Stacy Ferguson’s debut album, “Fergie the Dutchess,” is blended with sounds of ska, hip-hop and pop, but has a sound strikingly similar to the tracks on the Black Eyed Pea’s “Monkey Business.” Fellow band member of the Black Eyed Peas, will.I.am, produced nine of the 13 tracks, and even joins in with Fergie singing the first track, “Fergalicious.”
“Fergalicious” is an upbeat dance number where Fergie-Ferg brags about her good looks and contradicts herself at the same time. “Fergalicious, so delicious, but I aint promiscuous…Baby then you’ll get a taste of my tasty, tasty. It will make you go crazy.”
The bragging and contradictions repeat throughout the entire album. Fergie overtly boasts about how her lips “make you wanna have a taste” in “London Bridge.”
In the song “Glamorous,” she sings about flying first class and popping champagne, and even though she lives an envious lifestyle, she still enjoys eating at Taco Bell, which is somehow supposed to prove to her fans that she is “still real.”
The best way to listen to “Fergie the Dutchess” is dancing drunk at a club or party where you could shake your ass all night without deeply listening to the lyrics. The catchy hooks and harmonious beats will have you forgetting that this album is completely self-absorbed, contradictory and unoriginal.
There is only one portion of Fergie’s album that is slightly unique, but I wouldn’t call innovative is the creation of the metaphor “London Bridge.” Listeners may wonder, “What does it exactly mean?” When I first heard the song I thought “London Bridge” may have been a sexual innuendo because Fergie was dancing like a total tramp in her music video. I found out a few months later it means nothing.
Fergie told Rolling Stone that the meaning of the song is “ambiguous.”
Basically, a “London Bridge” can be anything you want it to be. It can be losing your cool, your virginity, your money, the list goes on. It seems as though Fergie was trying to invent a new word that our culture would eventually adopt into its language, except the metaphor is silly. Can you ever imagine saying, “You make my London bridge fall down.”
Fergie’s linguistic creations may not become culturally significant, but she does have the credibility to become a solid solo pop-diva.
When Fergie joined the hip-hop group Black Eyed Peas in 2002, the group became an instant A-list phenomena with the release of “Elephunk.” Her sultry voice added a fresh melody to the tracks and acquired more fans.
If you’re looking for profound and eloquent lyrics, don’t waste your time with “Fergie the Dutchess,” but if you’re looking to dance and have a good time, then let Fergie’s contradictions be the anthem at your party.
