"Boom Boom Pow" (CD single) (by The Black Eyed Peas, Pop)

BOOM BOOM POW is the first single in four years from the Black Eyed Peas, the hip-hop quartet whose two more famous members -- Fergie and Will.i.am -- have been concentrating on solo projects during the break. The band's now come back together to record the full-length record, The E.N.D. ("Energy Never Dies"), from which this song stems. Unlike the lyrics in the group's last record, Monkey Business, the lines in this track don't include explicit references to sex and partying; rather, these lyrics are largely harmless bluster about how great the Peas are: "Them chickens jackin' my style / They try to copy my swagger … / I'm so 3008 / You so 2000 and late."

The Peas' traditional division of labor is back in "Boom Boom Pow," with the guys lending most of the rhymes and Fergie adding her combo rap-singing routine. The sound itself, however, marks a departure from the pop-infused hip-hop tone of the band's previous releases. Instead, this single has a distinctly electronic feel, with heavy synth-beats and lots of vocoder distorting the vocals. Combined with the fairly clean, repetitious lyrics, the overall effect is appealing, if not earth-shattering.