‘#Willpower’ delivers carefree dance music

By Katie Finlon

It has been increasingly difficult to have some “#willpower” to get through the remainder of the semester. Don’t worry–will.i.am came to the rescue.

The Black Eyed Peas member released his latest album, “#willpower,” Tuesday. Yes, hashtag and all.

I’ll admit that I wasn’t expecting much for this album. After all, my criterion for this review was to answer the question, “Does it make me want to dance?”

I’m happy to report a few tracks made me want to dance and do cartwheels like “Jersey Shore’s” Snooki.

Don’t bother listening to the first track, “Good Morning,” even though it’s impressive to hear will.i.am without any vocal distortion. Compared to the rest of the album, that track felt completely out of place.

“Hello” was disgustingly catchy once you get past the repetitiveness of the lyrics. The flow from track to track in this album is phenomenal—it actually sounds like a live DJ, and if that was will.i.am’s objective for “#willpower,” good for him.

While I wasn’t fond of his individual creations within this album, the one thing that really impressed me about “#willpower” was the numerous collaborations with other artists like Chris Brown and Britney Spears. I liked his collaboration with Brown on the track “Let’s Go,” and “#thatPOWER” with Justin Bieber was shockingly awesome. I was also delighted to hear the hit “Scream & Shout” featuring Spears.

I’m a huge fan of musical jokes. The very beginning of “Great Times Are Coming” begins with the exact beginning chord progression of the Beatles’ “Let it Be.” If you have been paying attention to any of my articles or just how I generally live my life, I am a huge Beatles fan. Will.I.Am earned some brownie points from that track alone.

The one problem with the majority of these tracks is, again, the repetitiveness. See what I did there? For a few tracks, I found myself thinking, “OK, I get it,” and skipping ahead toward the end of the song.

You might want to look further than will.i.am’s latest creation if you want meaningful and authentic music. If mindless, carefree music and a condensed party atmosphere is what you’re looking for, this album definitely delivers.