will.i.am is an interesting producer. He’s very easy to dismiss, as his most known and visible contributions have been bubble gum beats of the present-day, Fregie-fied Black Eyed Peas sound (My Humps anyone?). However, upon closer observation, it’s pretty easy to see that will.i.am is one of the best producers today – when he’s not working on BEP shit. After crafting excellent and varied beats for Common, The Game, Talib Kweli, John Legend, Justin Timberlake, and Nas, it’s become abundantly clear that will’s production chops aren’t just poppy garbage. So how does his album Songs about Girls fare?

It turns out that will.i.am’s album works exactly the same way as his other production ventures; it’s interesting when he tries new things, and incredibly annoying when he churns out the same simplistic sound found on Elephunk and Monkey Business.

The album starts off with Over, a jazzy song about relationships (why do you think the album’s called “Songs about Girls?”). The beat has a nice bounce to it, and is oh-so-smooth. It would probably be an apt time to discuss the lyricism on this album, so I will. People don’t buy a will.i.am album for the lyrics. They buy it for the same reason they’d by Timbaland’s – dope beats. Fortunately, will.i.am is a much better rapper and singer than Timbo. While Timbaland has the ability to single-handedly ruin an incredible beat with his non-flow, will.i.am’s flow stays on beat and is more than digestible enough to create a solid song.

The first misstep on the album is I Got it From My Mama. You know the drill: repetitive chorus, simplistic beat…yes, everyone, this is the first Black Eyed Peas reject song on the album. She’s a Star gets things right back on track with a far-out beat – far more engaging than the last. Unfortunately, Get Your Money is another uninspired track which would’ve been better left off of the album. Fortunately, it gets a little more consistent as the next group of tracks is all bangers. Donque features the lone collabo on the album with Snoop Dogg, and the beat is simply ridiculous. It would’ve been nice if Snoop didn’t damn near recycle his famous first verse from Gin and Juice,”but it’s easy to forgive considering how fucking dope the beat is.

Impatient has an interesting sound, as it finds itself somewhere in between disco, 80’s rock and techno. Invisible laments women who don’t appreciate the men who love them over light guitar strumming, and the result is a relaxing song that’s easy to zone out to. Onto the cream of the crop – Ain’t It Pretty. I cannot stress to you people how fucking great this song is. One listen and you’ll be completely hooked; this is probably the most complete song on the album, as both the sounds and will’s singing and rhyming almost paint a picture of the object of his affections. Fellas, take note – this is the song you’ll want to have on when you bring a girl home for the night.

The album ends on a serious note, which is inconceivably strange. S.O.S. (Mother Nature) is about global problems; this is an admirable topic to tackle, but why now? Why at the end of an album where the first 14/15 tracks are about women?

“People killing, people dying, people lying, people blind /People don't see the sign, watching money all the time/Get the pennies, get the dimes, get the dollars is the mind state/Of the human race, people on the paper chase/The environment is fragile, and we been on the gradual/Declining in a lifetime or lose the battle /Get burned by volcanoes, get blown by tornadoes/Cause mother nature signals, is trying to warn NATO/We got a new terror threat, it's called the weather /More deadlier than chemical and nuclear together /It's hotter in the winter, even hotter in the summer/Jesus, or Buddha, somebody come and help us out.”

The baffling inclusion of this song does two things: first, it kinda kills the cohesion of the album. Second, it makes one wonder that could’ve happened had will.i.am decided to make more meaningful tracks on this album, and less party joints. S.O.S. is a great song, but really doesn’t belong.

My advice when concerning Songs about Girls is this: take it for what it is. If you want lyricism, look somewhere else. If you want an album to drive around with or zone out to, this is what you’re looking for. It’s relaxing, laid back, and even has a few songs you could throw on at a party. While it’s somewhat disappointing that will.i.am didn’t channel his considerable creativity in other ways, this album has enough entertaining tracks on it to remain in your playlists for a good while.