Free from Peas, Fergie gets personal

updated 1:54 p.m. ET Sept. 29, 2006

NEW YORK - In the basement of a trendy downtown hotel, Fergie sits waiting at the head of a large wooden table, scribbling notes on a yellow legal pad.

The sexy, spicy element of the Black Eyed Peas apologizes for wanting to meet in this stuffy, angular room rather than the trendy Asian restaurant first suggested.

"I just couldn't deal with a New York night out," she says.

She also apologizes for wearing a black Adidas track suit and knit cap — she's simply not up for glamour today. Her nails are scuffed and bitten. She apologizes for that, too.

It's a different image of a performer more often seen strutting her stuff in something small, expensive and tight, her hips wiggling, boasting about her "lovely lady lumps."

"Maybe I'll get on the table and dance," she says with a smile.

The 31-year-old is preoccupied these days with her solo debut CD "The Dutchess," an eclectic collection of 13 songs she hopes will prove she's more than just a pretty Pea.

Containing everything from torch songs ("All That I Got," "Finally") to bouncy pop ("Fergalicious," "Clumsy"), reggae ("Voodoo Doll") and even techno ("Glamorous"), the album has germinated for years and represents her wide musical influences.

"That is my truth and makes me who I am," says Fergie, born Stacy Ann Ferguson. "If I'd only done one style, that wouldn't have been a truthful representation of me."

Lyric-wise, "The Dutchess" — a riff on how her name is so close to Britain's Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson — offers a more introspective Fergie, a woman willing to talk about her loves, her critics and her former meth addiction.

"There are a lot of times when I really dig deep on this album, whereas with the guys, I don't know if there's enough of a platform to go into all of my drama or love affairs," she says.

"I think it's important to represent who I am in all facets," she adds. "That's why I've talked about my struggle with drugs. I don't want to talk about it all the time because it's not a part of my life any more but I'm not running from it."

Based on the success of the saucy first single "London Bridge," Fergie shouldn't stress. A late entry for song of the summer, it sat atop the Billboard singles chart for three weeks — not to mention all it did for Anglo-American relations.

"It was a huge landmark day for me. I was crying — happy crying — and running around the house calling everybody," she says when the song hit No. 1. "For it to finally happen and for the song to be successful, it's really rewarding."

The rest of the CD — co-written by Fergie and produced by Ron Fair, DJ Mormile and will.i.am, the Peas' lead lyricist — features samples from Little Richard, The Commodores and The Temptations. Guests include John Legend, Ludacris and Rita Marley.

"Once people get this album and hear what she's capable of as a singer and writer, I think that's when the roof blows off it," says Fair, chairman of Geffen Records. "That's when she's not just a little trifling pop girl doing disposable hits."