"Where Is the Love?" is a song by American hip hop group

the Black Eyed Peas Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo (rapper), Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie (singer ...

. It was released on May 12, 2003, as the lead single from their third album, '' Elephunk''. The song was written by will.i.am,

apl.de.ap Allan Pineda Lindo (born November 28, 1974), known professionally as apl.de.ap (), is a Filipino-American rapper, singer and record producer. He is a founding member of the hip hop group Black Eyed Peas. Early life Allan Pineda Lindo was born ...

Taboo A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

Justin Timberlake Justin Randall Timberlake (born January 31, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and actor. He is one of the world's best-selling music artists, with sales of over 88 million records. Timberlake is the recipient of numerous awards and ac ...

, Printz Board, Michael Fratantuno, and George Pajon. The track features vocals from Timberlake, although he is not officially credited on the single release. It was the group's first song to feature singer Fergie as an official member. "Where Is the Love?" saw success on radio airplay charts, peaked at number eight on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and topped the charts in Australia, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, where it became the biggest-selling single of 2003. The band and Timberlake received two nominations, Record of the Year and Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, for "Where Is the Love?" at the

46th Annual Grammy Awards The 46th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 8, 2004 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California honoring the best in music for the recording of the year beginning from October 1, 2002 through September 30, 2003. They recognized ac ...

Background

Following the commercial failures of their previous albums and singles, there was doubt over whether

would continue to record together. A&R executive Ron Fair approached them and suggested a crossover to a more mainstream pop sound. will.i.am in particular resisted the idea for fear that they would be seen as sellouts. However, after discussions and some writing sessions, the idea was pursued. After the release of 'Where is the Love' Taboo would claim on the topic of selling out that if he was going to sell out, he'd "rather be selling out arenas than selling out of my trunk on the corner of my block." In an interview with

The Telegraph ''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include: Australia * ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...

in 2016, will.i.am alleges the inspiration for the original song came from the generalized anxiety following the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...

. will.i.am said: “On our last day (of recording sessions in San Francisco), as I was packing my equipment, I saw the first plane fly through the World Trade Center (...) I thought it was a film. The fear of driving back home, y’know going over San Francisco bridge. That 10 minute drive across the bridge felt like an hour.” In the same interview will.i.am claims that the emotions from that time form the base emotions the song's lyrics are composed of. Shortly after

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

2001, three months after 9/11, will.i.am created a loop and a guitar part that he liked.

and

also heard the track and were able to write similar lyrics over it.

was introduced to the group by Taboo, and got a chance to hear the track that will.i.am created. Impressed with the music, Timberlake helped write and sing the chorus. The production of Where is the Love was halted over the early half of 2002 as the band burned out over what will.i.am claimed was 9/11-induced anxiety during their tour in that year. Timberlake was in the midst of promotion of his debut solo album, '' Justified'', and his label

Jive Records Jive Records was an American independent record label founded by Clive Calder in 1981 as a subsidiary to the Zomba Group. In the US, the label had offices in New York City and Chicago. Jive was best known for its successes with hip hop, R&B, ...

was concerned about possible overexposure. The Black Eyed Peas were worried about this, as getting some assistance from an established pop star like Timberlake had been the original point of this song. A compromise was reached eventually in which Jive gave clearance for the vocals of Timberlake to be released on the song, but he does not appear in the song's music video nor is he officially credited on the song as an artist. By 2008, the single had sold 954,000 digital copies.

Composition

Although initially intended as a vessel to post-9/11 anxiety, the song discusses many issues including

terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...

US government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...

hypocrisy,

racism Racism is the belief that groups of humans possess different behavioral traits corresponding to inherited attributes and can be divided based on the superiority of one race over another. It may also mean prejudice, discrimination, or antagoni ...

, gang crime,

pollution Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into the natural environment that cause adverse change. Pollution can take the form of any substance (solid, liquid, or gas) or energy (such as radioactivity, heat, sound, or light). Pollutants, th ...

, war and intolerance, with the call for love in the chorus as the element tying these together. The lyric "Overseas, yeah, we try'na stop terrorism - but we still got terrorists here living - in the USA, the big

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

- the Bloods and the Crips and the

KKK The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and Cath ...

" suggests these organizations being terrorists too - however, in the later live performance of One Love Manchester the inclusion of the CIA was censored. The song was released during the

Iraq war {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

and alludes to it and its

casus belli A (; ) is an act or an event that either provokes or is used to justify a war. A ''casus belli'' involves direct offenses or threats against the nation declaring the war, whereas a ' involves offenses or threats against its ally—usually one ...

with the lyric "A war's going on but the reason's undercover" in the bridge. The song has a tempo of 94 BPM. Will.i.am laid the track's iconic main rhythm over the chord progression, which he claimed is inspired by that of a human heartbeat. “I was like, 'this song needs a heartbeat.' (...) I just liked the pull and the call of response of the human heart – a beat, a rhythm that we hear everyday subconsciously, without paying attention to it.”

