Pharrell Williams

Pharrell Williams
Williams performing on September 30, 2008
Background information
Birth name	Pharrell Williams
Also known as	Pharrell
Born	April 5, 1973 (1973-04-05) (age 36)
Origin	Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S.
Genre(s)	Hip hop, pop, rock, R&B, electronica
Occupation(s)	Rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur
Instrument(s)	Vocals, rapping, drums, piano, keyboards, guitar
Voice type(s)	Falsetto
Years active	1992–present
Label(s)	Star Trak/Interscope
Associated acts	The Neptunes, N.E.R.D, Child Rebel Soldier
Website	www.PharrellWilliams.com

Pharrell Williams (born April 5, 1973),^[1] commonly known as Pharrell, is an American music producer, singer-songwriter, and rapper. He, along with Chad Hugo are the duo of The Neptunes where they produce pop, hip hop and R&B music. He is also the lead singer and drummer of the funk-rock band, N.E.R.D. He released his debut single "Frontin'" in 2003 and followed up with his debut album In My Mind in 2006. He sometimes refers to himself as "Skateboard P" in his songs.

As part of The Neptunes, Pharrell has produced numerous hit singles for various music artists. The Neptunes have earned three Grammy Awards amongst ten nominations. He is also the co-founder of the clothing brands Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream Footwear.

Early life

Williams was born in Virginia Beach, Virginia to Pharoah Williams, a handyman, and Carolyn, a teacher. Pharrell is the eldest of three sons.^[2]

Williams met Chad Hugo in a seventh grade summer band camp where Williams played the keyboards/drums and Hugo played tenor saxophone.^[3] They were also both members of a marching band, where Pharrell played the snare drum, and with Chad as a student conductor. In the 1990s, Hugo and Pharrell formed a 4-piece "R&B type" group along with friends Shay Haley and Mike Etheridge, which they named The Neptunes. They later entered a high school talent show where they were discovered by Teddy Riley, whose studio is next to Pharrell's school, Princess Anne High School.^[4] After graduating from high school, they signed with Riley as a group.^[5]

Career

1992-2001: Early work

Through working with Teddy Riley, Pharrell went on to write a verse for Wreckx-N-Effect's 1992 hit "Rump Shaker" (#2 Billboard Hot 100, 2x Platinum). That same year, he also performed a small rap solo on SWV's second hit, "Right Here". In 1994, Hugo and Williams had established themselves formally as a production duo under the previously used name "The Neptunes", and produced "Tonight's The Night" from Blackstreet's self-titled debut. Over the next three years they continued to produce occasionally. Some of the production had little resemblance to the trademark Neptunes sound present today. However, some like Mase's 1997 song "Lookin' At Me" from his album Harlem World, and the most definite beginning of the so-called distinctive "Neptunes sound", came with N.O.R.E.'s "Superthug" in 1998, reaching #36 on the Billboard Hot 100, and gaining them widespread attention for the first time. In 1999, the duo then worked heavily with Kelis, producing her first album Kaleidoscope in its entirety and Ol' Dirty Bastard's Nigga Please, followed by Mystikal's hit single, "Shake Ya Ass".

2001-2004: In Search Of..., Clipse and Fly or Die

In 2001, The Neptunes produced Britney Spears' single, "I'm a Slave 4 U" gaining their first world-wide #1.^[6] The same year, Pharrell, Hugo and Haley released their first album as N.E.R.D - In Search Of... - in Europe, where the first Kelis album was better received. The album sounded very much like their previous production work; the group decided that they should make their work as N.E.R.D sound different, and re-recorded the album, with the funk-rock band Spymob. The Neptunes also signed Clipse, a rap duo from Virginia Beach that Pharrell had met back in 1993, to Arista Records through his recently established Star Trak Entertainment imprint.

Then in 2002 their re-produced album was released worldwide, and The Neptunes reached #1 in the U.S. with Nelly's single, "Hot in Herre". In August of the same year, The Neptunes were named "Producers of the Year" at both The Source Awards and the Billboard Music Awards. Clipse released their commercial debut album, Lord Willin' on August 20, 2002. The album opened at #1 on Billboard's Top R&B/Hip-hop Album chart and #4 on the Billboard Hot 200, fueled by the strength of its first two singles, "Grindin'" and "When the Last Time", which peaked at #34 and #19 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Neptunes released a self-credited album called The Neptunes Present... Clones in 2003, featuring songs and remixes from various artists. This album topped the U.S. Billboard 200 Albums Chart. The Neptunes and Pharrell specifically were also kept in public eye largely due to ties with Jay-Z, producing several hit singles for him and landing two tracks on his album The Black Album. The track "Frontin'" was a big hit (the 34th biggest single of 2003 according to Billboard Magazine). A survey in August 2003 found the Neptunes produced almost 20 percent of songs played on British radio at the time, a survey in the US had them at 43 percent.^[3] The same year, The Neptunes remixed the Daft Punk song Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger for the duo's poorly-received remix album Daft Club. The track also featured a brief rap section performed by Pharrell.

