Black Eyed Peas - Bridging The Gap (25th Anniversary) [2LP]

Bridging the Gap is the Black Eyed Peas' album from before everything changed, and this 25th anniversary double vinyl is a chance to hear who they were when they were still a hip-hop group.

Released in 2000, it was the trio's second album, with will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo trading verses over live instruments, backed by a real band, years before stadium pop and a fourth permanent member rewrote the entire project. They emerged from the Los Angeles underground scene alongside Jurassic 5 and Dilated Peoples, and this album is where their conscious, jazz-influenced approach found its widest audience without much compromise. Listening today, the “gap” in the title takes on a different meaning: it turned out to be the last step before the turning point.

Weekends taps Esthero for a chorus that floats over a truly charming bassline, while Request + Line pairs them with Macy Gray at her raucous best, the closest track here to a true single. BEP Empire is the album's hardest-hitting track, full of the swagger and boom bap pretension they've earned, and Cali to New York enlists De La Soul for a coast-to-coast handshake that never sounds like a favor.

For anyone who only knows what came next, it's the other Black Eyed Peas, and they were very good.