Will.i.am turned a pitch to a beer company into a strategic business move that became beneficial in the long haul.

The artist and tech entrepreneur has been ahead of his time since his early foray into the music business, dating back to when he was in eighth grade. According to Entrepreneur, he formed the rap group Atban Klann in 1987, which signed to Eazy-E’s independent label Ruthless Records. It would later morph into the Black Eyed Peas, releasing their first albumin 1998 under Jimmy Iovine’s Interscope Records. The group later rebranded with new members.

As AFROTECH™ previously told you, will.i.am’s ties to Iovine include Beats Electronics. The company was established by Dr. Dre and Iovine and later acquired, along with Beats Music, by Apple for $3.2 billion, per CNBC. Billboard notes that even if will.i.am’s stake was 1%, he would have pocketed an estimated $30 million.

He also understands the power of the Hip-Hop business. This is why Beats headphones were featured in the Black Eyed Peas’ “Boom Boom Pow” video. The group’s single “Hey Mama” also scored placement in the first iPod commercial, notes CNBC.

That business-savvy approach also played a role in his sophomore album, “Must B 21.” According to Finurah, he was looking to create a soundtrack about beer, so he flew to Colorado in 2001 to pitch the idea to the Coors family, which is behind Coors Brewing Co.

“I meet with the Coors family, I’m like, ‘yo I want to do a soundtrack to your beer right Rockies,’ and so then they’re like ‘we’re not in the music business.’ I’m like yes you are; every single bar that I go to is playing music, and if I go to a bar that’s not playing music people ain’t buying your drink, so you are in a music business because you help the music business have business regardless if they’re buying it at a bar,” will.i.am said.

He won them over, and the 2003 album can still be found on Apple Music. He added that the Coors Brewing Co. entirely funded the album. Therefore, having the funding coming from an independent source rather than a music label meant he was able to retain the album’s copyright, including the masters recordings.

“So this ‘Must B 21’ record was a soundtrack to a beer, but because the beer company funded it, they’re not in the music business. So I ended up owning the masters to something they paid for… Crazy,” he explained, according to Mr Tac.