By Scott T. Sterling
Outside of “A Little Party Never Killed Anybody (All We Got),” her contribution to The Great Gatsby: Music from Baz Luhrmann’s Film, it had been more than six years since Black Eyed Peas member and solo star Fergie had unleashed a single out into the world.
That all changed this past September with the release of “L.A. Love (La La),” a sassy party track anchored by a trap-flavored beat courtesy of DJ Mustard.
While the track shouts out locales around the world, it all comes back to Fergie’s hometown of L.A. We get more of this in the song’s splashy music video, which features a verse from breakout L.A. rapper YG as Fergie and her crew roll around town with a growing posses of friends in what the singer calls the “L.A. Love Bus.”
We caught up with Fergie by phone to catch up on what she’s been doing in her time away from the spotlight, when to expect her full-length follow-up to her 2006 album The Dutchess, and what she has planned for fans in the new year.
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Radio.com: What was the inspiration behind “L.A. Love (La La)” and choosing this moment in time to return to the world of music?
Fergie: Well, I’ve been in my creative cave, as I like to call it, for a couple years now. Getting off tour and having a baby, I’ve just been writing and listening to music like I always do. Just getting ideas as they come, jotting them down, but no pressure to finish anything. So it’s been wonderful. I’ve been having these brain-gasms, as I call them. One of the things that I’ve observed is that L.A. has been having this amazing moment in music with DJ Mustard, YG, Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, the whole crew. Everyone is coming out with some really great stuff. I really wanted to honor that, because I am an L.A. girl. I wanted to really celebrate Mustard’s run, so I went into the studio with him. He played me this track, and I just loved it. It turned into an international thing celebrating the past ten years of my life and all of the amazing places I’ve been able to see. In this world of ISIS and Ebola, the world needs some good Cali sunshine and love right now.
Speaking of the L.A. connection, how was it working with YG on the remix of “L.A. Love”?
Oh, it was amazing. He’s a homey, and he killed it on the track and really blessed it with that hometown L.A. vibe. We just shot the video, and it is so good. I was inspired by the art cars at Burning Man, with the idea being this vehicle that travels not just through L.A., but the world. We created this art car-slash-party bus called the L.A. Love Bus. We had it made, got YG and Mustard on it and drove around L.A. It’s just a random, eclectic mix of people on this bus. We went to YG’s neighborhood, connected with a bunch of low riders, it’s just nuts. [The video also features a cavalcade of cameo appearances including Kelly Osborne, Wilmer Valderrama, Chelsea Handler and Rae Sremmurd.]
You talk about paying close attention to what’s happening in the music world. How would you say that things have changed in the few years you’ve been away?
Social networking. I’ve really kind of adapted to it, but it wasn’t a natural thing for me, because I didn’t grow up doing that. It took me a while to even feel comfortable taking a selfie, it felt so weird. I’m still getting used to the whole social networking thing. Remembering to stay connected is a new thing for me.
Where would you say you are in the recording process of your next album?
I’m right in the middle of it. I’m looking at a beginning of the year release date. I’ve got all these ideas I’ve had throughout the years, I’m just now following through and finishing them. I’ve been working on it for a while.
Is there another song title from the album that you can mention?
Nope! [laughs]
You’ve been working with will.i.am on the album. Have there been any conversations regarding what’s next for Black Eyed Peas?
I’m so not even there yet. Right now, I’m knee-deep in finishing this album, getting my performance together for the American Music Awards, these are the things that I’m doing.
Given the title of your current single, what are three things that you love the most about Los Angeles?
I love that In-N-Out Burger came from L.A. It doesn’t matter how healthy I’m trying to eat, there’s always going to be that time of year or two when I’ve got to go to In-N-Out and splurge. I go big or I go home. It’s double-doubles animal style, burgers with different toppings so I can take bites from all of them, and of course, the fries. Some people love them and some people hate them, but I love their french fries. And I get the swirl milkshake. That’s my In-N-Out experience for you. It ain’t pretty [laughs]. There are also the memories of just hanging out there. That used to be where you’d go to find out where the party was. Before there was social networking, we used to have to go to In-N-Out to see what was up.
I love the Rainbow Bar & Grill on Sunset. That’s kind of old school rock and roll. Guns N’ Roses filmed videos there, you go there now and you’ll see the guys from Cypress Hill hanging out, it’s a classic L.A. spot for me.
Grauman’s Chinese Theatre (now the TCL Chinese Theatre) is a classic. You have to go there at least once in your life. We took the L.A. Love Bus there for the video, and it was madness. Hollywood Boulevard with all of the eclectic costumes and everything were there, it was great. Just going to see a movie there is an experience in itself. There’s nothing else like it.
Given the current popularity of EDM in America, do you ever think that what Black Eyed Peas did around The E.N.D album, with singles like “Boom Boom Pow,” helped pave the way for it?
Yeah, I think we made some people mad by taking that sound and crossing it over to the mainstream. But you know, it needed to be done. We were just really into the pulse and the rhythm of that sound. EDM culture had created something so good that eventually everyone was going to catch on. We happened to be at the right moment of it, we were feeling it. It was amazing to tour with those types of sounds. The shows that we played became more like nightclubs, which was a great experience for the live show.
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