"Imma Be" is a song performed by the American hip hop group The Black Eyed Peas taken from their fifth studio album The E.N.D. The song's title is a slang expression, meaning "I am going to be" or "I will be" [something or some activity]. Initially released as a promotional single, the song went on to receive a full release as the fourth single in the United States and Canada from the album, the fifth overall, and is the third single from the album to reach number-one on the Billboard Hot 100. Critical reception to the song was generally positive, with some critics saying that it was a standout track from the album. The video for the song was filmed back-to-back as one collective clip, totaling ten minutes in length with "Rock That Body" which is the fourth international single from the album. The collective montage is titled "Imma Be Rocking That Body". The song was part of the soundtrack of the film The Other Guys (2010) and was used in the bar scene.^[1] The song can also be heard in the film The Hangover: Part II. However, it does not feature on the official soundtrack.

Critical reception[link]

Critical response to the song was generally positive. Eric Henderson from Slant Magazine stated that in the song, "halfway through, the pulse gets an upgrade, the tempo hustles up to a strut, the rudimentary synth hits explode into a chunky-funky rush, and before you know it, will.i.am has transformed a deliberately lazy self-parody into a heated club-floor burner. He added: "The dialectic without conversation within "Imma Be" is replayed ad nauseam throughout the album's entire bloated running time".^[2] PopMatters gave the song a positive review: "Highlights of the album include "Imma be", which despite the repetition of the title no less than 105 times...takes a really interesting path from hip-hop attitude to club hit to jazz romp that holds up well to repeated listens".^[3] Vibe Magazine said that "Imma Be is the 3008 version of "My Humps".^[4] Billboard writes that "The group sounds as unabashedly confident as ever here.....A brazen horn section and smooth keyboards cruise along until the song's sudden transition, when the beat switches from a snap music-meets-Neptunes stomp to a funk-house glide, meshing with a seemingly endless vocal loop of "Imma be" to form a pounding, assertive club thumper. Given the success of its predecessors, "Imma Be", while inherently gimmicky, should be sticking around for a long time".^[5]

Music video[link]

The video was filmed on January 13, 2010. The clip features Fergie wearing Louboutin designer footwear and a black metallic leotard and riding a BMW S1000RR supersports motorcycle.^{[citation needed]} Extras were dressed as robots and nomads (like apl.de.ap in "Meet Me Halfway"). It was shot on a desert road in Lancaster, California. Filming was interrupted by a sudden sandstorm, however, as the storm passed, filming resumed.^[6] The music video, directed by Rich Lee, was shot back to back with the video for "Rock That Body", the second song on The E.N.D.^[7] The two songs were mashed up into a medley, which is titled "Imma Be Rocking That Body". The medley length is 8:15 and the music video in total is 10:21. It premiered on Vevo and Dipdive on February 16, 2010.^[8][9] The videos were separated for music channels with the introduction and conclusion removed. The video begins with Fergie waking up on a road in a desert and she notices everything stuck on a loop. She gets up and sings the first verse. She arrives at a bar and finds will.i.am who is stuck on a loop of pouring his drink. She mutes his Beats which makes him stop. He notices that the robot who looped him is following them and they both hide. As the robot looks for them, they both escape in a hovercar. The robot chases them but it runs out of energy. They arrive at a scrapyard where they find Apl.de.ap who is also stuck on a loop. Will.i.am taps him and makes him stop. Apl.de.ap brings a good robot to life as they dig though the scrap and find Taboo whose bottom half of his body is missing. Will.i.am and Apl.de.ap carry him as they find a pair of legs walking around the scrapyard and they quickly fix him. As Apl.de.ap raps his verse, the robots dance in the background and they disappear, leaving the evil robot wondering where they went.

Chart performance[link]

Prior to the album's release, "Imma Be" was released as a worldwide promotional single and peaked at number 50 in the US, based on downloads alone. It has since been released as the fourth single from that album in the U.S. and became the group's third number one hit on the Billboard Hot 100 for the week ending March 6, 2010 and halted the nine-week run of Kesha's "Tik Tok". It is the group's third number one from The E.N.D. following their first two number ones "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling", as well as their fourth consecutive top ten from the album. With the single reaching number one, The Black Eyed Peas became the first group or duo to place three number ones on the Hot 100 from one album since the Wilson Phillips debut album, Wilson Phillips, in 1990–91.^[10] "Imma Be" reached the top ten on the Canadian Hot 100 due to a significant increase in digital downloads following a performance of "Imma Be" at the 52nd Grammy Awards.^[11] In the UK the single charted at number 55 on the official top 100 singles chart. It has sold 2,999,000 digital copies in the USA to date.^[12]

Track listing[link]

Digital Download E.P.

UK & German CD Single

Charts[link]

Year-end charts[link]

Release history[link]

See also[link]

• List of Hot 100 number-one singles of 2010 (U.S.)

• IMMA

References[link]

32. IMMA

Alvin Simon (1928-Feb 23, 2010 in Mount Washington, California) was an American restaurateur who played a leading role in the development and revitalization of Pasadena, California in the 1980s.^[1][2] His upscale Cafe Jacoulet became Old Pasadena's celebrity hangout.^[3] Later, he owned and operated the Cal-Asian restaurant Cinnebar in Glendale, California with chef Hisashi Yoshiara for 11 years.^[4][5][6]

References[link]

1. ^ Noland, Claire. Alvin Simon dies at 82; owner of premier L.A.-area restaurants, Los Angeles Times, March 14, 2010
2. ^ Ruth Reichl, Restaurants Better Red, Los Angeles Times, May 16, 1993
3. ^ "Old Town Pasadena, Los Angeles Times, October 4, 1988
4. ^ Noland, Claire. Alvin Simon dies at 82; owner of premier L.A.-area restaurants, Los Angeles Times, March 14, 2010
5. ^ Laurie Ochoa, Pan-Asian Fare Tops Cinnabar Bill, Los Angeles Times Feb 28, 1993
6. ^ "A Rich Ore of Flavorful Cuisine, March 12, 1993, Daily News of Los Angeles