You have to be a particular kind of Peas fan to completely get it: "Bebot" is in Tagalog.
Born and raised in the Philippines, Apl said he was encouraged to write the song after the incredible success Black Eyed Peas has enjoyed since their breakthrough album, "Elephunk."
"Since we've made it in the business now, I'm able to go back home," he said in a phone interview.
"I'm getting more practice in my Tagalog and Kapampangan," he added, referring to another Philippine language from his native province of Pampanga. "That inspired me to write more in Tagalog."
It is not the first time that Black Eyed Peas, who will perform this weekend with the Dave Matthews band at SBC Park, has experimented with Tagalog. "The Apl Song" in "Elephunk" featured a Tagalog chorus from a Filipino folk band.
But in "Monkey Business," Apl included not just a chorus but an entire song in his native tongue.
That underscores his attitude toward his ethnic identity. It's not just another footnote or curious factoid in Apl's career -- he embraces it, flaunts it and would willingly get onstage to sing loudly -- as he does in Bebot -- "Filipino! Filipino! Filipino!"
"I'm proud of who I am, where I came from, what I was born into, and I would represent that till I die," he said. "As much as I could put in this music business, I want to involve who I am and my culture."
As an immigrant who hasn't completely lost his Filipino accent, he said he never got seriously bogged down by the FOB -- "fresh off the boat" or "fresh off the Boeing" -- label.
"I know a lot of Filipinos are concerned of (being called) FOB," he said. "I see that as FOBulous, because you have a different sense in you. Being from the Philippines, you have a different way of looking at life."
For that attitude and his music, Apl has become a legend in the Filipino American community and in the Philippines, where he grew up in a poor, working class family in Sapang Bato, a small barrio in Pampanga, north of Manila.
It was a tough life, but one that he celebrates in "The Apl Song."
"Listen closely yo, I got a story to tell
A version of my ghetto where life felt for real
Some would call it hell but to me it was heaven ...
We makin' it happen, from nothin' to somethin'
That's how we be survivin' back in my homeland ..."
The song includes a Tagalog chorus from "Balita" ("News") by a well-known Filipino folk group called Asin (Salt) who, Apl said, was his favorite group in the Philippines.
Pendong Aban, one of Asin's members, said the group felt honored by Apl's acknowledgement of Asin's influence on his music. "We seldom hear how our songs impact our li'teners' lives," he said in an e-mail.
Apl has even helped Asin cross the Philippines' stiff class hierarchy. Aban said the group had been popular among the poor and working class segments of Philippine society. But "The Apl Song" helped expose the group to a new generation of young listeners, including those from rich families who embraced American hip-hop culture.
"Balita" is a political song that talked about the repression and violence many Filipinos endured during the regime of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The lyrics speak of a "land stained with blood" where "hearts are crying out."
Apl adapted the song to talk about his personal odyssey.
"Now that I'm able to incorporate all types of music into hip-hop, I had the idea that that would be a dope idea because it explains where I came from, " he said. "It's like I brought with me the 'news' on what happened to my own life."
Apl's biological father was a U.S. serviceman who left him and his mother, Christina Pineda, before he was born. Apl, a.k.a. Allan Pineda, grew up with four brothers and two sisters supported by his mother.
Growing up in a former U.S. colony, he was exposed early to American pop music. He said his mother liked listening to Stevie Wonder, the Beatles and Eagles, as well as to Asin.
"I would take the jeepney all the way to Angeles City, and that's how I got introduced to break dancing," he said. "I would see kids at the corner break-dancing and I'm like, 'I wanna do that.' "
At 14, he was adopted by a Southern California attorney. Apl still has vivid memories of his departure.
"I left in the afternoon, and it was the saddest sunset ever. I didn't know where I was going. I was 14, and I'm getting on this plane by myself, and I could see the sun set."
Growing up in the Los Angeles area, he struggled with life as a teenage immigrant.
