Taboo

“My personal music style is very Latin and very soulful. It's dance meets hip-hop.”

“We're best friends that get to travel the world and create a movement. That's what's special about Black Eyed Peas.”

“I wake up every day with a smile - I'm a blessed man, and every day is special.”

“Most of my career, people have the misconception about me as being threatening and scary, and having an intense look, but that's not the real me.”

“We thought: 'Let's write songs about our relationships, the world, our anxieties - let's make the most of this.'”

“When it comes to being on stage, I might be on stage one minute and the next minute I might be in the audience, dancing and lifting people's spirits.”

“I was in a group called Pablo, while Will.i.am and apl.de.ap were a part of the Atban Klann. They signed to Ruthless Records with Easy-E. When Easy-E passed away in 1995 they changed their name to the Black Eyed Peas and asked me if I wanted to be a part of it. The rest is history.”

“It's all about evolution and for us, we try to think outside the box and not try to duplicate what we've done in the past.”

“Before the music and before the fame, I loved Apl for Allan Pineda, for being a brother that he is and for the inspiration - for him to actually come to the States from the Philippines and make something of his life. That's inspirational.”

“In Vietnam, we can go and get big audiences, and we've been going there for so long. A lot of other hip-hop groups don't even go.”

“I'm also a martial-arts practitioner, so it was an easy transition to go do 'Street Fighter,' which is action-packed and let me showcase my acting and martial-arts capabilities.”

“Before we had Fergie, it was me, will.i.am, and apl, and we were showcasing our dance moves in our videos.”

“Our show is all about energy and all about the skill, so we never have to alter it for different audiences, although maybe we might get crazier at a punk-rock show. With kids moshing and crowd-surfing, we might have to get crazy as well.”

“My life got turned upside down when I found out I had cancer.”

“I actually went to the frontline to be with my brothers at Standing Rock.”

“I've never been the attention-getter of Black Eyed Peas.”

“We don't get concerned with stuff like pressure. We just do what makes us feel good.”

“I'm a b-boy for life. I'm a dancer, I started with free style dancing and b-boying during the '80s and I always said to myself that when I get the chance to do my own thing, I will always have the b-boy element and the dance element because that's where I come from.”

“I'm not into fame and ego.”

“I grew up in a predominantly Asian and Mexican community, and because I did breakdance and poplock and all that, I did get a lot of criticism: 'You're Mexican, why are you doing that?'”