'Black Eyed Peas' Will.I.Am Calls AMAs 2014 Music ‘So 2003’
The American Music Awards (AMAs) 2014 is still being talked about because of the performances from the likes of Taylor Swift, Iggy Azalea, Jennifer Lopez, Imagine Dragons, Ariana Grande, and others. However, it has failed to impress Black Eyed Peas leader, will.i.am. Despite his own group's member Fergie's amazing performance at AMAs 2014, will.i.am said that music these days still sounds so 2000s.
Black Eyed Peas leader will.i.am watched this year's AMAs but failed to see what was so refreshing and entertaining in the performances or even the songs. "Nothing was like, 'Oh my!'" he told Page Six, claiming that it has become even more difficult for a TV awards show to compete for attention these days because of new technology. "It's like, I don't know how you compete with 'refresh,'" will.i.am added. He believes that with everyone quickly hitting "refresh" on their phones and the songs always playing in the background, the AMAs has to compete with the "thumb-flipping channels."
The producer also said that none of the acts shown in the awards show were really innovative or novel. He describes them as "so 2000s, like 2003." will.i.am's views do not come as a surprise, as he has always talked about being forward-looking. He once said that the Black Eyed Peas became a success story because they were always trying to find out what would be the next commercial trend.
The people who are competing with the same bunch of people that they were competing with yesterday are dinosaurs, according to will.i.am. He even gave an unconventional advice to today's kids, especially to kids of colour who belong to poor background and already are expected to not do well in the future. Instead of asking them to go after what they want, will.i.am asks them to be more forward looking by picking up the "STEM skill set," or skills in science, tech, engineering, and math, and then go ahead and study hard to become engineers as opposed to becoming musicians or athletes.
who.i.am is currently dabbling in the tech business and is developing a smartwatch. He has named this smartwatch i.amPuls. These watches are set to be released around Christmas.