WILL.I.AM does it all

When Interscope Geffen A&M chairman Jimmy Iovine suggested the idea of a solo album earlier this year, Black Eyed Peas leader will.i.am was caught off guard.

"I'm thinking, 'Why would I do a solo project?'" he recalls. "I could just do an album with the Black Eyed Peas. It's a band full of solo artists. I knew whatever I did had to be more than just a solo album."

That it is. "Songs About Girls," due Sept. 25, is a multimedia explosion of ideas that not only features music -- 15 tracks, including the club-banging first single "I Got It From My Mama" and "S.O.S.," which he wrote for the Live Earth concerts -- but also an hourlong movie that incorporates videos for eight of the album's songs.

"Will is this engine that just doesn't stop," says Iovine. "Will has a lot of music in him, a type of music he can and can't do with the Peas, and this gives people another look at who Will is."

As he began working on the project, will.i.am (real name William Adams) had a solid idea of what he did -- and didn't -- want to be as a solo artist. "I wanted to be a producer, a songwriter and a vocalist and a rapper -- (to) wear all the hats," he says. And even though he has an extensive, Grammy Award-nominated production resume that includes Mary J. Blige, Justin Timberlake and Peas singer Fergie, he didn't want "Songs About Girls" to be a standard producer's kind of album.

"I didn't want to go to all these people and say, 'You want to do a song with me?' and such and such," he says. "I didn't want to do a solo record that's not really a solo record, just me with a whole bunch of people on it. I wanted it to be a real solo attempt, a project with a continuous theme that was connected all the way through."

The storyline -- which tracks an up-and-coming hip-hop producer's relationship with a girlfriend -- was inspired by real events, specifically a seven-year relationship that began about the same time as the Black Eyed Peas in 1995.

The movie portion of "Songs About Girls" stemmed from that stated desire to do more than merely make an album. So the artist took a crew to Brazil and created a scriptless piece "about trying to make a movie, and the movie never gets made. It was a lot of fun."

For Interscope, there may be some question of whether will.i.am is as well-known as Fergie, whose solo album, "The Dutchess," has sold more than 3.5 million copies worldwide. Interscope president of marketing and sales Steve Berman is confident that fans know who he is.

"The profile is so strong," Berman says. "He's done such a tremendous job in building the brand of the Peas, and he's also done a great job in identifying himself within that. What we're trying to do is take advantage of that and build the exposure around him."

"I Got It From My Mama" is off to a strong start at radio. A major iTunes launch for the project is planned and a MySpace listening party will be taped to roll out just in front of street date. TV appearances on network and cable are planned for release week, and will.i.am will be part of an extensive Gap ad this fall that will cross-promote "Songs About Girls." Several different versions of the album, with extra tracks and other bonus material, are planned for retail outlets.