Reception

As part of the album Elephunk, the song was met with critical and commercial success. Elephunk has a

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

score of 66/100. The Black Eyed Peas' album Elephunk sold 3.2 million copies as of 2011. David Jeffries of Drowned In Sound noted that it was the "long time coming" Black Eyed Peas hit, praising its dramatic delivery as "epic, positive, and concerned with where the world is going, “Where Is the Love” bounces between positive hip-hop and orchestral soul that royally recalls Marvin Gaye's social meditations." According to the

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

'Where is the Love' propelled the Black Eyed Peas from the underground to the mainstream.

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular ...

was more negative about the song, which deviates sharply from the Black Eyed Peas' rap roots, writing that "the biggest offense for a once smart-sounding rap collective is ”Where Is the Love,” the horrifyingly trite single with Justin Timberlake. It's enough to make longtime fans wonder, ”Where are the Peas?”" Chris Nettleson of Drowned in Sound refrains from commenting on Where is the Love directly but instead notes that other critics have unfairly regarded Elephunk as deviating from standard hiphop. Chris writes that Where is the Love is a "slightly saccharine hippy anti-gulf war anthem", but in the context of the entire album of Elephunk it is worth listening to. The song was the biggest selling single of 2003 in the UK. It was also the 25th best-selling single of the 2000s (decade) in the UK.Radio 1 Chart of the Decade, as presented by DJ Nihal on December 29, 2009

Music video

The music video for "Where Is the Love?" was shot in

East Los Angeles East Los Angeles ( es, Este de Los Ángeles), or East L.A., is an unincorporated area in Los Angeles County, California. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 118,786, a drop of 6.1% from 2010, when it was 126,496. For statistical purpo ...

and features

and various other people, including various young children, asking the world where the love really is. In the video, will.i.am and

act as a

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became ...

road duo who use music to tell people what is wrong with the world, Fergie appears as a peacemaker who places stickers with question marks on them all over the place to ask people where the love is in the world, and

is a criminal who is arrested for using criminal offences to tell people the truth.

does not appear in the video, as he was promoting his album ''Justified'' at the time, though several different people are seen mouthing his part. The video is similar to a 2002 British television advertisement for T-Mobile, in which a face of a young baby is presented in various forms around a large city, much like the question mark in this video. The

Bon Jovi Bon Jovi is an American rock band formed in 1983 in Sayreville, New Jersey. It consists of singer Jon Bon Jovi, keyboardist David Bryan, drummer Tico Torres, guitarist Phil X, and bassist Hugh McDonald. Original bassist Alec John such qu ...

music video " Have a Nice Day" is also similar to both the advertisement and this video. The video features gameplay footage of the extremely graphic and controversial video game ''

Postal 2 ''Postal 2'' is a 2003 first-person shooter developed by Running with Scissors. It is the sequel to the 1997 game '' Postal'' and was released for Microsoft Windows in April 2003, macOS in April 2004 and Linux in April 2005. ''Postal 2'', as wel ...

'', in which a group of young children are playing the game. This suggests that violence in the media and entertainment industry affects the morals of children. Near the beginning of the video, posters of the video game '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City'' are shown.

Track listings

US promo CD # "Where Is the Love?" (radio edit) – 3:46 # "Where Is the Love?" (LP) – 4:32 UK CD single # "Where Is the Love?" # "Sumthin for That Ass" # "Where Is the Love?" (instrumental) # "Where Is the Love?" (video) European CD single # "Where Is the Love?" # "Sumthin for That Ass" Australian CD single # "Where Is the Love?" # "Sumthin for That Ass" # "What's Going Down" # "Where Is the Love?" (video)

Personnel

* Arranged by Ron Fair * Writers – will.i.am,

, Printz Board, Michael Fratantuno, George Pajon, Jr. *Producers – will.i.am, Ron Fair

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Release history

2016 version

On August 31, 2016, a new version of the song titled "Where's the Love?" (stylized as "#WHERESTHELOVE"), credited to "The Black Eyed Peas featuring The World" was made available for digital download exclusively on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

and released to other digital retailers later that day. The song samples the original track but has additional music composition and features additional vocals from

Jamie Foxx Eric Marlon Bishop (born December 13, 1967), known professionally as Jamie Foxx, is an American actor, comedian, and singer. He became widely known for his portrayal of Ray Charles in the 2004 biographical film ''Ray'', for which he won the A ...

