What happened to the Black Eyed Peas' lyrical imagination?

[meserach.livejournal.com]

Elephunk era Black Eyed Peas:

Shut Up - "How could you trust your private eyes/girl, that's why you won't believe my lies/and quick deceptions"

Let's Get Retarded - "Bop your head like epilepsy"

Latin Girls - "Bring your friends/And bring your cousins cause I know you got dozens of them"

&c &c

The E.N.D-era Black Eyed Peas:

NOT A SINGLE MEMORABLE LINE

(okay, I kinda like "digital spit" and "beat so big I'm stepping on leprechauns", from Boom Boom Pow.)

(okay, okay, there's a few other good lines too but there's still a noticeable decline in quality is my point)

What happened?

Comments

[meserach.livejournal.com]

Okay, so more background about me and the Peas:

I only became aware of the Peas along with most of the hoi polloi when "Where Is the Love?" hit. Despite the preachy nature of that hit, however, I immediately was way more into all the party stuff that followed it, which mixed strong hooks and party beats to some cheeky, so-stupid-it's-clever-and-indeed-often-actually-clever rhymes.

In short, I like my Peas in party mode, and I've never really explored their earlier stuff (despite hearing great things about "Bridiging the Gap").

Within that context, I've been percieveing a decline in lyrical quality.