Black Eyed Peas' Will.i.am

From having a Filipino best friend to immersing himself in the Filipino community in Los Angeles (LA), Black Eyed Peas member and tech innovator will.i.am couldn't contain his excitement about sharing his Filipino connection during his recent visit to the country.

- By CHARMIE JOY PAGULONG

"It always feels like I'm coming back to my second home because this is apl.de.ap's first home. And it was always a dream for us to come back to the Philippines and perform," he declared during an LG Electronics event, where he was introduced as a brand ambassador.

"Because it's so important to apl. In our lot of success, apl. still lives in Pampanga, in the same village that he's from. My mom is with us on this trip and it's her first time in the Philippines. And so right now, they're in Pampanga."

will.i.am reminisced about his modest beginnings with Filipino-American singer and Black Eyed Peas founder apl. de.ap and how the American rap and hip-hop group started with the support of the Filipino community.

He met apl.de.ap through his mother who took care of the latter when his adoptive father was looking for a school in LA. apl.de.ap, whose real name is Allan Pineda Lindo, moved to the US from the Philippines at the age of 14.

"She's like, 'Hey, you're not going to school this week because you have to hang out with this guy named apl. And I was pissed, you know? I was 14. I had my first girlfriend in school. But anyways, I missed school for a week, so I could hang out with apl. And when I went back to school, she broke up with me. It's apl.'s fault," he quipped.

Kidding aside, will.i.am has nothing but good words for his longtime friend. "He never left his roots. His whole family is there. It's beautiful. It's like, 'It's my dude, it's my dude.'"

The Filipino community in LA was the Black Eyed Peas' first audience, will.i.am said, adding that his first real girlfriend was a Filipina. "The Filipino family helped us achieve our dreams."

As a teenager, will.i.am was immersed in the Filipino community, especially along Glendale Boulevard, where their old studio was located. He and his friends often attended Filipino house parties.