"I would get chased from junior high school to my house every day," he recalled. "All these kids are like, 'Where you from?' And I was like, 'From Philippines.' "
He burst out laughing, then added: "After that, I was like, 'OK, that's not for me.' "
"You know, I could have easily joined the gangs that were surrounding me, " he said. "I was exposed to that. But I chose dancing instead. That led me in a good direction."
A friendship with William Adams, a.k.a. will.i.am, evolved into a showbiz partnership as the duo, who took on the name Atban Klann, hit L.A.'s hip- hop/break-dance circuit.
Taboo, a.k.a. Jaime Gomez, later joined the team which then took on the name Black Eyed Peas. After two albums, the group brought in R&B singer Fergie, a.k.a. Stacy Ferguson, for "Elephunk."
The album became a hit, and a selection, "Let's Get It Started," won the group their first Grammy.
For Apl, success has given him more time to reflect on his roots and focus on the family he left behind.
"Coming from the Philippines my whole goal was to support my family and have a better living situation," he said. "Trying to pursue my dream took up a lot of my time, and I got separated from my family a little bit ... I was separated from my brothers and sisters. Some good things happened to them and some bad things happened to some of them."
The most stunning blow from the separation was his younger brother's suicide. "The Apl Song" is also a tribute to Arnel Pineda. A line in the tune goes:
"Sometimes life's stresses get you down on your knees,
"Oh brother how I wish I could have helped you out...
"That's what made me write that song," Apl said of his loss. "He was growing up and I was growing up, and I had to do what I had to do to make it in this world. I just wish he could have waited a little longer."
Whenever he goes back home, the first thing he does upon reaching Barrio Sapang Bato is to visit the local cemetery to light candles and bring flowers for his brother and his late grandparents.
Then, he said, he asks his mom to cook shrimp stew and chicken adobo.
"I just go off on the food," he said. "She likes doing it. She wakes me up at 5 in the morning. It's like, 'Come on, we need to go to the palengke (market) and pick some stuff.' And I'm like, '5 in the morning?' But I guess that's when you get the fresh stuff."
He hopes to bring his mom and other family members to the United States. He has no plans yet for starting his own family, he said.
"Gotta save first," he said. "I still gotta bring my whole family here. That's my goal right now."
He doesn't rule out the possibility of returning to his homeland to live.
"I want to build resorts over there," he said, mentioning Boracay Island in central Philippines that reputedly has among the most beautiful beaches in the world.
Apl is also working on a solo collection of Tagalog rap geared to what has quickly turned into a solid fan base in his homeland.
"The reception is unbelievable," he said of how Filipinos have reacted to him and his music.
Eric Caruncho, a music critic based in Manila, said "The Apl Song" was a big hit in the Philippines and gave young Filipinos "someone to root for." Writer Jim Ayson said having a song with Tagalog lyrics in one of the biggest selling albums of the year was "mind boggling."
"It's good he never forgot his roots," he said.
In "Bebot" -- Filipino slang for "chick" -- Apl is clearly having more fun in looking back at his Filipino roots.
Hey friends, listen to me,
Here's a true Filipino
From Barrio Sapang Bato,
Moved to L.A.
To help out my mom,
For it was a hard life we led
But I'm proud of my color
To eat, I use my fingers
Rice and chicken adobo
Balut sold on the street corner
Pass the glass, buddy
Let's have a drink!
"I experienced that type of lifestyle, and when I go back home, that's how it is still," he said. "I like buying balut from the vendor at the corner of the street."
That's perhaps the clearest proof of Apl's connection to his homeland.
Balut is boiled duck egg with a semi-developed embryo. Although it is a popular Philippine delicacy, it is unappetizing to many, particularly non- Filipinos. Apl spoke proudly of his "expertise" on how to eat it.
"You shake it up then you suck the juice first," he said. "Then you break down the egg and then you eat the soft part and then there's the hard part at the end and you've got to dip that with some salt. ... I could do that with my eyes closed in the dark ... But you gotta have a beer with that."
