Will.i.am

Will.i.am
Will.i.am
Birth name:	William James Adams Jr.
Sex:	Male
Birthday:	15 March 1975
Birth place:	Los Angeles, California, America
Occupation:	Singer–songwriter, composer, record producer, disk jockey, voice actor, entrepreneur, businessman, rapper, philanthropist
Years active:	1992–present
Labels:	Ruthless, Warner Sunset, Atlantic, Interscope, Columbia, will.i.am Music Group
Associated acts:	The Black Eyed Peas
Website:	will.i.am

William Adams (Will.i.am) is an American rapper and singer-songwriter born March 15, 1975. He has taken over from Seal as a Judge/Coach on The Voice Australia.

Life and Career

William James Adams, Jr. was born in Eastside Los Angeles and was raised in the Estrada Courts housing projects in the Boyle Heights neighborhood, where he and his family were among the few African Americans living in a predominantly Hispanic community. He never met his father, William Adams, and grew up with his mother, Debra (née Cain), who encouraged him to be unique and to avoid conforming to the tendencies of the other youth in his neighborhood on the east side of Los Angeles. She encouraged him to begin working on his musical career by sending him to public schools in affluent West Los Angeles. While attending Palisades Charter High School, will.i.am became best friends with Allan Pineda (stage name apl.de.ap), who was also a future member of The Black Eyed Peas. While still in high school, will.i.am and apl.de.ap performed in East L.A. clubs and were soon joined by three other entertainers to form the socially conscious rap group, Atban Klann. Atban Klann caught the eye of Compton rapper Eazy-E and was signed to his label, Ruthless Records.

Adams used to attend raves while in high school. He later said his history with rave culture is why he chose a more electro sound for The Black Eyed Peas' albums The E.N.D. and The Beginning. Despite the use of electro and house music elements, will.i.am prefers to separate the underground from pop. In an article with Los Angeles Times, he mentions that secrecy over the whereabouts of raves is what made raving special, and different from the mainstream.

The Voice

On 25 October 2011, it was reported that will.i.am would be joining The Voice UK as a coach. A source said, "Will is 95 per cent a done deal. He a big star and loves nurturing new talent. He shoots from the lip, and will not be afraid to tell it like it is. Although, I doubt The Voice will be as bitchy as The X Factor". will.i.am was later confirmed as a coach on The Voice UK, of this he said, "I'm proud to be doing The Voice UK because the UK was the first place I saw success," he said. "It's the place I'm the most creative outside of home." Cohen added, "I am thrilled that will.i.am has signed up to be a coach on The Voice. He is a huge star who will bring a unique creativity to the show." Talking about the differences between the show and X Factor, "I won’t be a judge on X Factor. The Voice is different. You can’t even compare the two. One, you have people in the music industry, current and legends, coaching the next generation. The other format you have judges critiquing, giving their opinions on things when they don’t really know, other than Randy Jackson on Idol".

In preparation for the role as a coach, he asked friend and ex-The X Factor judge Cheryl Cole. Talking to Capital FM he said, "I reached out to Cheryl for advice on keeping your cool, having a poker face, the importance of sticking with the singers – it's their dream, a lot of the times when you have other performers a part of the show, celebrities tend to want the shine so they hog up time. So my whole thing was that I want to do The Voice, but I don't want to hog up time to where the singers up there are looking like, 'Is this about you guys?'. In March 2012, it was reported that he had turned his "plush" dressing room into a recording studio, and "instead of just listening with his headphones, he has installed some mega bass bins".

On November 26, 2013, will.i.am was announced as a coach for the 2014 series of the Australian version of The Voice, along with fellow Voice UK judge Kylie Minogue.

Top 10 Hits

1. Scream & Shout
2. Hall of Fame
3. OMG
4. Just Can't Get Enough
5. In My City
6. This Is Love
7. I Love My Chick
8. Check It Out
9. T.H.E (The Hardest Ever)
10. I Got It From My Mama