Black Eyed Peas Serve Up Mixed Political Messages, And A Dose Of Irony

I was a bit surprised to see the Black Eyed Peas slip a political statement into their Super Bowl halftime performance; certainly those can be just as toxic as a nipple slip or an unbleeped profanity. Wasn't surprised it was a liberal plea, as Fergie and her crew have been toeing the Democratic party line loud and up front since shortly after 9/11:




“Obama, let’s get these kids educated / Create jobs so the country stays stimulated”

Nice, although I'm not sure how much education our children would benefit from coming from a man like Obama, who doesn't know his Constitution, is clueless about economics, and thinks we are a nation comprised of some 57-odd states...

Of course, shortly before demanding that the president educate our children, the Peas sent out a completely contradictory message:

....their performance included a short rendition of “Let’s Get It Started” (originally titled “Let’s Get Retarded”) in which they called on the audience to “get stupid.”

I don't think Fergie and the Peas really get children. Fergie, especially. Check out her disaster of an appearance at the White House Easter egg hunt in April 2009:

The Black Eyed Peas front woman was the headlining act at the annual family affair, but the pop diva seemingly forgot she was performing on the South Lawn for hundreds of young kids.

...it wasn’t until she began singing “Glamorous” the parents present might have understood why her album “The Dutchess” comes with a Parental Advisory label slapped on the front.

Lines like “wear them gold and diamond rings” and “I’m not clean, I’m not pristine” may not be the dream lyrics for their daughters to emulate, but the song’s repetition of the line “If you ain’t got no money take your broke a** home” made a few parents cringe.

Final irony? The "Auto-Tune", a device so clearly used last night to keep the Black Eyed Peas sounding tight and musically on-key, was not invented by a slob in a recording studio. Apparently, our environmental warriors did not realize their saving musical grace was invented by...an oil company:

Auto-Tune uses a phase vocoder to correct pitch in vocal and instrumental performances. It is used to disguise off-key inaccuracies and mistakes, and has allowed singers to perform perfectly tuned vocal tracks without the need of singing in tune.

Auto-Tune was initially created by Andy Hildebrand, an engineer working for Exxon. Hildebrand developed methods for interpreting seismic data, and subsequently realized that the technology could be used to detect, analyze, and modify pitch.

Sure. Oil-financed musical expertise for thee, but not for me....

The Black-Eyed Peas are hypocrites, Fergie is an idiot, and even with oil-company financing, they sounded like sh*t and made fools of themselves with mixed messaging.

Other than that, though....

UPDATE: R.S. McCain lands a haymaker:

The Black-Eyed Peas were exposed as the Milli Vanilli of the 21st century. Take away their studio effects, and what are you left with? A rap group with a white chick dancing around, pretending she can sing. I’ve seen better acts at a karaoke bar...