Turn Up 360 Degrees: Rollin' With The Broshigeez
It was nearly impossible to miss. You saw it the second you entered Multi-Con 2026’s main hall and looked to the right: a life-sized cardboard cutout of three men, hands crossed before them in gangland, mafioso-style poses. All three wore black suits with handkerchiefs squared neatly into the breast pockets. One man is bald, one sports a baseball cap with a strange insignia, while a third dons a burglar’s skullcap. The six-foot-tall standee brought to mind Robert Rodriguez’s 2005 film, Sin City, with its chiaroscuro, noir style, and black-and-white aesthetic. What drew the eye further were the lenses each men wore—round, glowing, blown-out white, with the same eerie glare that marked Kevin, Elijah Wood’s mute, cannibalistic henchman, in Sin City. Featureless, watchful, and arranged side-by-side like sentinels, the trio sent me back to the pages of Frank Miller’s graphic novel, the one that inspired Rodriguez’ award-winning film. Bro, I had to investigate further.
Turns out the standee was a stand-in for a Los Angeles-based music collective called the BRO.S.H.I.G.E.E.Z. The name is an acronym for Brothers Shining High in God's Eternal Eye. The group consists of songwriter/producers Thomas Van Musser (TVM) and Rick Dixon (R1ckOne) and artist, actor, and producer Roycel Cooks (Rawcel). They’re part of the collective that produced the Black Eyed Peas, including Stacy Ann Ferguson—Fergie—whom Rawcel had known since high school and, later, introduced to the Black Eyed Peas. Beyond that, the BRO.S.H.I.G.E.E.Z have collaborated with John Legend, Macy Gray, Justin Timberlake, Sérgio Mendes, and Fergie, among other internationally-acclaimed artists from around the world. After meeting the three men, it was mandatory we chopped it up further and, together, we agreed to a date and time.
One of the first things I asked about was the standee that caught my eye.
“They're called "Broshadows," said Van Musser. “Anybody can be a brother or sister shining high. Anybody can be a Broshigeez or a Sistershigeez.”
The Broshadow has a Guy Fawkesian mystique to it, something comparable to the Jabbawockeez, the masked hip-hop dance crew, or the performance artists known as the Blue Man Group, who cover themselves from head-to-toe in cobalt blue paint.
“You really don't know who’s behind them,” said Van Musser. “It brings a little mystery and keeps you guessing like, ‘What is that? What's going on there?’ That's that comic book hook.”
After learning about Broshadows, I had to know the origins of the group’s name.
Adventures in Nomenclature
The Black Eyed Peas’ first album, Behind the Front, dropped in 1998. Around that time, the collective were having a cipher at their Atwater studio when the word Broshigeez was born.
“Before we started recording, we were all freestyling. When it [the mic] was passed to me, I just said it in a freestyle, paused for a minute, and was like, "Yo!"
The group’s name developed within the collective and was, ultimately, abbreviated into Brothers Shining High in God’s Eternal Eye.
“We were all still in high school at the time. Terry brought us over to Ruthless Records and Eazy-E loved us.” – Thomas Van Musser
“That's how it came about,” said Van Musser. “It went from a term of endearment into the acronym.”
I had to admit difficulty with getting the pronunciation of the group’s name right. No one was surprised. Some fans get it right the first time while others struggle as I did. The key is knowing the term’s meaning and origin. After that the word becomes catchy.
“People tend to like it, especially when they hear what the whole acronym means,” said Rawcel, who met Thomas Van Musser and other members of the collective while club hopping in Hollywood.
“He was always around and we just enjoyed each other's vibe,” said Van Musser. “Our clique started building from there.”
Van Musser’s appreciation for all things hip hop began while he was in elementary school where his interest eventually evolved into B-Boying and breakdancing. He met William James Adams, Jr., in eighth grade well before he became known as Will.i.am. Both Van Musser and Adams had breakdancing crews who’d each gained popularity in street-dancing crowds. In time, the two groups joined forces and began slaying other crews all over L.A. But life changed dramatically for Van Musser when he was in the tenth grade. His grandmother, the woman who raised him, passed away. This is when his friendship with Allan Pineda Lindo, who’d later be known as Apl.de.Ap, solidified into something concrete.
