Will.i.am minds Peas and crews

The last three years were full of uncertainty for Black Eyed Peas leader will.i.am, with the group’s status in flux, changes in his personal life and the emotional effect of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, which came just two weeks before the release of his first solo album.

Life seems a lot more solid right now. Not only do Black Eyed Peas have a new album, “Elefunk,” due June 24, but will has also just been named vice president of artists and repertoire by A&M; Records, the Interscope Records label that is releasing the Peas’ album.

The executive post was the idea of Interscope Chairman Jimmy Iovine and A&M; President Ron Fair, a response to the initiative the musician displayed in a number of projects and relationships (including an MTV2 show last year and a Dr Pepper commercial), and his ability to attract top-line talent. The Peas’ new single, “Where Is the Love,” features the seemingly unlikely collaboration between the “conscious rap” group and pop star Justin Timberlake, and Sean “P. Diddy” Combs asked will recently to work with him on some new tracks

“Jimmy was excited people were gravitating to me, like Puffy, and hooking up with Justin on our own,” he says. “He liked my hustle.”

Although he’s had the job (and a will.i.am Music label imprint along with it) for only a few weeks, he’s already made two signings. The first is a solo deal with singer Fergie, who provides a powerfully soulful vocal presence on the new Peas album. The other is more surprising: Sergio Mendes, the bandleader best known for his string of bubbly ‘60s hits (on A&M;) with his group Brasil ’66. Will plans to start producing an album with Mendes in the fall following the Peas’ summer tour, which includes dates opening for Timberlake and Christina Aguilera.

“That came through Ron Fair,” he says. “We have this Brazilian song on the album, ‘Sexy.’ ... I took the song to Ron at the last minute and he said, ‘That’s great. I know Sergio. Have him play on the song.’ And when we were working together, I said, ‘Why don’t we take some of your old songs and get people like Erykah Badu and others to sing, redo the classics?’ So it’s Sergio Mendes and Brasil 2004.”

Will also is working on his second solo album, with guest appearances by KRS-One, MC Lyte and other rappers. He’ll release it through Barely Breaking Even, a London club-music enterprise, with a corporate assist from Zima, the Coors beverage brand. It’s a natural tie-in, he says, due to the party nature of the record.

“We have all the creative control,” he says. “I wanted to think of fresh ways to put out music. So I had a meeting with these people, said we could help the product and they could allow artists to be artists, endorse art.”

AOL gets into the record act

If the AOL Time Warner conglomerate does un-merge, as has been speculated, the America Online side of the split may still have a hand in the record business. AOL is for the first time a full partner in releasing an album, and plans to seek out independent labels and artists for similar deals.

AOL has joined as a partner with the Grandstand Entertainment label for “Ungrateful Heart,” a collection of Italian-originated standards sung by Dominic Chianese. He plays elderly Uncle Junior on “The Sopranos,” which airs on HBO, an AOL Time Warner cable channel. The album is due in stores Tuesday.

Bill Wilson, vice president and general manager of AOL Music, says this is a natural step from AOL campaigns that helped launch Michelle Branch and Avril Lavigne, and in turn spurred the Internet giant’s monthly First Break program for new artists.

“We have a formal equity and marketing relationship with this,” Wilson says. “This is an opportunity to show what we can do in partnering. The question is always how do you put it in front of people. The fact that we have 15 million people who are with AOL gives us an advantage.”

This is not exactly a blueprint pop-chart project, but the early results are noteworthy. Chianese has already taped a “Sessions @ AOL” interview and performance program, served as the host of an online radio station and been featured on several other sites within AOL. It’s exposure that Grandstand President Ken Levy credits for substantial pre-orders through Amazon.com.

“Here’s an album that’s 15 Italian songs and one original,” says Levy, who was head of creative services for Arista Records for 15 years.

“The amount of outpouring we’ve seen from AOL on the message boards, the number of hits there have been is astronomical to me for an album of Italian songs.”

Wilson hopes this will demonstrate AOL’s potential for working with other artists who don’t make a good fit in the current major-label world.

“We’re talking to artists who have come off of major record deals,” he says.

“It affords opportunities for artists setting up their own labels who have distribution outlets but no marketing and promotion. I think you’ll see us doing things along these lines in the next six to eight months with artists who have had great careers but may not be million-sellers now.”

Small faces

* Producer Phil Ramone (Billy Joel, Paul Simon, Tony Bennett) oversaw “Songs for Life,” an album benefiting efforts to combat the spread of AIDS and HIV in southern Africa. It features newly written songs performed by Patti LaBelle, Enrique Iglesias, Gerald Levert, Joan Osborne and Aretha Franklin with K-Ci & JoJo, and remixes of songs by Britney Spears and Mary J. Blige. The album, due from EMI/Capitol in July, also features older tracks donated by Paul Simon (“Under African Skies”), Yoko Ono (John Lennon’s “Power to the People,” Ono and Lennon’s “Hard Times Are Over”) and Destiny’s Child (“Happy Face”).

* Much-touted New York group the Rapture has signed to Strummer Recordings, the label headed by former Capitol Records President Gary Gersh. The band’s album, produced by the hot team DFA, is due in the fall as the label’s second release following Mars Volta’s debut, which is due June 24.

* The Roots, Bonnie Raitt and Trey Anastasio are confirmed to join reggae greats Toots & the Maytals for a duets album for V2 Records. Veteran Jamaican band the Skatalites will also be on the album, which is due in the fall.

* Sparta, Nerf Herder, Face to Face and Riddlin Kids are among the 18 bands contributing to a tribute album to influential punk-pop band Jawbreaker. “Bad Scene, Everyone’s Fault” is due in July from the indie Dying Wish Records.