Will.i.Am On Making Hot 100 History

Written by stevebibou on August 21, 2009

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Black Eyed Peas frontman Will.i.am spent 2008 doing three things, he told Billboard.com yesterday: making a movie, campaigning for Barack Obama and going to underground dance clubs. And in 2009 he watched all three come to fruition with Obama inaugurated, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" pulling in over $150 million, and Will.i.am's club reconnaissance inspiring "the biggest record in the world! That's pretty crazy," he says. Black Eyed Peas' album, "The E.N.D," spawned two singles, "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling," that today break the Hot 100 record for the most consecutive weeks at No. 1 by one artist. The pair of tunes have spent a combined 20 straight weeks at the top of the chart. "

In the video above, Will.i.am spoke to Billboard at his California home yesterday about the "crazy" past two years, cruising clubs and the making of the two chart history-making hits. He didn't think 12-week No. 1 "Boom Boom Pow" was going to be a radio song. If he had, he said, "I would have made it different... There's no such thing as a radio song now." And eight week No. 1 "I Gotta Feeling" had an even more interesting start. A friend invited him to party called, "F*** Me, I'm Famous," where he ended up rapping in the DJ's booth. The DJ -- "Feeling's" producer David Guetta -- later lent him some beats and pretty soon he realized it would be "dope to put 'Mazel Tov!' right in the middle of the song! We ain't even Jewish, man!" he laughs.