Monkey Business (album)

Monkey Business
File:Monkey Business.png
Studio album by The Black Eyed Peas
Released	May 25, 2005 (2005-05-25)
Recorded	2004
Genre	R&B hip hop
Length	66:03
Label	will.i.am A&M
Producer	apl.de.ap Printz Board Danja Ron Fair Noize Trip Timbaland will.i.am
The Black Eyed Peas chronology
Elephunk (2003)Elephunk2003 Monkey Business (2005) Renegotiations: The Remixes (2006)Renegotiations: The Remixes2006
Singles from Monkey Business
"Don't Phunk with My Heart" Released: April 12, 2005 "Don't Lie" Released: July 26, 2005 "My Humps" Released: September 20, 2005 "Pump It" Released: January 17, 2006

Monkey Business is the fourth studio album by American hip hop group, The Black Eyed Peas. It was released on May 25, 2005, by the will.i.am Music Group and A&M Records. It was recorded in "two and three-month spurts" throughout 2004 while the group was on tour.

The album was certified three times Platinum by the RIAA in the U.S. and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide. The Canadian Recording Industry Association (or CRIA) has certified Monkey Business 6x Platinum, with sales of over 600,000 copies. The Australian Recording Industry Association (or ARIA) has also certified Monkey Business 6x Platinum, denoting sales of over 420,000 copies. The album's tracks earned the group four 2006 Grammy Award nominations and they also won the Grammy for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Don't Phunk with My Heart". According to IFPI, over 2 million copies have been sold in Europe.

Critical reception

Initial critical response to Monkey Business was mixed to negative. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has received an average score of 48, based on 20 reviews. The most favourable review was Robert Christgau's, who gave the album a 3-star honorable mention, saying: "What all pop might be—so much brighter and kinder than it is".

Singles

• "Don't Phunk with My Heart" was the lead single from The Black Eyed Peas' second album since band member Fergie joined the group. The single became the group's first top 5 single, peaking at No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, and their second top 10.
• "Don't Lie" was the album's second single, however it failed to duplicate the success of "Don't Phunk with My Heart", partly due to the rising success of the then-unreleased-single "My Humps". "Don't Lie" did manage to crack the top 20 in the United States, peaking at No. 14 on the Hot 100.
• "My Humps" was the third single from the album and was released in the summer of 2005. The song was released after it became an unsolicited hit on mainstream radio across the United States. The track, even with lack of promotion, surpassed the highly promoted track "Don't Lie". "My Humps" became one of the biggest songs of 2005, despite an incredible amount of criticism, with some labeling the song "tasteless".
• "Pump It" was released as the fourth and final single from the album, and was the final song from the album to chart on the Hot 100

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	(48/100)
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic
The A.V. Club	(unfavorable)
Entertainment Weekly	C
The Guardian
Paste	(7/10)
PopMatters
Robert Christgau
Rolling Stone
Slant Magazine
Yahoo! Music UK

The Black Eyed Peas performing on August 24, 2006

Track listings

Monkey Business – Standard edition CD
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Pump It"	William Adams Allan Pineda Thomas van Musser Stacy Ferguson Nicolas Roubanis	will.i.am	3:33
2.	"Don't Phunk with My Heart"	Adams Ferguson Printz Board George Pajon, Jr. Full Force Kalyanji Anandiji Indeewar	will.i.am	3:59
3.	"My Style" (featuring Justin Timberlake & Timbaland)	Adams Pineda Ferguson van Musser Timberlake Timothy Mosley Nate Hills	Timbaland Danja	4:28
4.	"Don't Lie"	Adams Jaime Gomez Pineda Ferguson Chris Peters Drew Peters Ricky Walters	will.i.am Ron Fair	3:39
5.	"My Humps"	Adams David Payton	will.i.am	5:26
6.	"Like That" (featuring Q-Tip, Talib Kweli, CeeLo Green and John Legend)	Adams Pineda Gomez Kamaal Fareed Talib Kweli Greene Anthony Newley Leslie Bricusse	will.i.am	4:34
7.	"Dum Diddly" (featuring Dante Santiago)	Adams Pineda Ray Brady Board George Bennett Benjamin Brown Lloyd Ferguson Robert Lyn Donat Mittoo Leroy Sibbles Fitzroy Simpson	will.i.am	4:19
8.	"Feel It"	Adams Pineda Ferguson	apl.de.ap Board will.i.am	4:19
9.	"Gone Going"	Adams Jack Johnson	will.i.am	3:13
10.	"They Don't Want Music" (featuring James Brown)	Adams J. Brown Ferguson Printz Board Timothy Grindgreff Greg Mays Darryl Barnes	will.i.am	6:46
11.	"Disco Club"	Adams Pineda Jean Baptiste Melvin J. Lewis Michael Matthews Anthony Tidd	Noize Trip	3:48
12.	"Bebot"	Adams Pineda	will.i.am	3:30
13.	"Ba Bump"	Adams Board Larry Blackmon Thomas Jenkins	Printz Board will.i.am	3:56
14.	"Audio Delite at Low Fidelity"	Adams Pineda Keith Harris Rick James	will.i.am	5:29
15.	"Union" (featuring Sting)	Adams Sting Ferguson George Pajon, Jr.	will.i.am	5:04