“Apl's dad said I could live with them for the remainder of high school as long as I didn't interfere with Apl's schoolwork,” said Van Musser. “We had already become super tight friends at that point.”
Van Musser, Adams, Lindo, and other members of their clique were out at one of the underage Hollywood clubs one night when they met Terry Heller nephew of Ruthless Records’ Jerry Heller. Terry wished to manage the group and brought them over to Ruthless.
“We were all still in high school at the time,” said Van Musser. “Terry brought us over to Ruthless Records and Eazy-E loved us.”
Gangster Rap Alternatives
Entrepreneurial minded Eazy-E envisioned Atban Klann, the rap group’s name, as an alternative to the firmly established gangster rap format currently in play at Ruthless. Eazy-E wanted to explore other genres outside of gangster rap and already had an alternative rap group called Blood of Abraham on his roster.
“That's where Rick comes in,” said Van Musser. “Rick was best friends with Maseo, one of the key members of Blood of Abraham. They grew up together in Vegas.”
What happened next was almost like the ‘96 amalgam series when Marvel’s Avengers fused with DC’s Justice League of America. The Atban Klann joined forces with Blood of Abraham and began to collaborate. That harmony, almost heroic in scope, was disrupted only after Eazy-E passed from complications of the AIDS virus.
“When Eazy passed away, Jerry didn't have a need for a conscious hip-hop group,” said Van Musser. “He wanted to roll more with the gangster rap and went with Bone Thugs-N-Harmony.”
After signing Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, Ruthless Records released Atban Klann from the label, recalled Van Musser. Immediately, the Atban Klann reformed as the Black Eyed Peas and signed with Interscope, he said. This move whipped the collective into a frenzy; it was all hands on deck with a singular focus on writing, producing, and developing what would become the Black Eyed Peas sound. This production era was all pre-Stacy Ferguson. No Fergie, not yet, at least.
“We were all working together and making sure those albums would come out as hot as they could be under the mentorship of DJ Motiv8,” said Van Musser.
DJ Motiv8, whose given name is Monroe Walker, was Atban Klann’s original producer until Will.i.am developed his own style and took over production.
Apl.de.Ap (Lindo) expressed a desire to do something different, something outside of Black Eyed Peas. By this time, he and Van Musser had been living together for 15 years and had confided in one another countless times.
“He was itching to keep being creative,” Van Musser said. “So he handpicked his favorite, cream-of-the-crop, elite MCs out of our camp to do Broshigeez.”
Unfortunately, because of obligations and commitments that Black Eyed Peas already had with Interscope Records, Apl.de.Ap couldn't be an MC in another group. This, however, didn’t stop him from producing the Broshigeez.
“Brotherhood is what really formed everything and gave birth to Broshigeez,” said Rawcel. “Us being around each other. We were friends who became brothers. At one point in time, we were inseparable.”
Rawcel and Van Musser described the massive group as a collective similar to the Wu-Tang Clan. Internally, they banded together as Blood of Abraham, Burning Star, and Broshigeez but continued to work together.
“In some unique way, we all came together through Will.i.am,” said Van Musser. “It’s the Black Eyed Peas family tree. R1ckOne was a part of Blood of Abraham.”
R1ckOne began his career in music as an in-demand, globetrotting DJ.
“At one point in my career, I was DJing six nights a week,” he said. “I was traveling here and there—Hawaii, New York, Vegas, and back to L.A.”
If R1ckOne was a self-taught DJ, his production chops came under the tutelage of Will.i.am and DJ Motiv8; his 10,000 hours of practice came from watching them.
“I had a Triton back then, and I used to do a lot of beats on the Triton. This is before I learned how the MPC works,” he said. “I just loved music. I thought, ‘I can do this.’ Now I make things sound amazing.”
