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NEWS > SCIENCE > NEW RESEARCH STILL FINDS NO REASON FOR POPULARITY OF THE BLACK EYED PEAS
NEW RESEARCH STILL FINDS NO REASON FOR POPULARITY OF THE BLACK EYED PEAS
November 13 2009
Washington, D.C. – There are many mysteries that have puzzled humanity through the ages. Tales of lost places such as Atlantis and Eldorado, tales of mysterious places such as the Bermuda Triangle, and tales of missing people such as Amelia
Earhart and Jimmy Hoffa have all been confounding, frustrating, and fascinating tales of the unknown. Whether such stories, and our fascination with them, are the product of some desire to touch the unachievable, or simply folklore passed through generations to tell as bedtime stories, the persistence of these tales help to create the fabric of our culture.
One of the greatest mysteries that science has yet to fully understand is the human mind. That complex of tissue and electrical impulses that somehow combines to form personality, emotion, ideas, opinions, and personal taste. While it may be many years before the human brain is fully understood, scientists have made great strides in recent years, studying behaviours and relating that to neural activity. Enter into that the Black Eyed Peas, the multi-million album selling hip hop band that has developed an unstoppable following in recent years. 
Researchers have long used external stimuli to provoke emotional and mental responses and a recent study used music by ‘The Peas’ for exactly that purpose. The results of the study though were inclusive, with no subjects having any kind of mental or emotional response to the music. While the study may seem a failure at first, researchers have turned their failure into a new form of study and are now trying to determine why the band has been so successful when it’s clear no one finds them appealing.
“This is a phenomenon that has occurred many times. Recently it’s been referred to as ‘Nickelback Syndrome’, where people buy albums in ridiculous numbers for no apparent reason. We know it’s not the music but rather some kind of frenzy that allows these purchases, but no one has yet been able to understand how they begin in the first place,” said Dr. Leslie Campton of the Department of Health and Human Services. “Throughout history there have been isolated incidents of mass mania but never have events like this even been studied in that vein. For the most part people just assumed that the purchasers were fans, but that is clearly not the case.”
The Black Eyed Peas have sold over 29 million albums worldwide, the majority of which has occurred since the introduction of Fergie as the lead singer in 2003. Previous to that the band had little success though were well regarded as an independent hip hop band.
“Bands like the Peas and Nickleback are some of the best representatives of that phenomenon. Other bands like say Linkin Park are successful because they largely appeal to morons and so can’t be included in this study. The rarity of finding an actual fan of one of these mania bands is very unlikely,” continued Campton. “People do suffer mass delusions. Things like seeing a statue of the Virgin Mary bleeding, sightings of the Loch Ness monster, or UFO sightings abound but often those have roots in wish fulfilment which cannot be said of these music-related phenomenons. It is a very unique expression and could lead the way to a new understanding of certain aspects of the human mind.”
Reached for comment, members of the Black Eyed Peas thanked their fans and frequently mentioned their newest single ‘Meet me Halfway’.
“The real question is whether or not understanding this particular type of behaviour will enable us to prevent it from happening in the future. We can look through history and see people like Engelbert Humperdink and Tony Orlando and Dawn and we realize that it has been happening for years. The question then is why and what can we do to stop it?” continued Campton. “Perhaps it isn’t something that can be stopped and are children and their children are just doomed to endure it as well. If that’s the case then it should provide a great deal of insight into the human psyche, and remain one of the more compelling mysteries of this thing we call life.”
Group front man will.i.am apparently does love his music, though he is well served by that position.
Anna Phillips, Science Correspondent
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