Pharrell Williams
You had “Blurred Lines” and “Get Lucky” this summer. You were literally competing against yourself. What was that like?
– Joe La Puma
Pharrell belongs to the most high group of 2014: a Twitter Untouchable.
Lebron and his two rings, Jordan and his six rings, Peyton Manning and his record breaking offense aren’t immune to Twitter. Even Shakespeare would have got it on Twitter (“you didn’t write your own plays” and “Ben Johnson >>> Shakespeare”).
The Twitter Untouchables get the most rare commodity on social media: respect (Derek Jeter and Christopher Nolan, also Twitter Untouchables, for different reasons). And Twitter Untouchables also retain another rare quality of social media: mystery.
The opening paragraph of Joe La Puma’s recent Complex interview gets down to the our fascination, awe, and respect for Pharrell – for all of his songwriting, clothing designs, and fame, we hardly know anything about him. Even this interview, about his life views and creative process, only digs us deeper in the Pharrell rabbit hole. How do we supposed to reconcile quotes like:
The universe is going to continue to evolve, and the ultimate feat in that experience is the perspective of awareness.
Or:
God could be upstairs high-fiving E.T. and Tupac and they’re all laughing at it with a drink in their hands.
Joe La Puma, after Pharrell explains the malleable third dimension that unlocks life, interjects “that explanation is not how most people think”. So while Pharrell let’s us in his mind, he pushes us further away at the same time.
Regardless of what you believe of utilizing the universe’s energy to unlock different dimensions of the mind, his creative process is grounded in success. The Neptunes had their first #1 single in 2001, producing Britney Spears’ “I’m a Slave 4 U”. Since then, his (and The Neptunes/N.E.R.D) discography reads like a who’s who of 2000s pop culture. But he’s only released one solo album – 2006’s In My Mind, which received mixed reviews. And while we’re still not sure if anything before 2009 actually existed, in this post-Twitter world, marketing is the new album release.
Pharrell started the year by picking up four Grammys for his work with Daft Punk (plus his hat he wore to the event has 20 thousand Twitter followers). And with the release of his new album G I R L, plus the Happy Movement, 2014 could be Pharrell’s biggest year in terms of cultural impact. And that’s saying something.
Girls, Girls, Girls
On a fundamental level, it’s [women’s] opinion that society is concerned with. Man’s getting dressed for what? Other dudes?
– Pharrell
Pharrell ran into controversy at one of his musical high points last year, due to the suggestive lyrics to “Blurred Lines”. Critics cited everything from gender roles to rape culture, which made the single the “most controversial song of the decade”. It was the most vulnerable moment in Pharrell’s public persona. The Neptunes production has always been sensual and pushed bounds of sexuality (which partly explains its pop culture success). But 2014 isn’t 2004 – hitting the wrong nerve takes on a life of its own.
G I R L is Pharrell’s response to “Blurred Lines”. He explained to journalists at a listening party that “there’s an imbalance in society…and it’s going to change. A world where 75 percent of it is run by women – that’s a different world. That’s gonna happen, and I want to be on the right side of it when it does”. Within that context, song titles such as Marilyn Monroe, and Hunter, which is written from
the perspective of a girl, along with cameos from Alicia Keys and Miley Cyrus, becomes his attempt at humanizing or empowering (or both) women. All on one of the most anticipated albums of the year.
For all the talk of creative process and genius, the success of this album might come down to something as simple and practical as how he treats the other sex. And while it no doubt features an inspired use of energy from other dimensions, with G I R L, Pharrell wants show he’s human, too.