One of my earliest memories is of getting a good talking-to from my mother after I yelled the lyrics “Imma be up in the club doing whatever I like”-without, of course, knowing what club I was talking about (not the Boys and Girls for sure)-in the middle of our kitchen. When I was much younger, and didn’t have Gen-Chem exams or a triple dorm room to worry about, I remember being hypnotized by the Black Eyed Peas beyond salvation. That was, if time hadn’t already run out. “Come join my festivities, celebrate like I’mma Be.” If you weren’t already on the Black Eyed Peas’ wave, it was time to grab your surfboard.

“Livin’ life, feelin’ free that’s how it’s supposed to be,” apl.de.ap raps, his mohawk reaching the same heights as his spirits. “I’m so three thousand and eight you so two thousand and late,” Fergie boasts in “Boom Boom Pow.” In the music video for “Imma Be,” a larger-than-life robot breakdances its way off into the sunset as apl.de.ap swaggers through his closing set of bars. A majority of the group’s lyrical approach was vested in making you feel either excited that you got to share a world with them, or regretful that you missed the memo. “I Gotta Feeling” was blasting in the background, and for all you were seeing, there was no way you couldn’t throw your hands up and rest assured that tonight was, indeed, going to be a good night.įor the duration of their short-lived time in the limelight-symbolically pinnacled by the aforementioned Super Bowl Halftime Show performance-the Black Eyed Peas cashed in on this utopian aura, asserting themselves as torchbearers to a future full of good nights, promising zero limits to how long the fun would last. Upon touching the stage, they were flanked by robot-esque dancing humanoids and a host of excessive pyrotechnic displays.

Everything about the spectacle, whether you were watching from home or rushing the platform, felt futuristic: all four members donned full-leather outfits that made them look like the scrappy band of protagonists in a yet-to-be-released “Matrix” sequel. At some point on the evening of February 6, 2011, millions of Americans watched as the Black Eyed Peas were ushered down from the ceiling of AT&T Stadium in Dallas.

Nicki minaj right by my side on stage