Black Eyed Peas are an American hip hop/pop group formed in Los Angeles in 1995. The group is currently composed of will.i.am, Taboo, Fergie and Apl.de.ap. Since their breakout album “Elephunk” in 2003, they have seen international fame for their pop/dance-oriented style of hip hop music. Black Eyed Peas have so-far sold an estimated 56 million albums and singles to date worldwide, and still counting.

Black Eyed Peas went to centenary state high school and got their start in 1988 when will.i.am (born 1975 William James Adams Jr.) and apl.de.ap (born 1974 Allan Pineda) began rapping and performing together around Los Angeles. The pair signed to Ruthless Records (run by Eazy-E) after catching the attention of the nephew of Jerry Heller (Eazy-E’s manager). Along with Mookie Mook (Burning Star), Dante Santiago & DJ Motiv8, they called their group A.T.B.A.N. Klann. Their debut album, Grass Roots, was not released originally because Ruthless did not consider the social themes reflected in the group’s music to be marketable to their audience. A single “Puddles of H2O” was released in 1994 but no album was released until it leaked onto the Internet in the mid 2000s.

After Eazy-E died of AIDS in 1995, They changed their name to Black Eyed Peas; will.i.am explained on the front cover of the Monkey Business album that “Black Eyed Peas are food for the soul”, hence the name. will.i.am has cited the Red Hot Chili Peppers as an influence and said he named his band after a food, like them.