will.i.am Back to School: Black Eyed Peas Star Plans to Study Computer Programming

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Come August, the words "back to school" ring like death knells for kids around the world, but there's at least one person on the planet excited by the prospect of hitting the books. According to the Daily Mirror, Black Eyed Peas leader will.i.am is gearing up to study "code writing," a form of computer programming he hopes will keep him on the cutting edge of music technology.

"Next year I am going to school to take a computer science course," the rapper, musician, producer and songwriter told the British paper. "When I am 57 I still want to be relevant in popular culture and the way to be relevant within popular culture in the future is writing code."

"Code writers, they are my idols," he added. "Songwriters are cool -- I can write songs, too -- and bloggers are cool but code writers? Those are the coolest in the world."

Will.i.am.'s plans to continue his education have fueled speculation that he'll leave his judging post on the U.K. version of "The Voice." His costars Tom Jones and Jessie J have already jumped ship, but the BBC says it still hopes to sign the 37-year-old hitmaker for a second season.

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