A big phunky follow up to 2003's Elephunk from a group that invented and perfected a revolutionary new hip hop beat. With their trademark crazy lyrics, irresistible dance beats and catchy hooks, along with their unmistakable appeal and charisma, will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo and Fergie come across as fresh, different, and let's face it, interesting.

The album blasts off with an aptly named heart-pumper called "Pump It", and then smoothly slides into their first hit "Don't Phunk With My Heart", a dance floor conquering song. The next single may well be "My Style", thanks to the input of Justin Timberlake who was a lucky charm on the last album with "Where is the Love?"

The funniest song of the album is "My Humps", and another good one is "Dum Diddley" which adapts a Caribbean beat similar to Akon's "Belly Dancer". For a '70s trip down memory lane you can try "Feel It", and for a real old time funk experience you can't beat "They Don't Want Music" featuring the one and only James Brown.

Another interesting combination can be found on "Gone Going Gone" with Jack Johnson, and Sting's input on "Union" is unmistakable for anyone familiar with his "Englishman in New York".

Coming behind "Elephunk" this one does not disappoint, and is an "Audio Delite" at any fidelity.

Amanda Richards, June 7, 2005

If "Elephunk" introduced the Black Eyed Peas to multiple genres of listeners, then "Monkey Business" is definitely the wake-up call for those lagging behind. With influences from pop, hip-hop, R&B, soul and roots music, BEP have melded their four minds together to make one heck of an album.

It's a definite step-up from "Elephunk," offering new and varied sounds on each song on the album. The initial release is "Don't Phunk With My Heart." It bridges the gap between "Elephunk" and "Monkey Business" but has a hard driving, almost techno feel to it. "Pump It" is probably my favorite song on this disc, being that it has some killer Dick Dale guitar loops in it. I wonder how many BEP fans actually know who Dick Dale is? Also, Justin Timberlake appears here again, but the real gems, the important ones, are James Brown and Sting. The Godfather of Soul lends some funk to "They Don't Want Music," another of my favorites that targets the modern music listener who doesn't really want music, just a beat to move to. "Bebot" is another cool tune on this disc.

The entire album is solid, no filler to be found.

If you enjoy funk, hip-hop, pop, or even a little surfer music, "Monkey Business" has a little of all of that here. Like I stated before, this is definitely an improvement on "Elephunk," because it will surely meet a larger audience AND the BEP won't sound like sell-outs. That's a hard thing to do these days.

It's hard to believe that once upon a time, in 1998, the Black Eyed Peas could out funk the Fugees and could have been considered the new De La Soul. "Selling Out" seems like a term of the past and a consequence that few care about these days but in 2004, with the addition of female vocalist Fergie and the release of Elephunk, it became immediately obvious the group had become a capitalistic whore.

Now in 2005, our radios and our ears were graced with nothing less than inane tripe from the Black Eyed Peas and their latest release Monkey Business. The first single "Don't Phunk With My Heart" was not bad in comparison to the onslaught of singles off of Elephunk that would often cause paralysis and people to punch infants. But it was with the release of "My Humps" that the Black Eyed Peas became an immediate danger to our society. "My Humps" is pro-actively damaging to our youth, not only by leaving "lady lumps" of tumors in kids' heads that are bound show up on MRIs down the road but also by leaving faux impressions scorched into their skulls of what decent pop music is.

It's true that the Black Eyed Peas exist for no reason but to make money: it's like they were designed to sell MP3s and ringtones. What about the music? Apparently, "My Humps" isn't about Fergie being a hunchback; instead, she tries to bedazzle us by "singing" about her mammary glands. "My humps, my lady lumps..." HOW CREATIVE!

There's no point in boycotting them because of their legions of brainwashed zombie followers who say "holla at a playa, didja get dat new Black Eyed Peas sh*t? Les go clubbin'!" . Just ignore this four-piece group though, because by 2007, they'll go the way of the Spice Girls.

C'mon, are you people serious? What's worse than the reviews that immortalize this band (oh my god the beats are so amazing, lolz!) are the people who try to justify this band's horrific music with the old "it's so bad it's good!" claim. NO, IT'S NOT GOOD, IT'S AWFUL! This is the type of junk that makes FM radio unlistenable and makes the youth of current American culture look like a bunch of tasteless idiots. This music blows, plain and simple. The lyrics are detestable. "My Humps" isn't funny or catchy, it's just annoying and a piss-poor excuse for a song. The only thing worse than that is the dreadful "Banana Song" (pukes in mouth). "Don't Phunk with My Heart" is another crappy song that everyone thinks is so clever, but is really just a bunch of boring, unoriginal lyrics mixed with a mediocore, traditional club-dance beat. And yes, I have listened to almost all the other songs and they all suck just as much ass as their most popular two. "Pump It" may be the only valid song on here, but the beat to it was stolen from about fifty other songs, so it doesn't count.

Here's a thought: do you know what band does music like this, but about a million times better? Correct answer: OUTKAST! They've been around six years longer and yet it seems like everyone is giving BEP credit for inventing this "new and amazing hip-hop sound". Outkast invented it. Outkast perfected it. Black Eyed Peas are merely a cheap imitation, with beats not nearly as creative and sharp, with lyrics not nearly as catchy and deep, and with musicians not nearly as stlyish and inventive as Big Boi and Andre 3000. The reviewer below me would have you believe that BEP invented this glorious sound, when it was in fact done first and done better by Outkast.

I'm sorry Miss Jackson, but the Black Eyed Peas can rot in hell. This music is nothing but generic radio garbage, typical, lame dance hall beats that our insanely retarded generation of American teenybopping losers who wish they were more black (obviously only applies to the non-black teens) has devoured like candy. And the worst part? THESE SONGS ARE EVERYWHERE! I'm so mad right now my blood is actually hot and my eyes are red. I hate this band so much...