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08-21-2007 An interview of singer and producer Will.i.am by the German newspaper 'Süddeutsche Zeitung' has been published by the web site jetzt.de. In the interview, he also talks about meeting and working with Michael Jackson:
Will.i.am: I think it will appear. But to all the rest: no comment. The deal between Michael Jackson and me is pretty simple: Whenever he calls I get into the studio with him. There have been already some recordings and we will meet again in the studio in November. He is supercool. So is Prince.
SZ: So you've also worked with Prince? The guy just has offended the recordindustry again, in making his new CD just an extra gift in a daily newspaper.
Will.i.am: A visionary. I performed on stage with him. A few month ago I was with the Black Eyed peas in Las Vegas. Prince called me, while he was gambling in a Casino: " Hey, do you wanna perform with me today?" "Sure", I said, "of cuz!" The next day an assistant of Prince called and said: "Prince would like to know, if you'd like to perform with him again this evening." if I would like? What's cooler than to perform with Prince? Exactly: Two days in a row to perform with him! A few minutes later I got another call: "Hey this is Mike! What are you doing around?" Mike? Michael Jackson? Wow! He had changed the studio around that time from Ireland to Las Vegas. So I said: " Hey, I'm performing with Prince here this evening!" - "Prince? That's great!" - "You should be there!" - "Really? You think that would be cool?" - "That would be so damn cool!" - "Okay, then I'll be there also."
You must imagine that: I'm performing with Prince and Michael will be there in the audience! Holy shit! How likely it is, that a person first gets a call from Prince and only minutes later Michael Jackson calls?
SZ: The likelihood should be around zero.
Will.i.am: Exactly. Okay so in the early evening I'm on my way to the concert and - stuck in the traffic! F ! % K, I think, there is no worse moment possible to stick in a traffic jam? So I'm jumping out of my car and start running. I make it in time in the last second into the club. Everything goes wonderful, after three minutes I'm going off stage, Prince shouts into his microphone: " Give it up for Will.i.am!" and I sneak through the hall and sit down at the table of - Michael Jackson. He really attended! "How did you like me?" I ask him. He answers: "I didn't know at all that you're rapping." What? The guy let me come to Ireland and he didn't know that I'm not only a producer but also a rapper! I said: "You're never hearing my music, never watching my videos? I'm the damn main rapper of the Black Eyed Peas!" Anyway. Aside from Michael Jackson is sitting the actor Chris Tucker und then Prince comes down from the stage right into our direction...
SZ: ... and see Michael Jackson at the table with you?
Will.i.am: Yo. He wears his bass with its belt and stops in front of our table. So there are sitting: Michael Jackson, Chris Tucker and me. Prince stands right in front of Michael and improvises on his bass: slap! He's not doing anything else, nothing else! Doesn't say a thing. He's just playing! What a scene. After Prince returned to the stage, Michael says to me: " Prince has played his bass right into my face! What the heck?" Well, I say: "You're incognito! Imagine Prince had said: 'Yay and you know Michael Jackson is sitting here.' Ppl were already crazy cuz of Prince but would have been completely out of mind if they'd have known you were here also."
Well that was the craziest night of my life!
SZ: And if you tell the story, nobody believes you.
Will.i.am: I wouldn't believe it myself! But what can I say: It's true. Every word. The next morning I had breakfast with Michael Jackson, we worked a bit on some songs - and that was the last time I've seen him.
Source: MJFC / jetzt.de, SZ & JAM-FC; Translation by MJFC JAM (ww.mjfc-jam.com) |