Will.i.am: The hip-hop entrepreneur philanthropist

Will.i.am' is best known as frontman of the Black Eyed Peas, an American hip-hip group, and for his eccentric performance as a talent coach on BBC show The Voice.

However, it is his ability to segue between different worlds musical, corporate, political, philanthropic and make an impact in all of them, that has made him one of the world's most powerful musicians.

Born William Adams in a deprived area of Los Angeles and brought up with his three siblings by a single mother, the 38-year-old singer, producer, DJ, actor, entrepreneur and "tech evangelist" is highly rated in "geek circles" as a visionary, says Audrey Ward in The Sunday Times.

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This month he co-edited an issue of Wired; last November he launched a line of iPhone cases dubbed the Foto.sosho, which turns the 8-megapixel iPhone camera into a 14-megapixel camera, and in 2011 Intel hired him as its director of creative innovation'.

He also became a "potent force" in the 2008 US election after a $2,000 video he shot for YouTube called Yes We Can', with lyrics taken from Barack Obama's speeches, was watched over 21 million times, says Matthew Garrahan in the FT. Last year his help was enlisted for Obama's re-election campaign by David Axelrod, who described him as the "drum major" for youth.

Thought to be worth $75m, Will.i.am is a "consummate marketer" who can always spot a business opportunity. He created a group that "struck gold by creating its own new niche in hip-hop" that "shied away from gangster rap and built a following in California by relentlessly playing college campuses".

In 2002 when the Black Eyed Peas made a 30-second commercial for Dr Pepper, Will.i.am realised he could make more money doing a 30-second piece of music than two hours worth of music without, he claims, relinquishing creative control.

Since then, he has thrown himself into a host of commercial deals, often initiating the first move. Last year he approached Coca-Cola to form a joint venture, Ekocycle, which produces branded products from recycled materials including Beats headphones by Dr Dre (Will.i.am was an early investor) and New Era baseball caps.

In spite of his rambling and expletive-laden style of delivery, he has a "sense of business and culture that no focus group in the world could explain", says Andrew Couts in Digital Trends.

He also crackles with energy, says Craig McLean in The Times, operating "on the principle of perpetual motion", repeating himself, tapping his feet, and constantly "scrolling fingers and eyes" over his various gadgets. His fearsome work ethic, he says, comes from "being in the ghetto" and "never wanting to go back".

He wants to share his good fortune too. He has invested heavily in youth projects in Britain and America via his two foundations. Last year he donated his £500,000 fee for The Voice to the Prince's Trust.

Altruism is in the genes. His mother, uncle, aunt and grandmother all worked in the community and still do. "My family, that's what they do, they go out and help," he says.

'A popthropologist. That's me'

He describes this way of thinking as "creatively complaining", and it's what explains his ability to "see voids" in the tech industry, says Andrew Couts in Digital Trends.

Everywhere Will.i.am looks he spots problems that need to be fixed. His idea for Foto.sosho, for instance, came when he was working on a photo shoot and a photo taken by one of the models had circulated the planet before the shoot was finished.

He also talks a lot about dreaming, although unlike most dreamers, Will.i.am also works hard to make those dreams become a reality. At the Royal College of Art's annual Innovation Night last year, at which he was the keynote speaker, he described the world as being in a "Play-Doh state" for dreamers to define and shape what tomorrow will be.

He makes no apologies for his more outlandish ideas. "Not many people give you a vision of what the future will bring. It is usually a regurgitation of what everyone was dreaming of yesterday."

Describing his role for Intel, he tells Matthew Garrahan in the FT that he is thinking long-term. "I am dreaming for Intel, to rethink what a computer is going to beThat's going to take people who study behaviour popular culture anthropologists. A popthropologist'. That's me."