'It's pretty diverse,' Black Eyed Peas frontman says of #willpower.
By Jocelyn Vena
will.i.am and Justin Bieber
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will.i.am's solo album, #willpower, will have more star power in the form of several A-list collaborations. So, just who is making the cut for the fall release and who isn't?
Notably, Justin Bieber, LMFAO, Ne-Yo, up-and-comer Eva Simons and Nicole Scherzinger will all get their time on the album. However, Mick Jagger and Jennifer Lopez — who appeared on the track "T.H.E. (The Hardest Ever)" — and Cheryl Cole and Nicki Minaj — who lent their voices to "Check It Out" — won't make the final cut.
"There's classical sh--, like just me and a guitar and an orchestra or me ! with just an orchestra and a kid's choir," will told Billboard.com. "There's some ghetto, ugly, dirty stuff. And then there's dance stuff, global world stuff and, like, avant-garde, left-of-center, for-art's-sake music that has nothing to do with getting played on the radio. I'm just art-ing out. It's pretty diverse."
will hit the studio with Bieber (who has a new album, Believe, out this week himself) back in January. Other rumored collaborators on #willpower include Britney Spears, who he previously said makes a "crazy" appearance. Alicia Keys, Swedish House Mafia, Shakira, Busta Rhymes and Swizz Bea! tz all reportedly appear on will.i.am's album as well.
w! ill makes it clear that with the Black Eyed Peas on a break, he has to be creative about how he approaches his solo music without his comrades. "What I have going against me is everybody saying, 'Where the other three people at?' " he said. "I can't just go out with a bunch of background dancers to make up for the fact Fergie, Ap and Taboo aren't there. So I have to come up with a different idea and invent something to make people say, 'Dang, that was better than what you were doing with the Peas!' That won't be easy, but if I can't do that, I'm staying home."
Don't miss "Bieber Live" tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET/PT on MTV.
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