R1ckOne’s development was broad and extensive. He’s shared rooms with the likes of Tony Maserati, Dylan Dresdow, and Dave Pensado. Each man blessed R1ckOne with indispensable tools to add to his own producer’s utility belt.
“Every time I was in those rooms, I was quiet,” he said. “I was a fly on the wall, just watching and looking at what plugins they used, where they had the frequency sitting, where the sub and vocals would sit.”
All that counsel, guidance, and support brokered 25 years of musical knowledge and, ultimately, the big, beautiful noise that is now the Broshigeez’s signature sound.
“It's for the world, not just for the street,” R1ckOne said. “It’s a worldwide sound.”
“It's for the world, not just for the street.” – R1ckOne
When you think of the Black Eyed Peas’ album Elephunk and global hits, such as "Where Is the Love?", "Hey Mama,” and "Let’s Get It Started," the Broshigeez may not come to mind, but their fingerprints are all over that album. Check the credits on Elephunk and you’ll likely only see Thomas Van Musser’s name. That, however, is not the full story. As part of the creative circle behind many of the Black Eyed Peas’ top hits, Rawcel, R1ckOne, and Thomas were there, in studio, creating, collaborating, recording, and exchanging ideas that shaped the album’s success. Not every contribution earns a credit, but the Broshigeez’s imprint on Elephunk is undeniable. And, though it isn’t public knowledge, a particular song underwent surgery under the collective’s care and took an unexpected turn.
"Let’s Get It Started" was once called "Let's Get Retarded" said Van Musser.
Listening to the song’s lyrics, it’s easy to hear echoes of the original, especially with a rhyme scheme that says, “get stupid” and begs to follow with get retarded—street, DJ, and party lingo for wild out versus anything around or about neurodivergence. “Let’s Get It Started” is the re-recorded, radio-friendly version of “Let’s Get Retarded.” There’d been a simple title and lyric change that turned out to be a monumentally important business decision for the group with regard to the song and album’s success. Another important decision around that song was to include Fergie in its composition.
The Invisible Woman?
Fergie showed up in living color with her vocals for “Let’s Get It Started,” especially her soulful intro and stacked vocals on the “running, running” lines with Apl.de.Ap.
“I think that was the first song she may have cut with the guys,” said Van Musser, who, along with R1ckOne and Rawcel, had just recorded a song called “Get Ridiculous” with Fergie. “That was when Will had an idea to do a song called "Let's Get Retarded."
Fergie joined the Black Eyed Peas in 2002. "Let's Get Retarded" appeared on their 2003 album Elephunk. The music world had opened the door to another group of superheroes and Fergie’s powerful voice would not allow her to disappear in the back.
“She's like the Invisible Woman of the Fantastic Four,” said Van Musser. “She did her thing.”
Fergie catapulted the Black Eyed Peas into stratospheric success with her colorful personality, her presence, and phenomenal singing.
“She's not just a singer,” corrected Rawcel, “she's a sang-er!”
Rawcel attended Glen A. Wilson High School in Hacienda Heights with Fergie. Back then, Fergie was with a pop music group called Wild Orchid, he said. Prior to Wild Orchid, she was a child star on a show called Kids Incorporated that was huge back in the '80s.
“She was a kid star going to a public school,” said Rawcel. “That's how I know her.”
Rawcel ran into Fergie at a local mall and invited her to collaborate on “Get Ridiculous” the Broshigeez song. Fergie had been released from Wild Orchid and was glad to be back in the studio recording.
“The Black Eyed Peas loved her when they heard what she was doing with us,” said Rawcel. “They were like, ‘Yo, you should bring her over to the studio and have her do some stuff with the Peas.’ The rest is history.”
According to Rawcel, Fergie was with Interscope, the same label with the Black Eyed Peas, and also under A&R executive, Ron Fair. Fair and others saw the magic instantly. They placed her with the Black Eyed Peas and they became a global sensation.
“None of us knew they’d become as big as they were,” said Rawcel. “We knew Black Eyed Peas were going to be successful, but we didn't know it was going to blow up like that.”
