Pop band The Black Eyed Peas recently released a remake of their music video for their classic hit “Where is the Love,” originally released in 2003. The new song and video features other musicians, including Justin Timberlake, Sean “Puff Daddy” Combs, Usher, and Fergie. The remake of this song is what intrigues me the most and is something that has not happened very often. The group explains in interviews that they started remaking “Where is the Love?” in 2016 when everything in the media was showing the depravity of the world, the conflict in Syria, the Paris terrorist attacks, the Brussels bombing, the Turkey violence and the Orlando shooting. “Everytime I looked up there was severe hate and not enough love, so I wanted to get all of my friends together and re-imagine what we did after 9/11 with “Where is the Love?” What attracted me to this song was that I was aware of all the negativity and was curious how to deal with it all in a positive way. Will.I.Am found a way to turn negativity into something positive that we could see in the headlines and use celebrity platforms to draw attention to the song. The social justice issue presented in this remake is protest of unnecessary violence, police brutality, and discrimination based on race (including refugee and immigration issues), gender and religious beliefs across the world. The Black Eyed Peas saw the relevance of this song and decided it was time to revive the song for a new generation.  All of these issues are occuring in the world at once and this type of music helps people recognize they are alone in feeling the way they do against various injustices.

I think that what makes the Black Eyed Peas different is that they have a more unique sound and are not confined in one genre. I believe researching the song “Where is the Love?” throughout this semester will allow me to learn more about the history of hip hop, pop and soul and how artists incorporate protest movements into their songs. I also hope to do more research in how the artists choose the music to go along with the lyrics and how they use the instruments to send a message itself. Since my career choice is going into the entertainment industry I think it is important to experience the different types of genres and the impact that music can make on our generation. I think these types of songs are especially important because with “Where is the Love?” Will.I.Am was able to put a voice to what I was feeling about the events occuring in the world.

As for completing this project, I am excited to see where it leads me but also worry about some of the challenges I may face. To start, I have never recorded a podcast, and have not listened to many before so I am concerned with running into some technical difficulties. I also want to be able to provide enough content and make it lively and entertaining and show off my personality. I hope that this project will get me out of my comfort zone and become more educated about issues occuring in the world and what we can do about them.

I am looking forward to see the direction that this project takes me!

Grace Rosenblatt