Rapper and producer will.i.am is to reunite with his Black Eyed Peas band members on a new singing game show to rival the likes of The X Factor and The Voice.
The global mega-star is reportedly working with award winning television producers Natalka Znak and Simon Jones under the brand Znak & Jones. The production company has offices in both LA and London, with the business specialising in entertainment shows, formats, unscripted reality and event TV. They are currently in production with major television broadcasters such as Sky, ITV, MTV and Channel 4.
The planned show, entitled Superdope, will be a series that will feature aspiring artists receiving notes from celebrity advisors, including will.i.am himself. According to reports from numerous websites, will.i.am will serve as host of the show. He is also currently hoping to recruit fellow Black Eyed Peas stars to perform and help mentor contestants on the series, which will be filmed in Los Angeles, and is currently being shopped to broadcasters in the U.S. and U.K.
Sources have revealed that Apple TV officials have expressed an interest in picking up the show, after recently purchasing Planet of the Apps, which was created by will.i.am and is an app-related competition programme.
It is currently unknown whether Black Eyed Peas stars Taboo, apl.de.ap and singer Fergie will participate in the series, but if they do, it will become the first project that all four members have worked on since embarking on a hiatus in 2011. The three male artists in the group – will.i.iam, Taboo and apl.de.ap – previously reunited last year on the track ‘Yesterday’, which marked the 20th anniversary of the Black Eyed Peas. They also performed the track at a will.i.am concert in London, which is where the producer spends the majority of his time after becoming a judge on The Voice UK.
This news emerges a few weeks after Fergie, whom has been focusing on raising her son Axl and recording her newest solo album since 2011, admitted she was missing her fellow Black Eyed Peas stars.
“I miss those guys,” she told London’s Evening Standard in early July. “I’ve been working so hard on this (my solo career) right now. They’re my brothers for life. We don’t have anything in the works right now, but I love them to death.”
In the meantime, will.i.am is supposedly finalizing his next studio album, which does not currently have a title or release date. You can check out the video for will’s most recent single, ‘Boys & Girls’ featuring Pia Mia below.