Van Musser, Dixon, and Cooks are careful not to take full credit or ownership of the Black Eyed Peas’ story. In fact, the way they see it, the Black Eyed Peas’ history is part of the Broshigeez story. Van Musser, Dixon, and Cooks came through the same extended creative family as the Black Eyed Peas, accumulated decades of their own credits and experience, and are now bringing those experiences together under the Broshigeez name and World Hop EP.
Broshigeez Break Out
The Broshigeez describe their creative bond as a promise to keep building, keep shining, and to carry their vision through every chapter of their musical lives. They call their brand, movement, and EP WorldHop. The sound is big; it's a world sound.
“Our crew is diverse,” said Rawcel. “They come from multiple areas of the world. We consciously think globally; we think futuristic. We creatively approach things in a way where we want to consider the whole world with what we’re doing.”
“We're a multi-ethnic group,” said Van Musser. “Rick is Filipino. I'm half Spanish, half Filipino, but in my family, I'm the first-born in the U.S. Rawcel is African-American. My first language was Spanish. We spoke Spanish in our household, so sometimes I'll write songs in Spanish, too. You have that whole-world vibe within the group.”
The project's framing—music without borders, culture without limits, one sound, one movement, one world—speaks to their multi-ethnicities and global sensibilities.
“We’ve been around the world and experienced all this culture, ethnicities, and sounds that inspire us,” said Rawcel. “We know what those sounds are, those traditional, ethnic sounds. It's not like we're trying to fake the funk here.”
The Broshigeez’s EP, WorldHop, releases August 20, 2026, on The Orchard. Fans can expect the same fire and intensity that made the Black Eyed Peas global names.
The group will offer their digital release through all DSPs as part of a global launch of the WorldHop EP. The hope is that their eclectic mix of Hip Hop, Electro, and R&B will awaken radio and song makers from a sonic and creative slumber, will put some respect on the works and on the names of those artists who came before and paved the way.
“Since you can make music in your bedroom, I feel a lot of artists that are big right now don't have appreciation for the forefathers that put rap and hip hop on the map,” said Van Musser. “Now it’s a global phenomenon—it's become more than the original rap, break, graffiti, and DJing. It's gone to fashion. Business. Corporate. It’s leaked into all facets of lifestyle and there's nobody to guide it.”
Van Musser points to a soullessness in today’s hip hop, a corporatization that leaves those searching for inspiration high and dry.
“Hip hop now is focused on low-vibrational street life,” said Rawcel. “Before, hip hop was about talent; it was about diversity and originality. Now they're just looking for people who got numbers doing dumb stuff on TikTok. It's turned into a pump and dump.”
WorldHop, the Broshigeez offering, is definitely high-vibrational suggests R1ckOne.
“We have music that can put you literally anywhere,” he said. “As far as the energy, the happiness, the fun—our songs are honest, danceable, perfect not only for L.A., but for New York, too. "Rhythm Madness" has that L.A. vibe, Miami, barbecues—anywhere in the U.S., anywhere in the world!”
The Broshigeez inject soul into their sound by channeling the past while looking to the future. The general impact is a tugging sensation that comes with an old-school vibe injected into a new era.
“The feedback we get is that it feels familiar,” said Van Musser. “It feels like something I've been able to listen to for a while, although it's nothing I've ever heard before. Combine that and you get futuristic vintage.”
R1ckOne is all about qualitative impressions and speaks openly about audience responses to WorldHop after carefully curated listening sessions.
“You're going to be singing the hooks and just jamming,” he said. “We've tested it and people love it. It just connects. Naturally.”
The future is bright for the Broshigeez. Not only do they have a sonically promising EP on the horizon, they have the world’s largest party to look forward to as well.
“The Olympics are coming in 2028,” said Rawcel. “We’re already in talks to be a part of that. We'll probably be performing at private parties with some of the members, industry insiders, with the athletes there. That's off the hook.”
Look for the EP, WorldHop, on your favorite DSPs. The group’s Facebook and Instagram handle is @Broshigeez.
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