Black Eyed Peas

It took Black Eyed Peas three albums before anyone noticed them outside of the college crowd they'd cultivated since the mid-'90s (see such backpack-rap favorites as "Joints & Jam" and "Request + Line," a Top 40 hit overseas despite getting lost in the fold Stateside). Interestingly enough, that changeover came once a singer named Fergie joined the group. Her role in propelling the Peas to pop stardom can't be understated. In fact, Fergie's debut has done so well it's threatened to eclipse her other gig. (The blockbuster, year-defining success of "Big Girls Don't Cry" made Fergie the first female artist to score three #1 hits since Christina Aguilera in 2000.) Good thing songs like "Let's Get It Started," "My Humps," and many of our Next Steps are so strong they stand out on their own.

Yes, that's Justin Timberlake popping up on another Black Eyed Peas track, singing the honey-dipped hook of "My Style" as Fergie and will.i.am trade ravishing R&B melodies and mischievous rhymes. It's one of many fan and chart favorites that dot our Next Steps, including tracks from Fergie (the "Supersonic"-channeling "Fergalicious," the massive, M.I.A.-like "London Bridge"), will.i.am (the robotic ballad "Heartbreaker," the speaker-blasting techno tones of "The Donque Song"), and BEP itself (the manic dancehall undercurrent of "Dum Diddly" the arena-ready "Anxiety").

When Black Eyed Peas released their second album, the promising Bridging the Gap, the group figured they'd use their growing college radio popularity to plot a Top 40 takeover. Despite guest appearances by everyone from Macy Gray to trip-hop singer Esthero, it never happened; or, as frontman will.i.am once put it,"The gap never got bridged." Two albums (their Elephunk breakthrough and its even more successful follow-up, Monkey Business) and solo careers (Fergie, will.i.am) later, the Peas are one of the biggest acts in pop music, with stacks of chart-topping singles and millions of albums under their collective belt. Be careful, underground rap groups everywhere: write songs with winding surf guitar hooks ("Pump It") and ridiculously catchy electo samples ("My Humps"), and you just might be next.