N.E.R.D's second funk/rock-oriented album, Fly or Die, released in March 2004. Williams' rock credentials were further bolstered by his appearance at the 2004 Grammy Awards, performing The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" on drums along with Sting, Dave Matthews, and Vince Gill. Pharrell went home with two Grammy Awards that night, one for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, and another for Best Pop Vocal Album for his work on Justin Timberlake's hit album Justified. They also gained their first UK #1, again with Nelly, and Flap Your Wings.

2005-present: Debut album and collaborations

Pharrell Williams and Astronaut Leland Melvin present a montage to Quincy Jones

On September 9, 2005, Pharrell performed the opening single from his debut solo album In My Mind, "Can I Have It Like That", featuring Gwen Stefani. The single did poorly in the US, reaching only #48. It fared better in the UK, reaching #3. Between then and the July 25, 2006 release of "In My Mind", he released "Angel" (in Europe only), and later "Number One" with Kanye West. Several songs leaked to the internet before the album release, most notably "Mamacita" featuring Daddy Yankee, which was subsequently cut from the final version. "That Girl" featuring Snoop Dogg was the final single.

In 2006, Pharrell solely produced The Clipse's second album Hell Hath No Fury. Most critics labeled the album to be Pharrell's best production in years, and put the Virginia rap duo back in the charts.^[7]

On May 16, 2007, for seven days only, the first of two expected collaborations with Madonna, entitled "Hey You", was made available for free download from MSN.com. MSN, in conjunction with Madonna, donated 25 cents for each of the first 1 million downloads to the Alliance for Climate Protection, in support of Live Earth. ^[8] Later that year, Pharrell performed songs at the Concert for Diana on July 1, 2007. Then on July 7, 2007 he performed at the Brazilian leg of Live Earth at Rio de Janeiro.

A second album, entitled Out of My Mind, was recorded with his newly formed band "The Yessirs" featuring Questlove of The Roots. However, Pharrell's record label did not think that a companion album to the first would sell well.^[9] He also produced Beyoncé's rendition of "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend". He then wrote and produced "Why Should I Be Sad" on Britney Spears' fifth studio album, Blackout. He also produced two songs from The Hives album, The Black and White Album, titled "Well All Right!" and "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.".

In April 2008, Madonna released her eleventh album, Hard Candy, which featured vocals from Pharrell and production from The Neptunes on several tracks. Later in June, an article in NME revealed that Pharrell is very interested in producing the Strokes' fourth album.^[10] Also in 2008, Pharrell collaborated with Louis Vuitton to create a series of jewelry under 4 different themes.^[11]

Williams, along with other notable musicians, is to work on a remix album for Maroon 5's Call & Response.^[12]

Personal life

Williams drives a Ferrari Enzo^[13][14][15] and a Mercedes SLR McLaren, often wears a trucker hat,^[16] was voted the "Best Dressed Man in the World" in 2005 by Esquire.^[17] He is a fan of the science fiction series Star Trek, ^[18] as indicated by his consistent use of the Vulcan salute to signify his label name, Star Trak. He also enjoys the works of the late astronomer and science lecturer Carl Sagan, whom he calls "a genius".^[19] Williams has a half-pipe inside his home.^[20]

In October 2008, Williams is working on creating furniture with Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin and a French manufacturer, Domeau & Pérès. One of his recent works, a molded plastic seat with human legs, was created because he "wanted to know what it was like to be in love."^[21] The chair depicts a sexual scene with a pair of female legs and male legs.

Discography

Main articles: Pharrell discography and The Neptunes discography

• In My Mind (2006), Star Trak, Interscope

Awards

Further information: List of The Neptunes awards

References

External links

• Official website
• BBC Ice Cream website
• Nigoldeneye - BAPE TV show with Pharrell and Nigo (BBC X A Bathing Ape)
• Pharrell Williams at MySpace