The Black Eyed Peas cut the album version of “Let’s Get Retarded” over 2002, in sessions dated January 29 – September 17, 2002. The track runs 3:38 and came out on Elephunk, released June 24, 2003, with a copyright line of ℗ 2003 Interscope Geffen (A&M) Records.
Many people know the song by a different name. In 2004 the group re-recorded it as “Let’s Get It Started,” a clean version of the original, and that version became the album’s last single.
Where the Black Eyed Peas stood in 2003
Before Elephunk, the group had released two albums on Interscope Records, Behind the Front (1998) and Bridging the Gap (2000). Both were critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful. Work on Elephunk, their third studio album, began in August 2001. The recording sessions went on to be extended until May 2003, which caused its release to be postponed multiple times.
The album turned into the group’s commercial breakthrough. Its singles came out over the following year: “Where Is the Love?” on May 12, 2003, “Shut Up” on September 8, 2003, and “Hey Mama” on January 12, 2004. The Elephunk Tour took the record around the world in 2004.
From album track to single
The Guardian reported in September 2003 that the group had re-recorded the track under its new title. The pressure came from The Arc of the United States, an advocacy group for people with intellectual disabilities, which lobbied the band’s record company until the title was changed to “Let’s Get It Started.”
The renamed version came out as a single on June 1, 2004, from the reissue of Elephunk, and reached number 21 on the Billboard Hot 100. Its video is set on a Los Angeles street at night. Several CD singles carried both titles. The UK CD single, for example, paired the 3:37 “Let’s Get It Started” with the 3:38 “Let’s Get Retarded” and “Bridging the Gaps.”
The original title also appeared in the group’s live releases. A performance of “Let’s Get Retarded” at the Big Day Out festival is included on the video album Behind the Bridge to Elephunk.
The song since
The group returned to the track in 2009, when “Let’s Get It Started” was remixed as “Let’s Get Re-Started” for their fifth studio album, The E.N.D. In early 2022, “Let’s Get It Started” replaced “Let’s Get Retarded” in the Elephunk track listing on all digital and streaming platforms. The original album version can still be bought as part of the full Let’s Get It Started – EP in the iTunes Store.