Jump to content

Imma Be

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Gail (talk | contribs) at 19:53, 5 March 2010 (Reverted edits by 98.101.104.146 to last revision by Lil-unique1 (HG)). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

"Imma Be"
Song

"Imma Be" is a song performed by American hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas taken from their fifth studio album The E.N.D. Initially released a promotional single the song went on to receive a full release as the fourth U.S. single from the album (fifth overall) and is third single from the album to reach number-one on the Billboard Hot 100.

The video for the song was filmed back-to-back as one collective clip totalling ten minutes in length with "Rock That Body" which is the fourth international single from the album. The collective montage is titled "Imma Be Rocking That Body".

Critical reception

Eric Henderson from Slant Magazine stated: "Imma Be for instance, begins like a half-speed "My Humps Redux" with Fergie assuring, "Imma be shakin' my hips/You gon' be lickin' your lips…Imma be lookin' all fly n' shit/Imma be the fliest chick", over a metronomically stilted beat. But halfway through, the pulse gets an upgrade, the tempo hustles up to a strut, the rudimentary synth hits explode into a chunky-funky rush, and before you know it, will.i.am has transformed a deliberately lazy self-parody into a heated club-floor burner…precisely one minute and 30 seconds before the track ends. No attempt is made to synthesize the two halves; they just emerge as fragments of a presumed collective short attention span". He added: "The dialectic without conversation within "Imma Be" is replayed ad nauseam throughout the album's entire bloated running time".[1] PopMatters gave the song a positive review: "Highlights of the album include "Imma be", which despite the repetition of the title no less than 105 times (which makes it start to sound like "I’m a bee" after a while, hence the song cover), takes a really interesting path from hip-hop attitude to club hit to jazz romp that holds up well to repeated listens".[2] Vibe Magazine said that "Imma Be is the 3008 version of "My Humps".[3] Billboard said that "The group sounds as unabashedly confident as ever here.....A brazen horn section and smooth keyboards cruise along until the song's sudden transition, when the beat switches from a snap music-meets-Neptunes stomp to a funk-house glide, meshing with a seemingly endless vocal loop of "Imma be" to form a pounding, assertive club thumper. Given the success of its predecessors, "Imma Be", while inherently gimmicky, should be sticking around for a long time".[4]

Music video

The Black Eyed Peas during the first half of "Imma Be Rocking That Body"

The video was filmed on January 13, 2010. The clip features Fergie wearing Louboutin designer footwear and a black metallic leotard. Extras were dressed as robots and nomads (like apl.de.ap in Meet Me Halfway). It was shot on a desert road in Lancaster, California. Filming was interrupted by a sudden sand storm, however, as the storm passed, filming resumed.[5]

The music video, directed by Rich Lee, was shot back to back with the video for "Rock That Body".[6] The two songs share the same video, which is over 10 minutes in total and is titled "Imma Be Rocking That Body". It premiered on Vevo, Dipdive and iTunes on Tuesday, 16 February 2010.[7][8]

The video begins with will.i.am introducing the rest of the members to "the future", a speech synthesis machine that features their voices which can talk, sing and rap. Fergie is unhappy about this because she believes that it would take out the "soul" of the music and it wouldn't be real, as she storms out, she shouts "We're not robots!", she gets on a motorcycle and drives, as she gets to a junction, she is hit by a car. She wakes up on a road in a desert and notices everything stuck on a loop, she gets up and sings her the first verse. She arrives at a bar and finds will.i.am who is stuck on a loop of pouring his drink. She mutes his beats which makes him stop, he notices the robot that looped him is following them and they both hide. As the robot looks for them, they both escape in a hovercar. The robot chases them but it runs out of energy. They arrive at a scrapyard where they find Apl.de.ap who is also stuck on a loop, Will taps him and makes him stop. Apl brings a good robot to life as they dig though the scrap and find Taboo whose bottom half of his body is missing, Will and Apl carry him as they find a pair of legs walking around the scrapyard and they quickly fix him. As Apl.de.ap sings his verse, the robots are dancing in the background and the song gradually changes to "Rock That Body" and they teleport to a city, where "Imma Be Rocking That Body" continues, leaving the evil robot wondering where they went.

Chart performance

Prior to the album's release, "Imma Be" was released as a worldwide promotional single and peaked at number 50 in the U.S. based on downloads alone. It has since been released as the fourth single from that album in the U.S. and became the group's third number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending March 6, 2010 and halted the nine-week run of Kesha's "Tik Tok." It is the group's third number one from The E.N.D. following their first two number ones "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling", as well as their fourth consecutive top ten from the album. With the single reaching number one, The Black Eyed Peas became the first group or duo to place three number ones on the Hot 100 from one album since the Wilson Phillips debut album, Wilson Phillips, in 1990-91.[9] "Imma Be" reached the top ten on the Canadian Hot 100 due to a significant increase in digital downloads following a performance of "Imma Be" at the 52nd Grammy Awards.[10] Airplay has also contributed to making the song a top five hit in Canada.[11][12]

Chart (2009–2010) Peak
position
Australia (ARIA)[13] 73
Canada (Canadian Hot 100)[14] 5
Hungary (Rádiós Top 40)YEAR AND WEEK MANDATORY FIELDS FOR HUNGARIAN CHARTS 4
UK R&B Singles Chart[15] 40
US Billboard Hot 100[16] 1
U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs 92

Chart procession and succession

Preceded by U.S. Billboard Hot 100 number-one single
March 6, 2010 - March 13, 2010
Incumbent

Release history

Region Format Date Label
Worldwide Digital download (Promo) May 19, 2009 Interscope, Universal Music
United States Airplay December 15, 2009 Interscope Records

References

  1. ^ "The Black Eyed Peas: The E.N.D. | Music Review". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 2009-12-10.
  2. ^ "Black Eyed Peas: The E.N.D. < Reviews". PopMatters. Retrieved 2009-12-10.
  3. ^ Tracy Garraud (2009-06-09). "REVS: The Black Eyed Peas, The E.N.D". VIBE.com. Retrieved 2009-12-10.
  4. ^ http://www.billboard.com/search/?keyword=mary+j+blige#/new-releases/the-black-eyed-peas-imma-be-1004065525.story
  5. ^ http://www.radaronline.com/exclusives/2010/01/fergie-stuns-space-age-body-suit-sandstorm-delays-video-shoot
  6. ^ "SHOT: Black Eyed Peas - Rich Lee, director". videostatic.com. Retrieved 2010-01-19.
  7. ^ Double video premier on VEVO
  8. ^ Double video premiere on Dipdive
  9. ^ http://www.billboard.com/#/news/black-eyed-peas-back-on-top-of-hot-100-with-1004070968.story?tag=newstop1
  10. ^ "February 10, 2010 Billboard Canadian Update" (PDF). Billboard. Retrieved 2010-12-10.
  11. ^ http://secure.randr.com/bdsradiocharts/charts.aspx?formatid=43
  12. ^ http://www.americasmusiccharts.com/index.cgi?fmt=Z1
  13. ^ "Pandora Archive" (PDF). Pandora.nla.gov.au. 2006-08-23. Retrieved 2009-12-10.
  14. ^ "Black Eyed Peas Chart History (Canadian Hot 100)". Billboard.
  15. ^ UK R&B Chart February 28 - March 7. OCC presented by BBC Radio 1. The Black Eyed Peas "Imma Be" current peak #40. Music Week search results.
  16. ^ "Black Eyed Peas Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard.