Will.i.am Talks #ThatPower Collab With Bieber
Will.i.am collaborates with Justin Bieber on the new single, #thatpower, from the fourth and latest solo album, #willpower, from the Black Eyed Peas singer. When asked by ET how the collaboration came to be, Will.i.am said it was simple.
"Justin Bieber was my next-door neighbor last year. And I called him on the phone when I saw his car outside. And he came to the crib and we made that song and then he moved"
Making the futursitic music video for the single which features a dancing hologram of Bieber and Will.I.am grooving with a crew of clones throughout a sci-fi-esque city, was quite the undertaking, the Scream & Shout singer tells ET.
"He's[Bieber] on tour. It was tough to get this video[done.] I had to fly to Barcelona to shoot Justin Bieber than flew to Japan to work with Rio and the boys on the choreography for it. So it was a lot of trekking."
The elaborate music video also exhibits an other-worldly, super modern vehicle that Will.i.am says was part of a project to get inner city kids to get inspired in math and science.
"I made the vehicle because I want to teach kids in my neighborhood-science, technology, engineering and mathematics. To go to an inner city and say to a kid you should be a scientist and not give them anything tangible that represents their education, that’s a hoop dream," Will.i.am says.
"So I decided to invest in a vehicle so that people who help me build that vehicle -- the chassis, the body, the interior, the shocks -- all that it took to make that you need to know some type of science, engineering and math to make a vehicle. It’s a dream of mine, I’m not saying it’s executed yet but I would like to put that as a tangible means of education in my neighborhood."
Not only is Will.i.am trying to better his neighborhood through his dream education project, but he also spoke with ET about his collaboration with Coke on their EKOCYCLE brand initiative to better the environment. EKOCYCLE is part of a social change movement and is dedicated to encouraging recycling behavior and sustainability among consumers through lifestyle products made from recycled material. Beats by Dr. Dre and New Era are the first brand partners to join EKOCYCLE.
Levi's jeans justjoined the cause with theirLevi's 501 Waste<Less jeans, made with an average of
eight recycled assorted plastic bottles per pair. The company announced the
limited-edition denim last week and says the eco-friendly jeans will re-use
more than 3.5 million recycled bottles.
"There's a lot of jean companies, but Levi's is a perfect start and a perfect partner because of what Levi's meant and what it means today. They took tents and turned them into pants[years ago]. So that concept of what you want to do with your tents while your mining with gold is the perfect concept of what EKOCYCLE is. There’s new gold on the planet. A lot of people don't see it but what I call new gold is what a lot of people call waste because technology allows you not to waste it. It’s only wasted because you wasted the opportunity to turn it into something else."
Will.i.am came up with the EKOCYCLE concept back in 2008 after seeing all of the waste left behind from a Black Eyed Peas concert.
The new album, #willpower, which was released on April 19, also features Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Cheryl Cole, Nicole Scherzinger, David Guetta, Ke$ha, Alicia Keys, Rihanna, LMFAO, Chris Brown, Mick Jagger, Busta Rhymes, Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato, Justin Bieber and Ne-Yo.
RELATED: Will.i.am Tease New Music Video With Justin Bieber
For more with Will.i.am, check out the video above.