(Cover) - EN Showbiz - will.i.am says he uses Michael Jacksons music as the ultimate benchmark for the songs he writes.

The Black Eyed Peas frontman has created some of this decades most popular party hits, rapping on and producing songs for his own band, as well as working on the albums of R&B artists such as Usher and John Legend.

will.i.am thinks the secret to his success is playing the music of deceased pop icon Michael Jackson - who many considered to be the greatest recording artist of all time - while he works, because this helps him decipher whether his own music really compares to that of Michaels.

"So if you want a song to be a big number one smash, then you have to play a Michael Jackson song while you're making your song," he told MTV News.

The star says he always warns artists hes working with that they can never truly understand how good a song is until they compare it to something else. The music mogul says it would be disastrous if he or a collaborator recorded a track only to find it couldnt compare to the heavy beats and funky rhythms of Michaels music.

We call it 'A-B-ing.' Anything you make, there's nothing new under the sun. So there's always an 'A and B' to whatever your approach is...What you don't want to do is have a 'hit record' and then turn it on and it isn't as loud as Michael Jackson's," explained will.i.am. (C) Cover Media