My Humps

Harmonically, 'My Humps' is among the most minimal tracks in the Black Eyed Peas catalog. will.i.am built the entire production around a looped sample from Sexual Harassment's 'I Need a Freak', leaving almost no room for conventional chord movement. The song's identity lives entirely in its rhythmic grid, the sample, and Fergie's performance — not harmonic variation. That minimalism was both a critical target and a key reason the hook stuck so firmly on radio.

will.i.am originally wrote 'My Humps' for the Pussycat Dolls, intending it for their debut album PCD. He eventually redirected the song to his own group, giving the Pussycat Dolls 'Beep' instead — a track that became their third single. Once it landed with the Black Eyed Peas, the song was restructured as a call-and-response duet, with Fergie delivering the central lyrical conceit and will.i.am countering throughout.

Released in September 2005 as the third single from Monkey Business, 'My Humps' built its electro-hip-hop groove around a loop sampled from Sexual Harassment's 1983 track 'I Need a Freak'. Critics called the lyrics repetitive and sophomoric while radio and digital storefronts told a different story: the song cracked the top three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and moved over two million digital copies. It closed out its run with back-to-back hardware — Best Hip-Hop Video at the 2006 MTV VMAs and Best Pop Performance by a Duo or Group at the 2007 Grammys.