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Interview
Photos by Micaiah Carter. Pharrell Williams: I like to keep things separate. it’s annoying to come off like an arrogant Swiss Army knife I like to keep things separate so that there’s still that element of surprise. I think that’s important when it comes to any kind of art: the element of Wait, what? Rather than I did this, and that, and this, and that… Read the whole interview HERE!
Forum Member Steven Penny has been Interviewed by 5 PM where they chatted for a few hours about the Streetwear Scene in the early 2000s and his BBC Icecream collection, check it out HERE!
Photos by Gareth Cattermole, Pharrell Williams has likened working on ‘The Lion King‘ to an “apprenticeship” or “college” because he was surrounded by so many legends. The ‘Happy‘ hitmaker collaborated on the soundtrack to the new live action remake of the Disney animated hit and he admits it was a “gift” to be around such “legendary” musicians and work on their versions of the iconic songs.
Pharrell Williams offers inside look at Something In The Water music festival.
Pharrell Williams talks to GQ backstage about his new festival, church, and Virginia. Photos by Andrew White, check out the Interview HERE!
Bisnoff: How did it feel for Daytona to receive a Grammy nomination for rap album of the year?
Pusha T: It was really super overwhelming, to be honest with you. I’ve been watching the Grammys for so long and I remember being really young and my favorites never were picked. Initially, they weren’t even nominated and then it got to a point where some of my favorites began to get nominated as I got older and then they were boycotting it. Finally, it got to a time where some really great rap artists, Jay-Z, Kanye West, were recognized and now, just recently, I was made aware that there was a new system being implemented in how they even did the rap category. I thought that was really dope and a good effort in trying to make sure the category was strong and representative of the hip-hop community. I get nominated this year and think the category is phenomenal. These are all albums that I have cosigned in some way, shape or form, whether it be on social media or speaking out about them and I’m just glad to be one of them.
Bisnoff: In the long trajectory of your career, how does it feel to finally get this type of recognition?
Pusha T: I love it, it’s super special. I personally can’t think of a rap artist with my content, this direct street-oriented content, something that is just catered to a rap purest, I don’t know when that’s happened for an artist of my caliber. There are so many subgenres of rap today, somebody who does this, I haven’t seen that, I don’t know when I’ve seen this. Not to liken my album to let’s say a Reasonable Doubt, but just in comparison, I feel like artists like myself or Jay-Z or whoever, we never get recognized at our purest form. We mature and then we hit a level of commercial success and then we get recognized when the critical acclaim is always for our first album. Daytona is still in that running for rap purest street music that people are going to be like ‘wow, I didn’t know albums that took this approach would ever get nominated.'” Read more at forbes.com.
Pharrell sat down with Esquire to discuss several topics including Empowerment, Collaborationd, Forgiveness and more, check it out below.
He draws a parallel between collaborating and writing a song.
I think collaborations for me are where I learn about myself and others. It’s where I learn new techniques and new ways of thinking. It’s a means for me to elevate myself. Collaboration has given me so much, just like music has given me so much. It’s the same idea where the collision of two, three, four notes make a chord or a harmony. The same principle applies to when I work with another human being, when you combine different creative minds to make something new. It all comes down to discovery and learning in the end.
The question of cultural appropriation all depends on “who’s holding the paintbrush.”
Well it depends on who’s doing it. Cultural appropriation was born out of different groups feeling like something very dear to them in terms of their customs is being used by a group that wouldn’t normally be associated with those particular customs, but in a situation where it would be deemed offensive. I guess I’m trying to speak with diplomacy and I’m finding it hard to do so [laughs]. Because I would normally just say it in a different way. But I guess the best way to say it is that we in America currently live in a matrix that’s mainly tailored for the benefit of the older, straight white male.
Just ahead of taking the stage for his American Express Platinum House Concert at the 1 Hotel during Art Basel in Miami on Saturday, Pharrell Williams sat down with PEOPLE and opened up about the love of his life, wife of five years Helen Lasichanh. “I love her because of everything that she is, good, bad and indifferent,” Williams, 45, says of the model and designer. “We share a space in love that is, I don’t possess her. You know when I was young I used to say things like, ‘Oh, she’s mine.’” “But she’s not mine,” says Williams, before adding, “but she sure makes me feel like it.” “I’m exhausted,” he said just ahead of the performance, “just tired from this whole year.”
Williams says his time in South Africa — where he took the stage at Global Citizen Festival alongside Beyoncé and JAY-Z for their song “Nice” — was the most inspiring. “It was beautiful. I was there with all of my gorgeous people and DNA. It was beautiful to see all of that,” he says. “There’s a lot of familiar energy that you feel. Language might be different, customs might be different, but you feel the energy when you’re around your people. It’s just a natural thing.” “I didn’t say one word on the verse,” he says with a laugh. “But it was a blast — we had a great time.”
Chad Hugo sat down with Noisey for their Episode 168 to talk about his latest N*E*R*D album and working with the late Ol Dirty Bastard among other things, check out the Interview below.
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