, Ty Dolla Sign, Mary J. Blige, Diddy, Cassie,

Andra Day Andra may refer to: People *Andra (singer) (born 1986), Romanian singer *Andra (musician), Zimbabwean-American musician *Andra Karpin (born 1979), Estonian footballer *Andra Neiburga (1957–2019), Latvian writer *Andra Day (born 1984), America ...

, The Game, Tori Kelly,

V. Bozeman Veronika Jean Bozeman (born January 9, 1988) is an American singer and actress best known for her recurring role as Veronica in the Fox primetime musical drama television series ''Empire''. Bozeman began her career vocal producing songs such as ...

Jessie J Jessica Ellen Cornish (born 27 March 1988), known professionally as Jessie J, is an English singer. Born and raised in London, she began her career on stage, aged 11, with a role in the West End musical '' Whistle Down the Wind''. She studied ...

French Montana Karim Kharbouch (Arabic: æɾiːm χɑɾbuːʃ born November 9, 1984), better known by his stage name French Montana, is a Moroccan-American rapper. Born and raised in Morocco, he emigrated to the United States with his family when he was 13. ...

DJ Khaled Khaled Mohammed Khaled (born November 26, 1975), known professionally as DJ Khaled, is an American DJ, record executive, record producer and rapper. Khaled first gained recognition as a radio host in the 1990s on the radio station 99 Jamz, a ...

Usher Usher may refer to: Several jobs which originally involved directing people and ensuring people are in the correct place: * Usher (occupation) ** Church usher ** Wedding usher, one of the male attendants to the groom in a wedding ceremony ** F ...

Nicole Scherzinger Nicole Scherzinger (; born Nicole Prascovia Elikolani Valiente, June 29, 1978) is an American singer, songwriter, dancer, actress, and television personality. She is best known as the lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, one of the best-selling g ...

ASAP Rocky Rakim Athelaston Mayers (born October 3, 1988), known professionally as ASAP Rocky ( ; stylized as A$AP Rocky), is an American rapper, music producer and record executive. Born and raised in Harlem, he embarked on his musical career as a membe ...

, Jaden Smith and a 40-member children's choir. All proceeds from the song were going to will.i.am's non-profit foundation, i.am.angel. – the charity funds educational programs and college scholarships. The Black Eyed Peas partnered with issues-driven media company ATTN and foundation education partner and leading geospatial company Esri for the single release campaign. It was the group's last song to feature singer Fergie.

Music video

An accompanying music video, directed by Michael Jurkovac, also premiered worldwide on

Apple Music Apple Music is a music, audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users select music to stream to their device on-demand, or they can listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the Internet radio stations Appl ...

that same day and shows appearances by the featured vocalists and many celebrities including Connie Britton, Lance Bass,

Rosario Dawson Rosario Isabel Dawson (born May 9, 1979) is an American actress. She made her feature-film debut in the 1995 independent drama '' Kids''. Her subsequent film roles include ''He Got Game'' (1998), ''Josie and the Pussycats'' (2001), ''Men in Bl ...

, Shailene Woodley, Taye Diggs, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar,

Quincy Jones Quincy Delight Jones Jr. (born March 14, 1933) is an American record producer, musician, songwriter, composer, arranger, and film and television producer. His career spans 70 years in the entertainment industry with a record of 80 Grammy Award n ...

, Olivia Munn,

Jhené Aiko Jhené Aiko Efuru Chilombo (; born March 16, 1988) is an American singer who embarked on her music career contributing vocals and appearing in several music videos for R&B group B2K. In an effort to promote Aiko and cultivate a following for he ...

, Krewella,

Wiz Khalifa Cameron Jibril Thomaz (born September 8, 1987), better known by his stage name Wiz Khalifa, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and actor. He released his debut album, ''Show and Prove'', in 2006 and signed to Warner Bros. Records in 20 ...

Charlie Carver Charles Carver Martensen (born July 31, 1988) is an American actor and screenwriter. His best known roles include Porter Scavo on the ABC television series ''Desperate Housewives'', Ethan on the MTV television series ''Teen Wolf'', Scott Frost ...

Ian Harding Ian Michael Harding (born September 16, 1986) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Ezra Fitz in the Freeform mystery drama ''Pretty Little Liars'' from 2010 to 2017. Early life Harding was born in Heidelberg, West Germany, to an ...

