
"Request + Line" (2001) "Where Is the Love?" (2003) "Shut Up" (2003)

"Where Is the Love?" is a song recorded by American hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas. It was released in June 2003 as the lead single from their third album, Elephunk. It is the band's first record to feature Fergie. The song features vocals from Justin Timberlake, although he is not officially credited on the single release.

It peaked at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100, and topped the charts in Australia and the United Kingdom. It became the biggest-selling single of 2003 in the latter country. The band and Timberlake received two nominations, Record of the Year and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, for "Where Is the Love?" at the 46th Grammy Awards.^[1]

"Where Is the Love?" debuted at number nine on the Hot 100 in early July 2003 and spent 12 weeks inside the top 10, though the song only peaked at number eight. This at the time was the longest time a song had ever spent in the top 10 without peaking above number 5. The reason for this was fluctuating airplay and singles sales. It ended up only spending 26 weeks on the chart, quickly declining on the Hot 100 after it left the top 10 in December of 2003.

Background

Following the commercial failures of their previous albums and singles, there was doubt over whether the Black Eyed Peas would continue to record together. A&R executive Ron Fair approached them and suggested a crossover to a more mainstream pop sound. will.i.am in particular resisted the idea for fear that they would be seen as sellouts. However, after discussions and some writing sessions, the idea was pursued.^[2]

Shortly after Christmas 2001, will.I.am created a loop and a guitar part that he liked. Taboo and apl.de.ap also heard the track and were able to write similar lyrics over it. Justin Timberlake was allegedly introduced to the group by new band member Fergie, and got a chance to hear the track that will.i.am created. Impressed with the music, Timberlake helped write and sing the chorus.

Timberlake was in the midst of promotion of his debut solo album, Justified, and his label Jive Records was concerned about possible overexposure. The Peas were worried about this, as getting some assistance from an established pop star like Timberlake had been the original point of this song. A compromise was reached eventually in which Jive gave clearance for the vocals of Timberlake to be released on the song, but he does not appear in the song's music video nor is he officially credited on the song as an artist. The song has so far sold 954,000 digital copies.^[3]

On May 12, 2013 after 10 years since the song's release, the song re-entered the official UK singles charts at 40, eventually peaking at 35. The apparent reason for the re-entry is the popularity of the song in airplay and purchase in the aftermath of the retirement of Manchester United football club's manager Alex Ferguson. He is known as Fergie, as is member Fergie.

Composition

The song was written by will.i.am, Taboo, apl.de.ap, Justin Timberlake, Ron Fair, Printz Board, George Pajon, Jr., M. Fratantuno, and J. Curtis, and co-produced by will.i.am and Ron Fair. In this song, The Black Eyed Peas lament on various worldwide problems. Many issues are discussed, which include but are not limited to terrorism, U.S. government hypocrisy, racism, gang crime, pollution, war, intolerance, and violence against LGBT people.

Critical reception

The song was rewarded with nominations at the 46th Grammy Awards in 2004 for Record of the Year and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration.

The song was the biggest selling single of 2003 in the UK. It was also the 25th best-selling single of the 2000s (decade) in the UK.^[4]

Music video

The music video for "Where Is the Love?" was shot in East Los Angeles and features the Black Eyed Peas and various other people, including various young children, asking the world where the love really is. In the video, will.i.am and Taboo act as a soul music road duo who use music to tell people what is wrong with the world, Fergie appears as a peacemaker who places stickers with question marks on them all over the place to ask people where the love is in the world, and apl.de.ap is a criminal who is arrested for using criminal offences to tell people the truth. Justin Timberlake does not appear in the video, although several different people are seen mouthing the chorus as he sings it.

The video is similar to a 2002 British television advertisement for T-Mobile, in which a face of a young baby is presented in various forms around a large city, much like the question mark in this video. The Bon Jovi music video "Have a Nice Day" is also similar to both the advertisement and this video. The video features gameplay footage of the graphically explicit and controversial video game Postal 2, in which a group of young children are playing the game. This suggests that violence in the media and entertainment industry affects the morals of children.

Covers

British pop band Busted did a rock version of the song, which features on their live album, A Ticket for Everyone.

The Voice UK contestant Frances Wood sang the song at her audition and chose will.i.am to be her mentor.

Japanese pop singer Sho Sakurai (Arashi) re-wrote the rap lyrics in Japanese and performed his cover version at his solo concert in 2006.

At the Mnet Asian Music Awards (commonly abbreviated as MAMA) promotional held in Singapore in 2011, will.i.am apl.de.ap performed the song with friend and collaborator, K-pop vocalist and rapper CL of 2NE1 performing Taboo and Fergie's part.

The X Factor Israel contestant Inbal Bibi sang the song at the live shows and received positive reviews.

Formats and track listings

Personnel

• Arranged by Ron Ron Fairyou

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2003-04) Peak position Australia (ARIA)[5] 1 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[6] 1 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[7] 1 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Wallonia)[8] 19 Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[9] 5 Denmark (Tracklisten)[10] 1 Europe (European Hot 100 Singles)[11] 1 France (SNEP)[12] 16 Germany (Official German Charts)[13] 1 Hungary (Single Top 40)[14] 3 Hungary (Dance Top 40)[15] 10 Ireland (IRMA)[16] 1 Italy (FIMI)[17] 3 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[18] 1 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[19] 1 Norway (VG-lista)[20] 1 Poland (Polish Singles Chart)[21] 1 Romania (Romanian Top 100)[22] 1 Scotland (Official Charts Company)[23] 1 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[24] 1 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] 1 UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[26] 1 US Billboard Hot 100[27] 8 US Adult Top 40 (Billboard)[28] 16 US Dance Club Songs (Billboard)[29] 7 US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[30] 22 US Hot Rap Songs (Billboard)[31] 9 US Mainstream Top 40 (Billboard)[32] 1 US Rhythmic (Billboard)[33] 1 Chart (2013) Peak position UK Singles (Official Charts Company)[34] 40

Year-end charts Chart (2003) Position Australian Singles Chart[35] 3 Austrian Singles Chart[36] 10 Belgian (Flanders) Singles Chart[37] 10 Dutch Top 40[38] 4 French Singles Chart[39] 78 German Singles Chart[40] 4 Irish Singles Chart[41] 2 Italian Singles Chart[42] 10 New Zealand Singles Chart[43] 2 Swedish Singles Chart[44] 7 Swiss Singles Chart[45] 2 UK Singles Chart[46] 1 Decade-end charts (2000–2009) Position German Singles Chart[47] 89 UK Singles Chart[4] 25 Certifications Region Certification Sales/shipments Australia (ARIA)[48] 4× Platinum 280,000^ Belgium (BEA)[49] Gold 25,000* Germany (BVMI)[50] Gold 250,000^ Italy (FIMI)[51] Gold 25,000 Norway (IFPI Norway)[52] Platinum 10,000* New Zealand (RMNZ)[53] Platinum 15,000* United Kingdom (BPI)[54] Platinum 927,000[55] United States (RIAA)[56] Platinum 1,000,000* *sales figures based on certification alone ^shipments figures based on certification alone sales/streaming figures based on certification alone

References

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics