Black Eyed Peas set record for number of weeks at No. 1

NEW YORK -- Will.i.am would love to say "I told you so" to all the people who have bashed the Black Eyed Peas in the past, but he won't -- even though the group just made history on the Billboard charts.

"There's a part of me that wants to be cocky, but then I can't be cocky," the 34-year-old Peas leader said Tuesday in a phone interview from Los Angeles. "There's a part of me that wants to call out all of my other peers and competitors. I don't want to say no names because I'm not like that, but part of me wants to do that."

This week the foursome, who have had their share of critics, will have topped Billboard's Hot 100 singles charts for 20 consecutive weeks, the most ever by an act. "Boom Boom Pow" and the song that dislodged it, "I Gotta Feeling," have been at the top of the charts for 12 and eight weeks, respectively.

Though the band has had big hits over the years, "Boom Boom Pow" was their first No. 1 single. Will.i.am says he's surprised how successful the song became.

"I knew that 'Boom Boom Pow' would be big in the clubs, but I didn't know it would be that potent with the world, outside of the club. So that my accountant's aunt would be like: Black Eyed Peas, I love 'Boom Boom Pow!'" he said, laughing.

"Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feeling" have sold 3.8 million and 2.1 million digital downloads, respectively, according to Nielsen SoundScan. The band's CD, "The E.N.D.," is nearly platinum, selling more than 900,000 units since its June release.

But the success is not pure luck, will.i.am explains. Though he said the band didn't listen to the radio when creating their latest disc, he said they did heavy research by partying at underground nightclubs and events.

They chose "Boom Boom Pow" as the first single after the response it got when they debuted it at a Grammy party this year. After its success, they used the same idea for their current hit.