The East LA inspiration behind a new track from Taboo and will.i.am of Black Eyed Peas

Two members of the Grammy-winning, chart-topping hip-hop group the Black Eyed Peas, released a new track, titled East LA, on July 18 dedicated to their hometown. Between a catchy chorus that loops a sample of Santana’s 1999 hit Maria Maria, will.i.am and Taboo rhyme about being raised among “Aztec warriors” and getting stupid on “Whittier and Euclid.”

The track is a love letter to East L.A. and to the immigrant communities that shape the area. It’s also a response to what will.i.am and Taboo call "cruel and indiscriminate ICE raids terrorizing Los Angeles."

But the song didn’t start out that way. I sat down with Taboo to get the track’s origin story.

Rival high schools and break dancing

Jimmy Gomez, aka Taboo, one of the core members of the Black Eyed Peas, was born in Boyle Heights in 1975. Years later, when he was a B-boy in L.A.'s late-'90s freestyle break dancing scene, he met William Adams, aka will.i.am. They bonded over growing up in the same area and even realized that their moms went to rival high schools.

“My mom went to Garfield, and his mom went to Roosevelt,” Taboo says. “But it was all love for East L.A.”

Taboo has vivid memories of growing up in the area: “Carne asada, paletas, raspados and elote from the elote man.”

He remembers getting pan dulce and watching mariachis with his grandmother. One of the places he would see them perform, Mariachi Plaza in Boyle Heights, features prominently in the East LA music video.

How the track and music video came together

According to Taboo, earlier this year, will.i.am reached out and said he wanted to put together a song where they “ talk about all the beauty that is East L.A. and our upbringing in our childhood ... and just the things that we were surrounded by.”

Taboo went into the studio, and will.i.am already had the looped Maria Maria sample and a sketch of how the flow would work. They started spitballing words they used as kids and also slang from the neighborhood.

“ We started laughing, like, what's some words that you remember? What about pan dulce? That's cool, right?” Taboo says. “ Oh wait, I'm on this Foos Gone Wild.” (Foos Gone Wild is an extremely popular Instagram memes page with a Chicano sense of humor). “We laugh all the time with Foos Gone Wild because it's very stereotypical, but it's funny and that's what we grew up with. So Foos Gone Wild set the tone for us. That's not typical to what people have heard from the Peas. It's L.A.-centric. It's a very Chicano, Spanglish vibe, but it's fun.”

For the music video, Taboo says they shot it "guerrilla style,” picking locations that were significant to them growing up and going with the flow: “Let's go to this landmark here. Hey, Will, let's go to where your mom used to live in this part of the project.”

Part of the video is shot in front of Frank Fierro’s 1970s Orale Raza mural, which is painted on the Estrada Courts building where will.i.am and his family lived as a child.

A pivot: Speaking out against the ICE sweeps

On June 6, two days after will.i.am and Taboo had wrapped shooting the music video, ICE sweeps began to roil Los Angeles. The two rappers immediately knew they had to incorporate what was happening into the visuals of the video and the meaning of the track.

“This is bigger than just a love letter," Taboo says they realized. "Now we have to go in and really advocate for raza, for our people. ... The ICE raids that are hostile takeovers with people in masks and unmarked cars that are taking families and people that are working and mothers that are with their kids — that's horrible. That's not right.”

Taboo and will.i.am went to a protest against ICE in front of Los Angeles City Hall to participate and film part of the video. “So that's why you see the American flag and the Mexican flag combined [in the music video]. That was at the protest downtown,” Taboo says.

As for what Taboo hopes listeners take away from the song?

“For those folks that may be like, ‘Well, we want our borders to be strict.’ I agree,” Taboo says. “We should have restrictions on our borders. But we should not execute hostile takeovers. I hope that we can stand together. Have empathy, have love, support. Learn ways that we can educate ourselves and do our part.”