BlackBerry Eyed Peas, anyone? As part of The Black Eyed Peas’ The E.N.D. tour, singer will.i.am has been calling upon his audience to message him lyrical snippets, which he weaves together into a freestyle rap.

During the concerts, will.i.am distributes his BBM PIN to the crowd, so that fellow BlackBerry users can sound off to the musician. Near the show’s conclusion, the stream of incoming BBMs gets projected up on stage, where will.i.am somehow manages to keep the beat while working in the audience’s suggestions.

This setup sounds ideal for interacting with a crowd of this size. Were the crowd shouting out lyrics all at once instead of BBMing them in, the rapper would be hard-pressed to follow along and pull off a similar feat.

Ubiquitous communication tools have been making it easier and easier for fans to get the ear of a celebrity, if only for a few moments. Tweet at a movie star, and there’s a chance they’ll tweet you right back; that’s a level of access that would have been unthinkable a decade ago. Stunts like will.i.am’s highlight the value of this interactivity to performers. Are you going to have fonder memories of a show you passively enjoyed, or one that took you in on the action, if just for a moment?

You can check out will.i.am and his BBM feed below. Be advised that there’s some NSFW lyrical content.

Source: PocketBerry