will.i.am has folders full of unreleased Michael Jackson and Beyonce tracks
will.i.am has a treasure trove of unreleased tracks by pop superstars Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Beyonce, and Britney Spears.
The Black Eyed Peas rapper/producer reveals his laptop has folders full of unfinished demos and collaborations with singers past and present, the majority of which have never seen the light of day.
However, will.i.am is willing to give one lucky contestant on the
British version of The Voice, on which he is a coach, the rare
opportunity to sift through his work over the years and pick out
tunes they would want to record for their debut album, reports
DigitalSpy.com.
"I got a hard drive full of songs that just sit there and we could
go through them," he said. "There's Nicole Scherzinger folders,
there's Britney folders, there's Rihanna folders, Beyonce folders -
just songs.
"When I work with artists, we record songs and write songs, and to
get one song you have to record seven. So those other six are
actually really good. Maybe there's two of them that are good,
maybe there's one lingering one that just needs some touching up.
So you just go through the hard drive."
The hip-hop star goes on to boast about being the producer
superstars turn to when they are seeking to switch up their
sound.
"There's Michael Jackson folders, there's Whitney Houston folders,
there's a Mariah Carey folder," will.i.am continued. "Because...
I'm like, the person they call. 'We want something different, we're
looking for something different, we need an international song.' So
they always call... So yeah. They're just going to sit there on my
hard drive. Somebody has to go through them."
will.i.am has been a coach on The Voice U.K. since its launch in
2012, and he currently sits on season five's panel of mentors
alongside British singers Paloma Faith, Boy George and Ricky
Wilson.