Rapper and producer will.i.am steered Black Eyed Peas to pop success by blurring the lines between bands and brands. Now he’s applying the lessons he learned in the music business in an attempt to shake up the Silicon Valley status quo.
Will.i.am can’t sit still.
Stationed behind the mixing console at the heart of one of the four recording studios inside his central Hollywood offices, he twists and turns in his Aeron chair, insistently tapping his feet to a rhythm only he can hear. The music is filling his head, but it must remain there, at least for a little while longer. Right now, there’s another business at hand.
Welcome to the world of i.am+, the technology startup at the intersection of will.i.am’s entertainment empire and entrepreneurial ambitions. The rapper, producer and DJ has straddled music and commerce throughout his career: Years before i.am+ launched in late 2012 with its foto.sosho camera accessory line for the iPhone, his multiplatinum hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas inked sponsorships with everyone from Apple to Coors to Best Buy to Honda. Along the way, will.i.am landed deals with firms like Intel—which in 2011 named him director of creative innovation — and Coca-Cola, his partner in Ekocycle, a brand devoted to sustainable goods. He’s also a shareholder in Beats Electronics, creator of the wildly popular headphones Beats by Dre brand.
The difference this time is that will.i.am isn’t collaborating with Apple; he’s competing directly against it. The i.am+ smartband aims to challenge the Apple Watch and other wrist-worn smart devices, offering consumers voice-activated access to music, maps, messaging and other digital media services.
“Apple is an amazing company,” he says. “We did commercials with ’em. Does that mean I’m not supposed to dream up a device that’s similar to something that they’re doing? I think what we’re going to build is different from what they’re going to build And because you’re putting it on your body, I think you’re supposed to serve up options to the public. Imagine if freakin’ Gucci was like, “We’re not going to make shoes because Louis Vuitton makes shoes.’ Karl Lagerfeld will tell you, ‘Not only do I design for Fendi, I also design for Coco Chanel, and I also have my own line.’ The same motherfucker’s making clothes that compete with his other clothes! That shows you what the world is really like.”
Born William Adams Jr. in 1975 in East Los Angeles, will.i.am grew up poor. In the absence of money to purchase Air Jordans and other trendy brands, he and his friends acquired “old-man suits” at thrift stores, forging their own distinctive style and sensibility. “You can follow the trend, or you can set the trend,” he says. “You set the trend by having a barometer of what young folks are doing, and the conditions of life they’re living. We will take stuff that was scraps and turn them into luxury. It wasn’t rags to riches. We turned our rags into things that rich people want. It’s like, “Oh, this is what I got? That motherfucker’s gonna want this because of how I rock it and how confident I am with it.'”
Will.i.am’s music career began in summer 1987, when the eighth grader teamed with friends to form the rap group Atban Klann. Originally signed to N.W.A alum Eazy-E’s independent label Ruthless Records, Atban Klann evolved into Black Eyed Peas, which in 1998 issued its debut album, Behind the Front, for Jimmy Iovine’s Interscope Records. Will.i.am thanks Iovine for honing his entrepreneurial philosophies, in part by awarding him a vanity label, the Interscope-distributed will.i.am Music Group.
Iovine is co-founder of Beats Electronics with rap legend Dr. Dre, and first approached will.i.am about investing in the company. (Will.i.am has never disclosed the financial terms of his Beats stake. In 2011, Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC purchased a majority stake in the firm for a reported $300 million, and a year later Beats paid $150 million to buy back 25 percent . HTC sold back its remaining stake in 2013 for $265 million, and Apple purchased Beats last year for $3 billion.)
Beyond Iovine’s influence, will.i.am credits consulting partnerships with advertising agencies like TBWA\Chiat\Day, Ogilvy & Mather and Young & Rubicam for shaping his branding and marketing acumen.
