the best 14 cents i’ve ever spent
August 2, 2005I don’t know when I started to like R&B. In fact, I think a part of me has always liked it, dating back to junior high, when we’d watch Lisa Lisa and the Cult Jam on MTV. In high school, though, I tuned into KROQ instead of POWER 106 and forgot all about my ambitions to groove like Prince and move like Janet.
I have to give credit to Rama for helping my inner fly girl come back out. He has opened me up to a whole world of music that makes me just want to get up a dance. Sometimes, he comes over singing a song that I’ve never heard, and long after he’s gone the song is still stuck in my head.
That’s how I discovered the Black Eyed Peas. Rama would sing “Hey Mama” to me all the time. It wasn’t until I was in the Philippines last summer when I heard the original jam. I listened to the rest of the album, Elephunk, on my brother’s iPod and fell in love with the band’s sounds and grooves.
What I especially love about the Black Eyed Peas is that they’re not just about a good sound. They also have a good sense of humor, shown in their hilarious and ridiculous hit, “Let’s Get Retarded,” and they have a good heart that shines in their anthem, “Where Is the Love?”
So, when their new album, Monkey Business, came out recently, I had to get it. I’d been saving a $15 gift certificate to Best Buy for something this good. The CD was on sale for $12.99. With tax, and after my gift card was factored, the total was 14 cents. That was Friday night, and I’ve already listened to the CD several dozen times. My favorites include a track featuring Jack Johnson, “Gone Going,” and the song they can’t stop playing on the radio, “Don’t Phunk With My Heart.”
There’s a Q&A in the CD booklet and one of the questions is, “Why the name Black Eyed Peas?” The answer is: “We make music for the soul and Black Eyed Peas are soul food.” As far as I’m concerned, they’re right. And at 14 cents, or even $14, it’s totally worth it.
I'm Christine, and this is a slice of my life—a sweet, rich, wildly indulgent slice that would taste really good with a scoop of Breyers vanilla bean ice cream. Read more >>
I run a darling, friendly, little graphic design studio.
I look on the bright side.
I take photos. Lots of photos.
I wish on stars and on websites.
I built my first web site 7 years ago and got 15 seconds of fame. (It changed my life.)
I launched, then relaunched, an online magazine.
I admitted to several embarrassing crushes.
I consumed more bacon than any human should and lived to tell the tales.
Both albums are definitely worth buying – I love to the listen to BEP when cleaning the house, they just make the experience more fun.
oh i love when “where is the love” comes on the radio~i always blast that one! :D now it’s stuck in my head!!!
I was at a Halloween party one year and there was a couple there, each wearing a white t-shirt with a giant “P” on it, and they had black shoe polish under one of their eyes. It was one of those really simple costumes that I’ve never forgotten.
Can the next five minute crush be about turning the BIG Three-Oh. I turn thirty next week and I feel anxious. How was it for you?
one of their members is a filipino. i think his name is Apl, or something. :)
I also love them. They are on my wishlist in iTunes :)