Pitchfork

When you work out of your home, it's incredibly hard to focus and make yourself get down to business. Having an upstairs neighbor that enjoys listening to Alanis and the like very loudly doesn't help, either. But the other day I heard something that made me sit up and take notice. I went up and knocked, but this time, instead of asking to turn it down, I asked what it was. "Black Eyed Peas," Jonathan said with a smile.

With a line-up that looks straight out of a Benetton ad, and a sound that melds the Roots and A Tribe Called Quest, the Black Eyed Peas are already shifting the paradigms. After forming in 1993 and languishing at Ruthless Records (trapped behind Bone Thugs N Harmony and the death of Ruthless head, Eazy-E) the major label debut from the Black Eyed Peas has been straining to get out for years.

The songs on Behind the Front are just that, behind the front, which is to say they're back to the way rap started. By utilizing live instrumentation, their superb, acrobatic vocals are further highlighted. "Joints and Jams" is a fantastic example, as Will.I.Am, Apl.de.Ap, and Taboo combine forces to hearken back to the days when two turntables and a microphone hadn't made their way to the suburbs yet.

Will.I.Am's production is water- tight, and as a band, the boys have a lightness of being that competes with even the Beasties. Particularly amusing are a series of sketches that are interspersed between songs, pitting the Peas as contestants on a hip-hop game show.

With the way the Roots and Tribe have been selling recently, it's not inconceivable to think that maybe the Black Eyed Peas could assume their mantle as hip-hop's street saviors. More Black Eyed Peas? Well, I guess I'll take seconds.