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Will.I.Am from the Black Eyed Peas must be smoking that Boom Boom Pow. He told VIBE magazine that he is “probably the most hip-hop ni**a out of all these hip-hop ni**as!” Pop it to see him say some more ill isht.

Will.I.Am is having a Kanye moment. In a recent interview with VIBE, he didn’t just toot his own horn, he laid on that b*tch with both hands. Tooooooot! Toooooot!

Vibe asked Will if The Black Eyed Peas take hits for not being “real” hip hop and Will went in.

Will.i.am: I am hip-hop! If there’s anyone that’s the personification of hip-hop, I’m probably the most hip-hop ni**a out of all these hip-hop ni**as. But hip-hop editorial and blogs and even some of the hip-hop fans don’t see it that way, which is cool. I’m going to win. I’m going to win and win bigger than all these ni**as are winning. And they probably don’t see that. I’m winning regardless of what hip-hop thinks of what I am. I won’t shrivel up in a little ball and not continue to rock, rock planet rock, don’t stop just because a few people think the [Black Eyed Peas] is just a pop act.

I [always] knew I was going to move more into dance and club. That’s the reason I produced Nas’ “Hip Hop Is Dead.” People forgot that hip-hop was a bunch of things back in the days. Hip-hop was the Jungle Brothers’ “I’ll House You.” When someone is denying what they are, then that’s when things start to spiral down. Hip-hop is limiting itself and that also goes for editorially. Magazines and websites are the gatekeepers of what people think hip-hop is, but they actually end up limiting what hip-hop can be.

I can do a Talib Kweli track [“Hot Thing”] and Estelle’s “American Boy,” and co-write “Ordinary People” with John Legend and I’m still hip-hop. If Nas calls me for another track, I can do that. But at the same time, if Usher calls me I can do [an “OMG”] as well. Songs like “OMG” are international hits, not just hits on American urban radio. I’m talking about the f*cking world! And those kind of accomplishments don’t get you the cover of VIBE. I don’t need anyone to validate me. I am hip-hop.

He made some interesting points. Does the content always have to be gangstalicious to be considered hip-hop? Is Will.I.Am or Will.I.Am. not the hip-hoppiest of the bunch?

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