William James Adams Jr., known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "will I am"), is an American rapper, singer, record producer, and futurist. He is the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas — which he formed with fellow rappers apl.de.ap and Taboo in 1995. The group has released nine studio albums, and saw their highest success with the pop rap albums Elephunk (2003), Monkey Business (2005), The E.N.D. (2009), and The Beginning (2010), during which he shared lead vocals with fellow singer Fergie.
As a solo artist, Adams signed with Atlantic Records to release his debut album Lost Change (2001), and later Barely Breaking Even to release his second album Must B 21 (2003), both of which failed to chart. The latter contained the song "Go!", which served as theme music for NBA Live 2005 and Madden NFL 2005. After gaining success with the Black Eyed Peas, he signed with Interscope Records to release his third album, Songs About Girls (2007), which moderately entered the US Billboard 200 — becoming his first solo project to do so — and spawned the US Billboard Hot 100-top 40 single "I Got It From My Mama".