Fergie - The Dutchess

[SHOOTER]

alex81979 said:

are these fan made?

Yes, because all her singles haven't been finalized and I'm almost certain "All That I Am" will be one of them.

[anafan]

The pics are from one of her international Universal music sites:

www.umusic.com.tw/Microsite/Fergie/main.html
www.wretch.cc/album/fergie0919

[anafan]

The pics are in the album booklet

www.miss-ferguson.com/photos/categories.php?cat_id=159

[muscleclub]

Love the photos & Fergie fans!

[anafan]

“The Dutchess” is Fergie’s solo debut. But since will.i.am, a fellow Black Eyed Pea, produced most of the tracks and appears on a few, it’s essentially a Black Eyed Peas album with two fewer rappers. That’s an improvement: two down, two to go.

Meet Fergie: former child star, former aspiring pop star, former crystal meth addict. (O.K., so that last one isn’t exactly a claim to fame, but it does spice up her biography.) When she joined the Black Eyed Peas, they were a lightweight rap group trying to find an audience. Now, thanks in no small part to her sung choruses, they are probably the most popular lightweight rap group of all time. The first single from “The Dutchess,” a blithe rap track called “London Bridge,” swiftly scaled Billboard’s Hot 100 chart.

The planned follow-up is “Fergalicious,” and like much of the album, it relies on an oddly effective bad-news-good-news strategy. When Fergie delivers a rap based on the 1988 J. J. Fad hit “Supersonic,” things seem pretty dire. (The worst thing about hearing the word “Fergalicious” for the first time? The dreadful certainty that you’ll hear it again.) But will.i.am sneaks in a flickering melody line, and by the time the chorus arrives, with its quick blast of multitracked vocals, the clouds have parted. She’s shameless, he’s meticulous: it’s not a bad combination.

You could say the album has something for everyone. Fans can savor “Glamorous” (an airy Ludacris collaboration) and “Clumsy,” which cleverly twists a Little Richard sample. Foes can savor the awful lyrics, especially in “Mary Jane Shoes,” a reggae tribute to marijuana, and “Big Girls Don’t Cry,” an otherwise pleasant ballad. Somehow she murmurs, “It’s time to be a big girl now/ Big girls don’t cry” without collapsing into giggles. Even if you’re feeling Fergiecidal, you have to admit that’s quite a feat. KELEFA SANNEH

www.nytimes.com/2006/09/18/arts/music/18choi.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[muscleclub]

Awwwww! :)

[deodorant]

Fergie used to do crystal meth? :o

[SHOOTER]

deodorant said:

Fergie used to do crystal meth? :o

Yeah. but that news is old.

[SAY IT RIGHT]

deodorant said:

Fergie used to do crystal meth? :o

Cant u tell just by how old she looks in the face?

[muscleclub]

Where exactly on her face you see "older than 31". smart ass?

[deodorant]

ohshooter said:

deodorant said:

Fergie used to do crystal meth? :o

Yeah. but that news is old.

I never knew that. How long ago was this? Why did she do it?

[PerPlexied]

This album is fantastic. Well done, fun music. Almost every song is catchy and well-produced.

I have also caught a handful of interviews with Fergie and I must say she comes across very self-aware with an excellent sense of humor and integrity. The blogs really tear her apart and it is unfair. I hope she sells boatloads.

[muscleclub]

We will talk on the "chart" ring!

[Another Lover]

Just bought the UK edition (2 bonus tracks), I love it! "All That I Got (The Make Up Song)" is a standout for me right now, I really like all elements of the track! I'm impressed at the variety of sounds and influences on this record - and the album still works as a whole without sounding cluttered. All in all, I am VERY impressed. Here's to many hits and big big sales for Miss Fergie!

[anafan]

Fergie's solid solo turn on "Dutchess"

By SANDY COHEN, AP Entertainment Writer
16 minutes ago

Fergie, "The Dutchess" (A&M Records)

Fergie, the source of eye candy and soaring vocals for the hip-hop group The Black Eyed Peas, shows stand-alone versatility and style on her genre-hopping solo debut, "The Dutchess."

She's a rapper on the party track "London Bridge" and the "Supersonic"-flavored "Fergalicious." She's a jazz-lounge crooner on "Velvet," an R&B songbird on "All That I Got" and as radio-ready as any American Idol on the guitar-driven ballad "Big Girls Don't Cry."

Fergie had ample help from Peas producer and frontman will.i.am, who helmed the record and made it the first release from his new label. Still, she had a hand in writing all but one of the album's 14 songs.

Ludacris lends writing and rhyming to "Glamorous," a song about the bling lifestyle. "I still go to Taco Bell," Fergie sings. "I'm still real."

"Mary Jane Shoes," featuring Rita Marley, is a reggae jam to the tune of Bob Marley's "No Woman, No Cry."

Fergie postures about her skills and sings along with The Temptations on "Here I Come," while "Fergalicious" is all about how hot she is. But she sounds sincere on the reflective, John Legend-produced "Finally."

Some of the lyrics are slightly inane ("Would you love me if I didn't work out?"). But with "The Dutchess," Fergie proves to be a multitalented singer worthy of solo status.

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060918/ap_en_mu/music_review_fergie_1&printer=1

[anafan]

EW:

The Dutchess
Fergie

Reviewed by Leah Greenblatt


SWEET PEA Shucking her bandmates for a solo CD, Fergie finds fertile new ground on The Dutchess



When is a single Pea greater than the sum of her pod? When she steps out with a shrewd, accomplished debut. On The Dutchess, Fergie — a.k.a. Stacy Ferguson, the pert legume whose feminine presence revitalized the Black Eyed Peas — retains the group's proven gift for indelible melodies, but reaches beyond their cartoonish poses and half-cocked raps for a fuller, more diverse sound. Here, she proves herself equally adept at well-deep reggae riddims, giddy dance-floor jams, and fervent ballads.

The album's opener, the self-love anthem ''Fergalicious,'' doesn't stray too far from her recent past, with its spare snare-clap beat set behind familiar ''My Hump''-sy boasts like ''They be linin' down the block just to watch what I got.'' But moments later, she is sweetly smitten on the bashful, bouncing ''Clumsy,'' and by album's end, she's expanding into Broadway-style torch songs on the unapologetically dramatic piano- and string-laden coda, ''Finally.''

Not that she's forsaken her fellow Peas entirely; the three male members appear (silently) in the video for her current chart-buster, ''London Bridge,'' whose horn-hooting, foot-stomping refrain, ''Wanna go down like London, London, LON-don,'' unsubtly, if memorably, combines winky sexual metaphors and club-banging beats. And BEP mastermind will.i.am, along with label prez Ron Fair, produces a number of Dutchess' tracks. They're smart enough to help Fergie navigate several musical genres, as well as personae: One moment she's a fierce, sexaholic superstar (''London Bridge'') and the next a ragga-punk Caribbean princess (''Mary Jane Shoes,'' featuring Rita Marley) or a scared, unguarded woman in love (''All That I Got'').

Though not every track is a gem, The Dutchess reaches further than most albums by contemporary divas, who often seem content to turn out one or two killer singles accompanied by an album's worth of padding. Fergie tries hard to be all things to all (pop-loving) people — and much of the time, she succeeds.

Even her newfound vulnerability feels right. Famously abbreviated stage outfits aside, Fergie's ardent joy on the John Legend-assisted ''Finally'' track is probably as publicly naked as she's ever allowed herself to be. Not that she's morphing into some kind of ''My Heart Will Go On'' ballad queen; Fergie is too adept on the dance floor to forsake it. And if occasionally the lady doth attest too much to her own physical charms, The Dutchess proves that she's earned her Black Eyed independence — and perhaps even her new royal title. Grade: B+

www.ew.com/ew/article/review/music/0,6115,1535137_4_0_,00.html

[SAY IT RIGHT]

GLAMOROUS is soo damn HOT!!!! Much better than Gwens Luxurious.

[currentoptions]

This is her without the airbrushing:

muscleclub said:

Where exactly on her face you see "older than 31". smart ass? 

[SAY IT RIGHT]

muscleclub said:

Where exactly on her face you see "older than 31". smart ass? 

LOL even with all the airbrushing her face looks haggard, old and manly! LMAO! She is only 31? Wow not a good look. She looks every bit of 38.

[Love Plastic Love]

She does look older than her age but 1. Who cares? 2. Its a good indication of what drugs do to a person. She is lucky she is alive.

[SAY IT RIGHT]

underneathobsidian said:

2. Its a good indication of what drugs do to a person. She is lucky she is alive.

Right which is why i said cant u tell she used drugs by how old she looks in the face.

[anafan]

The Dutchess #1 international album (#5 overall) in Japan selling 54k first week. :)

[Adonis the DemiGod!]

Fergie looks like Christy Alley.

Ohh yeah and congrats to her on her recent success.

[vinyl]

I can't find Close To You. :(
I'm trying to find her bonus tracks.

[robbie23]

"Voodoo Doll" is brilliant, i love it
i like "Here I Come", "The Make up song" & "Glamorous" too

[muscleclub]

adonis said:

Fergie looks like Christy Alley.

Ohh yeah and congrats to her on her recent success.

You mean Kirstie Alley? ... She does! 
And I would love to see Kirstie doing a parody of 'London Bridge!

[notsuchasissy]

ANY 1 HAVE ANY NEWS ON LIKE WUT STORE IS GONNA HAVE LIKE BONUS TRACKS OR SOMETHING LIKE BEST BUY OR TARGET NOT WALMART CAUSE IT WILL B EDITED THERE LOL I NEED THE PA! LOL....SO PLEASE SUM 1 TELL ME SOMETHING IF THEY KNOW......THX U!

[muscleclub]

The itunes bonus track "Close To You" is hot. Very sexy tune!

[anafan]

Fergie lets intimate side show on debut

By MARK KENNEDY, Associated Press Writer
1 hour, 10 minutes ago

In the basement of a trendy downtown hotel, Fergie sits waiting at the head of a large wooden table, scribbling notes on a yellow legal pad.

The sexy, spicy element of the Black Eyed Peas apologizes for wanting to meet in this stuffy, angular room rather than the trendy Asian restaurant first suggested.

"I just couldn't deal with a New York night out," she says.

She also apologizes for wearing a black Adidas track suit and knit cap — she's simply not up for glamour today. Her nails are scuffed and bitten. She apologizes for that, too.

It's a different image of a performer more often seen strutting her stuff in something small, expensive and tight, her hips wiggling, boasting about her "lovely lady lumps."

"Maybe I'll get on the table and dance," she says with a smile.

The 31-year-old is preoccupied these days with her solo debut CD "The Dutchess," an eclectic collection of 13 songs she hopes will prove she's more than just a pretty Pea.

Containing everything from torch songs ("All That I Got," "Finally") to bouncy pop ("Fergalicious," "Clumsy"), reggae ("Voodoo Doll") and even techno ("Glamorous"), the album has germinated for years and represents her wide musical influences.

"That is my truth and makes me who I am," says Fergie, born Stacy Ann Ferguson. "If I'd only done one style, that wouldn't have been a truthful representation of me."

Lyric-wise, "The Dutchess" — a riff on how her name is so close to Britain's Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson — offers a more introspective Fergie, a woman willing to talk about her loves, her critics and her former meth addiction.

"There are a lot of times when I really dig deep on this album, whereas with the guys, I don't know if there's enough of a platform to go into all of my drama or love affairs," she says.

"I think it's important to represent who I am in all facets," she adds. "That's why I've talked about my struggle with drugs. I don't want to talk about it all the time because it's not a part of my life any more but I'm not running from it."

Based on the success of the saucy first single "London Bridge," Fergie shouldn't stress. A late entry for song of the summer, it sat atop the Billboard singles chart for three weeks — not to mention all it did for Anglo-American relations.

"It was a huge landmark day for me. I was crying — happy crying — and running around the house calling everybody," she says when the song hit No. 1. "For it to finally happen and for the song to be successful, it's really rewarding."

The rest of the CD — co-written by Fergie and produced by Ron Fair, DJ Mormile and will.i.am, the Peas' lead lyricist — features samples from Little Richard, The Commodores and The Temptations. Guests include John Legend, Ludacris and Rita Marley.

"Once people get this album and hear what she's capable of as a singer and writer, I think that's when the roof blows off it," says Fair, chairman of Geffen Records. "That's when she's not just a little trifling pop girl doing disposable hits."

Fergie, raised in Whittier, Calif., may have seemed destined for that fate when she emerged at age 7 in the kiddie TV band Kids Incorporated, later graduating to the pop girl group Wild Orchid in the 1990s.

Wanting to make it on her own, she approached will.i.am with the hope of convincing him to help create a solo CD. She had seen the Peas live in 1998 — before they were multiplatinum sensations — and was an enormous fan.

She started off a kind of apprenticeship, adding her booming, soulful backing vocals to what would be the band's third album, "Elephunk," which had hits like "Where's the Love" and the Grammy Award-winning "Let's Get It Started." By the time will.i.am — together with bandmates Taboo and apl.de.ap — left for a tour of Australia in 2003, Fergie was their fourth member.

"I didn't plan to ever be in the band, but as things organically grew, and I started working with them for my solo album, there was some point where we made that decision," she says. "I just went with my gut."

Joining a tight hip-hop band that thrived onstage was more difficult than it seemed. Fergie held back at first until she could learn how to roll with the ad-libs and pick her spots.

There were also the catcalls and ire from long-term fans of the Peas who didn't like the band's blossoming mainstream popularity — blaming it, in part, on the newest blonde Pea.

"It does get painful sometimes," she says. "I actually really had to pep-talk myself so that I could overcome those fears. It's hard when someone's sitting there staring at you. Or even mad-dogging you.

"Now I just get in their face."

In 2005, the group's "Monkey Business" turned into another multiplatinum success thanks to "My Humps," "Pump It" and "Don't Phunk with My Heart," which won another Grammy.

Despite the Peas' triumphs since she came aboard, she's loathe to single out herself as the reason behind their success: "I think it has to do with us. I think we all are responsible for the success of these albums," she says. "It's a team effort."

But it's all about Fergie on "The Dutchess." On the new album, she mixes her vulnerable and fierce sides. "Would you love me/If I didn't work out/Or didn't change my natural hair?" she asks a lover in "All That I Got." On "London Bridge," she threatens to mace pushy photographers and boasts: "I'm such a lady, but I'm dancin' like a ho."

"It's poking fun at certain things. I'm really not going to spray the paparazzi with mace — I don't know if you know that about me," she says, smiling.

"I'm not a promiscuous girl — like I talk about in 'Clumsy,' I'm always the girl with the boyfriend in serious relationships — but I do like to play with my sexuality. I don't think that means I have to live in a morgue," she says (Fergie and "Las Vegas" hunk Josh Duhamel have been dating for some time).

Fergie thinks she'll be able to open up even more on the next Black Eyed Peas album — no, she insists, they're not breaking up — because her solo CD will let fans "get me and know who I am."

"Sometimes I feel like the underdog. But I like that because then more people will be surprised when they do see something that they like from me," she says. "I've learned that I can't please everybody."

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060919/ap_en_mu/music_fergie_2&printer=1

[reception]

Reviewed by Elysa Gardner
USA Today
Fergie, The Dutchess (* * 1/2 out of four)

This solo debut reveals both the charms and the limitations of the Black Eyed Peas’ sole female member. Bandmate will.i.am, who is launching his new label with this CD, pops up frequently as a producer and co-writer, lending his post-funk savvy to tracks such as the driving Voodoo Doll and the softer, sweeter Velvet. The naughty hit London Bridge and Glamorous, featuring Ludacris, also showcase Fergie’s playful appeal. But when she tries on more sober sentiments in Big Girls Don’t Cry and Finally, the singer’s efforts to prove herself more than a pretty voice and a sassy personality fall short.