Original Black Eyed Peas Member Tells Will.i.Am Why BEP Aren't Considered Black Group

Last week, Will.i.Am lamented that his hugely successful group The Black Eyed Peas aren't considered a Black group.

“In 2004, Black Eyed Peas, we were just trying to get on," said Will on Wyclef Jean's Run That Back podcast. "Like, I’m a Black dude but when you think of Black Eyed Peas, we got so big and it hurts, it still hurts a little bit, that we’re not considered a Black group because we got that big ... And when you think of Black Eyed Peas ... it’s no longer urban or Black culture, which is not good for the Black community ... Black Eyed Peas is not looked at as a Black group because we had international success."

Kim Hill, who is Black, was an original member of BEP.  However, she replaced by Fergie, who is not Black, in 2002.

“You’re not in those Black roots anymore. So, I don’t understand how you’re not even going to talk about the Black girl that you had in your group and you’re going to skip to 2004 and you say, ‘I don’t understand how the Black community isn’t embracing us,’” Hill explained.  “For you to make that statement as if the onus is on the Black community to celebrate you and the band when you didn’t celebrate us. It’s almost like there’s this cultural smudging.”

What do you think?