Bob Marley. Stevie Wonder. Bobby McFerrin. Swedish House Mafia. They've all had hit songs with essentially the same message: "Don't worry." So why isn't Black Eyed Peas' latest single, "Don't You Worry," just a retread of those songs? will.i.am says it's because of their "refreshing" take on it.
"With 'Don't You Worry,' you teeter on generic," will told ABC Audio when the group performed on Good Morning America Friday. "And the only way to make it not generic is to put some emotion, authenticity and uniqueness to a phrase that you've heard, [that] you've seen on bumper stickers."
He adds, "I think the emotion and the visuals that we put [into it] -- the tapestry with the sounds and the sonics -- to revisit a phrase that the world needs, is refreshing."
"I like the 'refreshing' metaphor because it's refreshed, but it's still got the nostalgia of 'I Gotta Feeling,'" adds Taboo. "So that energy, that nostalgia, is something that a lot of the folks that love our music ... were always asking for. That feeling, whatever that frequency we tapped into with 'I Gotta Feeling,' it's the same sentiment with 'Don't You Worry.'"
"And we've gone through a lot the last few years," Apl.de.ap points out. "We need something uplifting and positive to uplift everybody out there, y'know?"
"Don't You Worry" features David Guetta and Shakira, but the group just dropped a remix with Puerto Rican rapper Farrouko; he's also been "remixed" into the song's sci-fi video. will says that adding Farruko to the party "brings fresh, new energy for this generation."
"Don't You Worry" will be on the Peas' new album, due out this fall. Their comeback hit, the J Balvin-featured 2019 track "Ritmo," has just crossed 1 billion YouTube views.