"Writing songs is dope but writing code is better": will.i.am is going back to school to study I.T.
The hip-hop star has got so into geeky tech stuff he’s decided to sign up for a course in “code writing”
This year he’s been a judge on The Voice, managed his top client Cheryl Cole and had a UK No.1 hit single.
But next year, Will.i.am is going back to school. To will.i.ngly study I.T.
The hip-hop star has got so into geeky tech stuff he’s decided to sign up for a course in “code writing” (no, me neither) which means we might not see him on the BBC show’s second outing next year.
Apparently, it’s a term for general “computer programming”, basically all that internet gobbledygook that clever people and spotty teenagers use to make things for us to work and play on – and which, of course, we never bother to understand.
Will, 37, confirms: “Next year I am going to school to take a computer science course.
“When I am 57 I still want to be relevant in popular culture and the way to be relevant within popular culture in the future is writing code.
“Code writers, they are my idols. Songwriters are cool – I can write songs, too – and bloggers are cool but code writers? Those are the coolest in the world.
“When I was 17 I had a dream and all the dreams I have had since 17 I have done them beyond what I thought I was ever going to do.
“So now I want to go back to school and learn how to write code so I can participate in this whole new era that we are in.
"Writing songs is dope but writing code is better.”
The singer-turned-code writer loves gadgets and a good tech conference, so it’s no surprise he wants to get himself clued up.
But returning to school to become a fully qualified geek will plunge his position on The Voice’s panel into uncertainty.
Fellow judges Sir Tom Jones and Jessie J have already pulled out of the second series after ratings dwindled and the lady who won became a has-been even before the final.
But the Beeb say they are still in negotiations with all four, including Will and Danny O‘Donoghue from The Script.
Will might have to ask for a note to excuse himself from class if he still wants to come and play, though.