Behind the Front is the debut album by American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 hip hop

Hip hop music

Hip hop music, also called hip-hop, rap music or hip-hop music, is a musical genre consisting of a stylized rhythmic music that commonly accompanies rapping, a rhythmic and rhyming speech that is chanted...

 group Black Eyed Peas

The Black Eyed Peas

The Black Eyed Peas are an American pop group , formed in Los Angeles, California, in 1995. The group includes rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, and Taboo, and singer Fergie. Since the release of their third album Elephunk in 2003, the group has sold an estimated 56 million records worldwide...

, released in 1998

1998 in music

This is a list of notable events in music that took place in the year 1998.-Events:*January 28 – "Weird Al" Yankovic gets LASIK surgery to cure his myopia...

.

Background

Most of the tracks were demos for the Grass Roots

Grass Roots (Atban Klann album)

Grass Roots is the debut album by the Atban Klann, a group that would one day become the Black Eyed Peas. It was planned to be released on October 6, 1992 for Ruthless Records, distributed by Relativity Records and featured production from the mentor of Will 1X who is DJ Motiv8...

 album, with added verses by new member Taboo

Taboo (rapper)

Jaime Luis Gómez , better known by his stage name Taboo, is an American singer, actor, and rapper best known as a member of the group The Black Eyed Peas.-Personal life:...

. The song "Joints & Jam

Joints & Jam

"Joints & Jam" is the debut single by American hip-hop group The Black Eyed Peas, taken from their debut studio album, Behind the Front. The song features the vocals of Kim Hill. The song is featured in the Bulworth soundtrack...

" appeared on the soundtrack

Bulworth (soundtrack)

Bulworth is the soundtrack to the film Bulworth. The soundtrack was certified Platinum by the RIAA with over 1,000,000 copies sold.-Track listing:#Dr. Dre & LL Cool J: "Zoom"#*Producer - Dr...

 of the movie Bulworth

Bulworth

Bulworth is a 1998 American film co-written, co-produced and directed by the film's star, Warren Beatty. It was loosely based on the life of Beatty's friend, Tennessee political figure John Jay Hooker. It co-stars Halle Berry, Oliver Platt, Don Cheadle, Paul Sorvino, Jack Warden, and Isaiah...

, where it was billed as "Joints & Jams". "Be Free" also features in the film She's All That

She's All That

She's All That is a 1999 American romantic comedy film directed by Robert Iscove, and is a modern adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's play Pygmalion...

. On the back cover, "Skit 3" is listed after "Duet", when it actually appears after "Communication".

Music Videos

In 1997, a music video for the song "Head Bobs" was filmed and finalised, however, the band decided against releasing the song as a single. A music video for "Fallin' Up" was also created around the same time. The music video for the album's first official single, "Joints & Jam", was next to be released. Whilst filming "Joints & Jam", a similar video was filmed for the song "What It Is". The last music video to be released from the album was "Karma", the album's second and final official single. All five music videos were included on the DVD Behind the Bridge to Elephunk.

Track listing

(*) (co-produced)

Samples used

• "Fallin' Up" contains a sample from "Comanche" by Jorge Ben.
• "Clap Your Hands" contains a sample from "Handclapping Song" by The Meters
  The Meters
  The Meters are an American funk band based in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Meters performed and recorded their own music from the late 1960s until 1977...
  
   and "Tenement Yard" by Jacob Miller
  Jacob Miller
  Jacob Miller was a Jamaican reggae artist who first recorded with Clement Dodd. While pursuing a prolific solo career, he became the lead singer for reggae group Inner Circle with whom he recorded until his death in a car accident at the age of 27.-Biography:Jacob Miller was born in Mandeville,...
  
  .
• "Joints & Jam" contains a sample from "Grease" by Frankie Valli
  Frankie Valli
  Frankie Valli is an American musician, most famous as frontman of The Four Seasons. He is well-known for his unusually powerful falsetto singing voice...
  
   and "Love Till the End of Time" by Paulinho da Costa
  Paulinho Da Costa
  Paulinho da Costa is a Brazilian percussionist born in Rio de Janeiro, considered one of the most recorded musicians of modern times. Playing over two hundred percussion instruments, he has participated in thousands of recording sessions, Grammy Award-winning albums, hit songs, soundtracks, radio...
  
  .
• "The Way U Make Me Feel" contains a sample from "Here We Go (Live at the Funhouse)" by Run-DMC and "Something in the Way (You Make Me Feel)" by Stephanie Mills
  Stephanie Mills
  Stephanie Dorthea Mills is an American R&B and soul singer, and a former Broadway star.-Career:Mills began her career appearing in her first play at the age of nine. Two years later, Mills won Amateur Night at the Apollo Theater a record six times...
  
  .
• "Karma" contains a sample from "El Raton" by Cheo Feliciano
  Cheo Feliciano
  José Feliciano, better known as Cheo Feliciano , is a composer and singer of salsa and bolero music.-Early years:...
  
   and The Joe Cuba
  Joe Cuba
  Joe "Sonny" Cuba was a Puerto Rican musician who was considered to be the "Father of Latin Boogaloo".-Early years:...
  
   Sextet and "One Way or Another
  One Way or Another
  "One Way or Another" is a song by American New Wave band Blondie.-Song information:Written by Debbie Harry and Nigel Harrison for the band's third studio album, Parallel Lines , the song was inspired by one of Harry's ex-boyfriends who stalked her after their break up. The song was released as a...
  
  " by Blondie
  Blondie (band)
  Blondie is an American rock band, founded by singer Deborah Harry and guitarist Chris Stein. The band was a pioneer in the early American New Wave and punk scenes of the mid-1970s...
  
  .
• "Be Free" contains a sample from "White Horse" by Laid Back
  Laid Back
  Laid Back is a Danish Post-punk group formed in Copenhagen by John Guldberg and Tim Stahl in 1979...
  
  .
• "Say Goodbye" contains a sample from "Heaven and Hell Is on Earth" by 20th Century Steel Band.
• "What It Is" contains a sample from "Funkin' for Jamaica (N.Y.)" by Tom Browne.
• "A8" contains a sample from "O Homem Da Gravata Florida" by Jorge Ben
  Jorge Ben Jor
  Jorge Ben Jor is a Brazilian popular musician. His characteristic style fuses samba, funk, and rock into samba-rock, with lyrics that blend humor and satire with often esoteric subject matter.-Early life and career:...
  
  .
• "Positivity" contains a sample from "Cinco Minutos" by Jorge Ben.