1 week Ago By People
The Black Eyed Peas star and tech investor recently spoke at AfroTech conference in Houston, and tells PEOPLE the reason behind his non-traditional lifestyle Benjamin Esak, courtesy of AfroTech For , there's no place like...
hotel. The Grammy-winning musician, behind high-octane hits like "Boom Boom Pow" and "I Gotta Feelin'," spoke at this week in Houston, discussing his other very high-paying gig, as a sought-after tech investor behind new companies like . He also shared with PEOPLE that despite the wealth he's amassed, he's still not ready to put down any real, real estate roots.
"As far as the idea of 'I made it,' I don't think I made it, because every milestone takes me to the next milestone," said the star, 49. "I'm it. I've never had a house.
I bought myself a studio. I have my office, but I stay in a hotel. I don't have a house because I ain't bought the house that says 'I made it.
'" Related: The idea of home is something that has long been a motivator for the musician, who shared with the crowd at AfroTech that he grew up living in a South Los Angeles housing project. "I remember my mom was like, 'Wait, put your clothes on. You go up here to get our food stamps.
Sit in this line to get this cheese. When you are in a project, that's your reality," he said. "You come outside, your best friend that you grew up with is no longer with you because he got shot and you want to dream different — that's where I get ambition from.
" Lisa Lake/Getty While he's continued making music (the Black Eyed Peas are about to take up ) in recent years the star has been busy investing in tech companies. He's now the founder and CEO or Fyi.AI, a new messenger and tool for streamlining apps, making it a one-stop shop on your device.
"You don't need a thousand apps, especially when apps don't talk to each other," Will.i.am explained.
"With FYI it's all in one place, your news, your calendar, your collaborative work. It may sound like a foreign concept, but eventually it's going to be the system." Though he's done quite well for himself through both music and investments, he still makes sure to go back to where it all started.
Chelsea Guglielmino/Getty "I go back to the projects every weekend when I'm home," he said. "And I've done that since when I was living there." And these days he's bringing valuable resources back with him.
The star was initially inspired to give back to his community in a significant way after going to volunteer abroad for tsunami relief in 2005. Afterwards, "I was like, 'Wow, there's a tsunami that happens in every hood, every single day and it's not a tsunami of water but one of no opportunity, of neglect, of bad food, bad zoning. I thought, 'Why am I not giving back to my own neighborhood?'" Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal That experience, and the popular education documentary , inspired the star to pull upon his resources and connections to bring robotics classes and college access programs into struggling schools in his neighborhood.
He thought, "If I marry these two things, these kids are going to graduate college with a job waiting for them, not graduate college with debt and a diploma," he said. Now, the programs are in over 500 schools. "Here we are and we have kids that now graduated from Stanford and Brown and Dartmouth.
" It's a badge of honor for the musician and entrepreneur, who is still on the prowl for his futuristic dream home. "When I get house," he said, "then I've made it.".
