"Boom Boom Pow" (CD single)

 Review

Common Sense Media says

Hip-hop quartet tones down the sex and partying.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

Find out more

Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

Find out more

Parents say

Kids say

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that, aside from the word "s--t" appearing throughout the song, the lyrics to this tune are fairly innocuous overall. The sex and partying themes that pervaded the group's last record have been replaced by some light bravado that lacks the seriously aggressive tone of many other hip-hop songs.


What's the story?

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."


Is it any good?

 

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.


Sign Up Message
Sign up for our weekly newsletter
Each week we send a customized newsletter to our parent and teen subscribers. Parents can customize their settings to receive recommendations and parent tips based on their kids’ ages. Teens receive a version just for them with the latest reviews and top picks for movies, video games, apps, music, books, and more.
Please enter an email address.
Please check your email address for possible typos.
Sorry, you must be 13 or older to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
Sign me up!

What families can talk about

Families can talk about what's really behind bragging. When someone talks about how great they are, could they actually be covering up insecurity? Do the actions of truly exceptional people speak louder than their words?


This review was written by Stephanie Bruzzese
Teen, 17 years old
July 14, 2009
 
Way cleaner than many of their other songs!
I was very surprised with this track.....normally the black eyed peas aren't appropriate AT ALL! This one has a little partying/sex, but nothing horrible!

Flag as inappropriate 
Kid, 13 years old
February 13, 2010
 
A Lot of Cursing, Awesome Beat!!!!!!!
A TONNN of the word "s--t", but otherwise nothing inappropriate here. They curse a lot in this song right here, but the clean version is just fine for younger ears. The beat is super cool, and the song's meaning is fluff, but the beat makes up for it all! I love the peas! COMEBACK

Flag as inappropriate 
Teen, 15 years old
July 27, 2009
 
cool song
the language was bad you might wanna get the clean version for your ipod but its a good, catchy song.

Flag as inappropriate 
Kid, 13 years old
February 10, 2011
 
BOOM BOOM POW
my own for boom boom pow lyrics we get we get g-g-get hey we get like the selena gomez & the scene and we r in the HD we goooo this beat is going like that selena gomez sings A YEAR WITHOUT RAIN HEY WE GET PICE OF HERE WE GO SIDELIGHT LIKE TAYLOR LAUTNER& TAYLOR SWIFT WE KNOW THOSE 2 WE BE DIE AND WE GO BOOM BOOM POW SELENA GOMEZ GO LIKE MAD WHEN SHE HEARS MILK!! THAT TONIGHT IS A GOOD NIGHT BOOM BOOM POW BYE SELENA GOMEZ & THE SCENE AND TAYLOR LAUTNER& TAYLOR SWIFT . BY CARMEN GOMEZ FAN OF SELENA GOMEZ 34 NOBODY STEEL IT FOR REAL!!!!!!

Flag as inappropriate 
Teen, 15 years old
January 2, 2010
 
I Gotta Feelin that Boom Boom Pow Rox~
This is an awesome song. There is very minor bad word use, but really, nothing to worry about. Great lyrics and beat!

Flag as inappropriate 
Teen, 17 years old
August 23, 2009
 
Ok this is just an awesome dance song and its fun to sing with your friends =)

Flag as inappropriate 
Kid, 13 years old
July 13, 2009
 
good for tweens
it's a fun song but i think kids and tweens should listen to the clean version on youtube and add the clean one to their ipods.

Flag as inappropriate 
Adult
February 13, 2011
 
Its ok for 16+, and 15, but a little iffy on the 15

Flag as inappropriate 
Adult
January 27, 2011
 
They used S word a lot thoughout the song.I listen to the clean version of this song on YouTube, but I like this song still.

Flag as inappropriate 
Parent of 15 year old
January 12, 2011
 
Seriously?
Common Sense says this is really okay, but it has too many swears for 10 and up! there is no edited version except for the video because this song nor the album was Parental Advisory!

Flag as inappropriate 

This review was written by Stephanie Bruzzese
Artist:The Black Eyed Peas
Release date:March 30, 2009
Label:Interscope Records
Genre:Pop
Parental advisory:No

This review was written by Stephanie Bruzzese
 

Review It

Share your review with others

Hang on! You need to be a member to post your review.
A safe community is important to us. Please observe our guidelines.
About our rating system
ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

Great alternatives handpicked by our editors

 

vote now

Will you add "Boom Boom Pow" (CD single) to your playlist?


Already listened to it? What do you think?

 

Been There? Tell us about it