Monkey Business – Standard edition CD (International bonus track)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
16.	"Do What You Want"			4:03

Monkey Business – Standard edition CD (UK bonus track)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
17.	"If You Want Love"			4:56

Monkey Business – Standard edition CD (Japan bonus tracks)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
17.	"If You Want Love"			4:56
18.	"Make Them Hear You"			3:18

Monkey Business – Asia Special edition (Bonus Tracks + Bonus DVD)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
17.	"Pump It (Travis Barker Remix)"			3:36
18.	"Dum Diddly (Noisetrip Remix)"			4:06

Notes

• ^{^a} signifies a co-producer
• ^{^b} signifies an additional producer
• "Pump It" samples "Misirlou" by Dick Dale.
• "Don't Phunk With My Heart" interpolates "I Wonder If I Take You Home" by Lisa Lisa & Cult Jam and samples "Ae Naujawan Sab Kuchh Yahan" and "Yeh Mera Dil Pyaar Ka Diwana", both sung by Asha Bhosle.
• "Don't Lie" samples "The Ruler's Back" by Slick Rick.
• "My Humps" interpolates "I Need a Freak" by Sexual Harassment and samples "Wild Thing" by Tone Lōc and "It's Automatic" by Freestyle.
• "Like That" samples "Who Can I Turn To (When Nobody Needs Me)" by Astrud Gilberto.
• "Dum Diddly" interpolates "Pass the Dutchie" by Musical Youth and "Walk Like an Egyptian" by The Bangles.
• "Feel It" interpolates "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" by Michael Jackson.
• "Gone Going" interpolates and samples "Gone" by Jack Johnson.
• "They Don't Want Music" interpolates "Mind Power" by James Brown.
• "Ba Bump" interpolates "Candy" by Cameo.
• "Audio Delite at Low Fidelity" samples "All Night Long" by Mary Jane Girls.
• "Union" samples "Englishman in New York" by Sting.

Personnel

Credits adapted from Monkey Business liner notes:

Production credits

• William Adams – conceptual design, producer (also executive), writer
• Venus Brown – A&R management
• Fred Davis – legal representation
• Ron Fair – executive producer
• Shepard Fairey – album cover and logo designer
• Seth Friedman – A&R management, cover art director, manager
• Brian Gardner – mastering
• Dylan "3-D" Dresdow – Audio Engineer
• Serban Ghenea – Audio Engineer
• Tony Maserati – Audio Engineer
• Dennis Gomez – booklet design
• Julie Hovsepian – product manager
• Mike Jurkovac – cover art director
• Sarah Larkin – business manager
• Lor-e – stylist
• Edward Martinez – booklet art director and photographer
• Polo Molina – manager
• Dante Santiago – background vocals, A&R management coordination
• Justin Siegel – A&R management coordination
• Madeleine Smith – music clearance
• David Sonenberg – manager
• Andrew Van Meter – production manager
• Albert Watson – photographer
• Florencio Zavala – album cover and logo designer
• Mike Rotch – Fergie's graphic layout – director

Charts, certifications and sales

Chart (2005–06)	Peak position	Certification	Sales
Argentinian Albums Chart	1	Platinum	40,000+
Australian Albums Chart	1	6× Platinum	420,000
Austrian Albums Chart	2	–	–
Canadian Albums Chart	1	6× Platinum	600,000
Danish Albums Chart	3	–	–
Dutch Albums Chart	3	–	–
Finnish Albums Chart	4	–	–
French Albums Chart	1	2× Platinum	439,000
Germany Albums Chart	1	Platinum	200,000
Greek Albums Chart	13	Gold	10,000
Italian Albums Chart	10	Platinum	80,000
Japanese Albums Chart	3	Platinum	340,000+
Mexican Albums Chart	1	3× Gold	150,000
New Zealand Albums Chart	1	4× Platinum	60,000
Norway Albums Chart	15	–	–
Polish Albums (ZPAV)	13	Platinum	20,000+
Spain Albums Chart	5	Platinum	150,000+
Swedish Albums Chart	16	Gold	20,000
Switzerland Albums Chart	1	2× Platinum	80,000
U.S Billboard 200	3	4× Platinum	4,272,000
UK Albums Chart	4	3× Platinum	1,065,834
Worldwide	-	-	10,000,000 +

Release history

Country	Date	Label
Japan	May 25, 2005	Universal
Germany	May 30, 2005
United Kingdom		Polydor
Canada	June 7, 2005	Universal
United States		A&M

External links

• listen to Monkey Business at bloson.com at the Wayback Machine (archived April 23, 2010)
• The Black Eyed Peas official site
• PortalBEP.com

Preceded by "Mezmerize" by System of a Down	Australian ARIA Albums Chart number-one album June 6–12, 2005 August 15–28, 2005	Succeeded by "X&Y" by Coldplay
Preceded by "Demon Days" by Gorillaz	French number-one album 4 June 2005 – 10 June 2005
Preceded by "Out of Exile" by Audioslave	New Zealand number-one album 6 June 2005 – 13 June 2005