Max Carver Max Carver (born Robert Maxwell Martensen Jr; August 1, 1988) is an American actor. He is known for his role as Preston Scavo in the ABC television series ''Desperate Housewives'', as Aiden on the MTV teen-horror drama ''Teen Wolf'', and in th ...

Daniel Sharman Daniel Andrew Sharman (born 25 April 1986) is an English actor. He is known for his roles as Isaac Lahey on the television series '' Teen Wolf'' (2012–2014), Kaleb Westphall / Kol Mikaelson on '' The Originals'' (2014–2015), Troy Otto on ' ...

, Vanessa Hudgens,

Russell Westbrook Russell Westbrook III (born November 12, 1988) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). A member of the NBA 75th Anniversary Team, he is a nine-time NBA All-Star an ...

Carla Gugino Carla Gugino (; born August 29, 1971) is an American actress. After appearing in ''Troop Beverly Hills'' (1989) and ''This Boy's Life'' (1993), she received recognition for her starring roles as Ingrid Cortez in the ''Spy Kids'' trilogy (2001� ...

, Ben Barnes, Nikki Reed, Omarion, Jessica Szohr,

Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...

LL Cool J James Todd Smith (born January 14, 1968), known professionally as LL Cool J (short for Ladies Love Cool James), is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is one of the earliest rappers to achieve commercial success, along ...

, Adrianne Palicki, Becky G, Adrienne Bailon, Kris Jenner, and

Kendall Jenner Kendall Nicole Jenner (born November 3, 1995) is an American model, media personality, and socialite. She is a daughter of Kris Jenner and Caitlyn Jenner, and rose to fame in the reality television show '' Keeping Up with the Kardashians.' ...

. Inspired by tragedies, like the attacks in Paris, and in

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

and Orlando, and police shootings of

Philando Castile On July 6, 2016, Philando Castile, a 32-year-old African-American man, was fatally shot during a traffic stop by police officer Jeronimo Yanez of the St. Anthony police department in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. Castile was ...

and Alton Sterling, the Peas saw the relevance of the song and decided it was time to revive the track for a new generation. Family members affected by gun violence including ( Alton Sterling's aunt Sandra,

's mother Valerie) and police officials (Dallas Police Chief David O. Brown, Officer Miguel Salcedo) and more appear in the video.

Track listing

*Digital download #"Where's the Love?" (featuring The World) – 5:25

Personnel

Credits adapted from the official press release. * Produced, Instruments and Programming by Giorgio Tuinfort and will.i.am * Mixed by will.i.am and Joe Peluso * Mastered by Joe Bozzi * Written by will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo, Justin Timberlake, The Game, ASAP Rocky, DJ Khaled and Giorgio Tuinfort * Piano by Giorgio Tuinfort * First Violin by Ben Mathot, Inger van Vliet, Marleen Wester, Tseroeja van den Bos and Sofie van der Pol * Second Violin by Judith van Driel, Loes Dooren, Diewertje Wanders and Azra Dizdar * Alt Violin by Ian de Jong, Yanna Pelser, Bas Goossens * Cello by David Faber and Jascha Bordon * Bass by Hinse Mutter * Horns by Jenneke de Jonge * Trumpet by Printz Board * Orchestra Midi Programming by Franck van der Heijden * Orchestra Arrangement by Franck van der Heijden and Giorgio Tuinfort * Orchestra recorded and mixed by Paul Power * Vocals recorded by will.i.am and padraic kerin * Main and additional vocals by the Black Eyed Peas,

Ty Dolla $ign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He first gained major recognition in 2010 for his feature on Ameri ...

, Mary J. Blige, Diddy, Cassie,

, The Game, Tori Kelly, V. Bozeman,

, Jaden Smith and a 40-member children's choir.

Charts

2016 Spanish/English version

The Black Eyed Peas also released a bilingual Spanish/English version of "Where's the Love?", titled "Dónde Está El Amor?" crediting the Black Eyed Peas featuring El Mundo. The version was premiered on November 7, 2016, during Premios de la Radio. The music video premiered days later, featuring a roster of Latin stars including Gerardo Ortiz, Milkman, Pepe Aguilar, Becky G, Fey,

Paulina Rubio Paulina Susana Rubio Dosamantes (; born 17 June 1971) is a Mexican singer. Referred to as "Honorific nicknames in popular music, The Golden Girl" and "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Latin Pop", she first achieved recognition as ...

, Luis Coronel, and many others.

References

Background

Composition

Reception

Music video

Track listings

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Decade-end charts

All-time charts

Certifications

Release history

2016 version

Music video

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

2016 Spanish/English version

See also

References