"It's the first time I've performed by myself," William "will.i.am" Adams told the 300 fans at this showcase for his new solo album, Songs About Girls. However, as the leader of global hip-hop superstars The Black Eyed Peas, Adams had no trouble commanding the stage, although he still surrounded himself with seven female musicians and dancers.

"She got a big old butt," were the depressing first words he rapped on opener The Donque Song, a tune as pneumatic as its subject matter and, potentially, a huge hit. Overall, though, the nattily dressed LA rapper avoided hip-hop misogyny, even sounding apologetic on the sleekly funky Heartbreaker, inspired by the end of a seven-year relationship.

The Black Eyed Peas are still firmly together, though - a global tour launches in Jerusalem this weekend - and this solo project is clearly an overspill of ideas from the man who also finds time to work with Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston.

The exuberant single I Got It From My Mama showed off his talent for what he helpfully described as "electro funk shit". But the tiresome, Al Gore-approved SOS (Mother Nature) proved that even a musician and producer as talented as Adams can get it wrong.