Hip-hop artists with commercial aspirations need never appear pandering to their audience, since a tough, defiant stance -- aka keeping it real -- is exactly what will draw in most crossover listeners anyway. Nevertheless, the Black Eyed Peas quickly embraced the pop world after the surprising success of third album Elephunk, and only continued their repositioning as a mainstream act with 2005's Monkey Business. That focus is immediately clear on the opener, "Pump It Up," where they gladly welcome listeners on a track whose sample -- Dick Dale's "Misirlou," already ubiquitous before it appeared in Pulp Fiction -- has to replace "Walk This Way" or "I'll Be Missing You" (more on Sting later) as the most conspicuous case of an unmissable rock riff being used on a rap track. The group moves on to motivate its hip-hop base by reaching for every trick in the grab bag of contemporary urban music. These attempts are either serviceable or wildly unsuccessful. "Disco Club" is one of the serviceable tracks, an apt re-creation of Cassidy's "Hotel." Wildly unsuccessful is the group's utilization of its newest member, Fergie, to function as an imitator of the hyper-sexual Kelis/Ciara archetype on "My Humps," which makes for one of the most embarrassing rap performances of the new millennium (sample lyric: "My hump (9x)/My lovely little lumps"). Unlike Elephunk, the Justin Timberlake feature here ("My Style") is placed early in the program, and it's bolstered by a Timbaland production, which eases the strain of an otherwise featherweight jam. Most of the songs on Monkey Business are the same type of party rap singalong that Black Eyed Peas made their name with on Elephunk. But other than "Disco Club," the only one that works as anything but background party music is "Feel It," a rare production by the group's apl.de.ap (will.i.am handles most of the rest). At the very tail end of the disc, there's one brief glance at Black Eyed Peas' history as a socially conscious group -- "Union," featuring Sting and Branford Marsalis, which floats the usual bromides about peace and equality (and swipes the sound and speak of Bob Marley in the process). Monkey Business could easily sell just as well, or better, than Elephunk, but what the group made sound effortless in the past sounds a little strained here. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
Sting (Bass), Sting (Vocals), Bruce Dukov (Violin), Sid Page (Violin), Tippa Irie (Vocals (Background)), Charlie Bisharat (Violin), Jacqueline Brand (Violin), Mino Cinelu (Percussion), Brian Dembow (Viola), Joel Derouin (Violin), Stephen Erdody (Cello), Ron Fair (Harmonica), Ron Fair (Arranger), Ron Fair (Conductor), Ron Fair (Producer), Ron Fair (Executive Producer), Ron Fair (String Arrangements), Brian Gardner (Mastering), Julie Gigante (Violin), Endre Granat (Violin), Alan Grunfeld (Violin), Keith Harris (Percussion), Keith Harris (Drums), Keith Harris (Keyboards), Ted Howard (Engineer), David Low (Cello), Rene Mandel (Violin), Branford Marsalis (Saxophone), Tony Maserati (Mixing), Simon Oswell (Viola), Katia Popov (Violin), Jack Joseph Puig (Mixing), Mark "Spike" Stent (Mixing), Cecilia Tsan (Cello), Josephina Vergara (Violin), Serban Ghenea (Mixing), Matt Funes (Viola), Cynthia Morey (Vocals (Background)), Suzie Katayama (Cello), Mario Diaz de Leon (Violin), Chaos (Bass), Chaos (Engineer), Chaos (Drum Programming), Albert Watson (Photography), Jeff Watkins (Saxophone), Natalie Leggett (Violin), Vicki Miskolczy (Viola), Sheila Wheat (Vocals (Background)), Damon Wood (Guitar), Phillipe Levy (Violin), will.i.am (Organ), will.i.am (Synthesizer), will.i.am (Bass), will.i.am (Organ (Hammond)), will.i.am (Vocals), will.i.am (Clavinet), will.i.am (Moog Synthesizer), will.i.am (Producer), will.i.am (Engineer), will.i.am (Executive Producer), will.i.am (Fender Rhodes), will.i.am (Drum Programming), Shepard Fairey (Cover Design), Shepard Fairey (Logo Design), Neil Tucker (Engineer), Mike Fratantuno (Bass), Roberto Cani (Violin), Justin Timberlake (Vocals), Printz Board (Synthesizer), Printz Board (Bass), Printz Board (Trumpet), Printz Board (Drums), Printz Board (Moog Synthesizer), Printz Board (Mellotron), Printz Board (Fender Rhodes), Michael Evans (Production Coordination), Dylan Dresdow (Engineer), Tal Herzberg (Engineer), Tal Herzberg (Digital Editing), Sarah Thornblade (Violin), apl.de.ap (Strings), apl.de.ap (Vocals), apl.de.ap (Clavinet), apl.de.ap (Drum Programming), Danja Mowf (Producer), Andrew Van Meter (Production Coordination), Jack Johnson (Guitar), Tim Izo Orindgreff (Flute), Tim Izo Orindgreff (Saxophone), Lor e Phillips (Stylist), Dante Santiago (Vocals (Background)), Dante Santiago (Artist Coordination), Jason Villaroman (Engineer), Ray Brady (Guitar), Ethan Willoughby (Engineer), Robert "Dandy" Thompson (Organ), Robert "Dandy" Thompson (Bass), Robert "Dandy" Thompson (Drums), Robert "Dandy" Thompson (Clavinet), Robert "Dandy" Thompson (Drum Programming), Marcella Araica (Digital Editing), Marcella Araica (Editing), Marcella Araica (Assistant Engineer), Fergie (Vocals), James H. Brown (Vocals), Mike Jurkovac (Cover Art), Kevin Rudolf (Guitar), Songa Lee (Violin), Justin Siegel (Artist Coordination), Geneva Randolph (Production Coordination), Charlie Baccarat (Violin (Electric)), Dennis Gomez (Booklet Design), Jimmy Limon (Organ), Jimmy Limon (Bass), Jimmy Limon (Guitar), Jimmy Limon (Percussion), Jimmy Limon (Clavinet), Jimmy Limon (Drum Programming), Noize Trip (Producer), William E. Pittwar (Production Coordination)
Monkey Business is the fourth album by the Black Eyed Peas in their crossover from soul to pop, released in various countries in late May to early June 2005 (see 2005 in music).
Initial critical response to Monkey Business was average. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 48, based on 20 reviews.[3]
"Bend Your Back" (Found on "Don't Phunk with My Heart")
"Shake Your Monkey" (Found on "Don't Lie")
"So Real" (Found on "My Humps")
Release history
Region
Date
Ireland
May 27, 2005 (2005-05-27)
Europe
May 30, 2005 (2005-05-30)
United States
June 7, 2005 (2005-06-07)
Singles
"Don't Phunk with My Heart" was the lead single from the Black Eyed Peas' second album since band member Fergie joined the group. The single became the group's first top 5 single, peaking at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and their second top 10. Shortly thereafter, the group released second single "Don't Lie", however it failed to duplicate the success of "Don't Phunk with My Heart", partly due to the rising success of the then-unreleased-single "My Humps". "Don't Lie" did manage to crack the top 20 in the United States, peaking at #14 on the Hot 100.
"My Humps" was the third single released from the album in the summer of 2005. The single was released after it became an unsolicited hit on mainstream radio across the United States. The track, even with lack of promotion, surpassed the highly-promoted track "Don't Lie". "My Humps" became one of the biggest songs of 2005, despite an incredible amount of criticism, with some labelling the song "tasteless". "Pump It" was released as the fourth and final single from the album, and was the fourth and final song from the album to chart on the Hot 100.
