Will.i.am from Black Eyed Peas talks about the success of The E.N.D and how Cheryl Cole can conquer the world

People are saying The E.N.D is the Peas’ best record. Happy?

Yeah I’m so proud of this album. Nowadays, people don’t listen to albums so I tried to make the record like a DJ set, as if I was playing in a dope club in London or something.

You are putting other producing work on hold to concentrate on the Peas. Have you turned stuff down?

I turned down a lot of different projects. The last big song that I produced for someone else was American Boy for Estelle.

Do you think that some producers spread ­themselves too thinly?

I think some producers spread themselves too thin when they give everybody the same s***. My production is tailor-made to the artist rather than me shoving my sound down people’s throats. I’ll go in and make music with Sergio Mendes or U2 and people don’t know I did that, then I’ll do [new Peas’ track] Boom Boom Pow.

Boom Boom Pow is shaping up to be your biggest hit. Is that a surprise?

Yes, that song was never meant to be released. Boom Boom Pow was designed for underground dance clubs. I DJ’d at a couple of clubs, gave it to people who I respect like producers and DJs, it leaked on the internet, worked its way to radio and the rest is history.

Do you have to work with people who are less ­enthusiastic than you?

Yes. That’s the worst nightmare. They’re either late or they prioritise other s***, like saying: “Oh I’ve got to go and cut my hair right now” or “I just bought a new chain and I’ve got to go check the measurements on my neck are correct”. It’s like, “are you f***ing for real? Right now?”

What music are you ­loving at the moment?

I love The Presets. I love Empire of the Sun – those motherf***ers are dope. Of course MGMT, Does It Offend You, Yeah? And DJ Treasure Fingers.

Are you psyched by Glastonbury?

There is nothing like it. S***, yeah I’m psyched. I kind of hope it’s muddy but not too muddy. We played there in 2006. We slept over at Sting’s house and we didn’t have a ride so Sting offered us his helicopter.

Tell me about Cheryl Cole’s solo work.

We did two songs and we’re getting back together to do two more in July. Cheryl is a sweetheart, I really like working with her. We did this one song and it was “wow”. It was great.

How great?

Well, I didn’t want to play it for anybody in our group or our record company because they would have said: “Why don’t we do that song?” It’s a big, big record but I didn’t want it on our album because this one is a little slower. It’s a beautiful song and she sang it great.

Do you think Cheryl can make it in the US?

Definitely. We started off with a really mega tune and now the bar is set high. We’re going to have some really cool tunes. That’s a clue of how to make Cheryl dope all over the world – by being creative with infectious melodies.

You’ve worked with Michael Jackson on his new album, can he pull off the O2 shows?

Yes. No brain-er. He is more on point than a lot of people who I work with. I don’t know anybody else who does vocal checks for three hours.

Does he sound good?

Yeah, the guy is awesome. He did his vocals and I’m like “wow”.

Will the tracks you worked on with Jackson be dated by the time they’re released?

No, they won’t be dated. The songs we did are for the dancefloor. A ballad is temperamental but Billie Jean is still relevant now. It’s like DNA – what makes people dance will never change, it’s been that way since they were beating on drums in Africa.

Black Eyed Peas play Glastonbury this Sunday. The E.N.D is out now

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