“I felt I could make a hip-hop record and an R&B record on the same album. And nobody can tell me I can’t - because it’s in my mind.” - Pharrell
Instead of aiming for a cookie-cutter genre with a set audience, Pharrell taps into his diverse musical interests on his debut solo album In My Mind.
But don’t let the words “debut solo” fool you - Pharrell is no novice to the music industry. Whether you’re into pop, hip-hop, R&B, or rock, you’ve heard Pharrell’s work. He and Chad Hugo are the Neptunes, pop music’s most sought-after production duo, who have produced the biggest hits of artists ranging from *NSYNC and Britney Spears to Snoop Dogg and No Doubt. When the Neptunes jam with Shae Haley, the group becomes N.E.R.D - the critically-acclaimed funk-rock band known for hits like Rock Star and She Wants to Move. Pharrell’s sound is fluid and works for almost any genre, but he consistently adds his own touch - rhythmic, inexplicably catchy, and slightly raunchy - to every single song he produces.
In My Mind is yet another testament to Pharrell’s uncanny ability to produce music that has both beat and meaning. Without Chad Hugo’s influence, Pharrell sounds sunnier and more childlike, creating upbeat tracks like Number One, which features mainstream hip-hop giant Kanye West, and Angel, which showcases Pharrell’s Prince-esque falsetto voice as he sings to his mother about a girl he’s in love with. “It’s discussing with your mom that you really like a girl and you want to know what she thinks about the scenario,” Pharrell explains. “As a man, I shouldn’t be afraid to express having a great relationship with my mother. There’s something really exposing about that. I’m letting people into a part of my mind that I don’t ever really let out.”
Things get deeper on In My Mind with tracks like Best Friend, an autobiographical account of Pharrell’s childhood and the beginning of his friendship with Neptunes partner Chad Hugo. “Seventh grade, it was cursed and sad/But the gift within it, was when I first met Chad/But even Chad could tell you that my Christmas was jinxed/Cuz grandma Loucelle died on 12/19,” Pharrell raps, honestly reflecting upon the ups and downs of his adolescent years. Pharrell makes a somewhat cheesy but expressive ode to the Christian God in Our Father, proclaiming, “Jesus is my daddy.” On the personal nature of many of his songs, Pharrell explains that his album is “…kinda like a diary excerpt… just a day of the kind of things that are in [his] mind.”
In the end, though, Pharrell made a solo album to enjoy himself and take a breather from his work with the Neptunes and N.E.R.D. “For me, it’s about having fun,” he says, “not trying to fit in.”
Artist Info
Claim to Fame: One-half of production duo the Neptunes, founding member and drummer of rock band N.E.R.D.
Most Popular Songs: Can I Have It Like That? featuring Gwen Stefani, Angel, Number One featuring Kanye West
Has Collaborated With: BLACKstreet, Mase, Ol’ Dirty Bastard, Kelis, Mystikal, Diddy, Britney Spears, Nelly, Justin Timberlake, among many others
Cool Quotes
“I don’t think you should think about a lot of things that deal with feelings. I think that feeling is good enough. Thought is just going to complicate things.”
“The simplest way to say it is that I think we’re all dealt these cards in life, but the cards in and of themselves don’t read one way or the other. It’s up to you to home in and cultivate whatever you’ve got in your hand. Most of the time, I see what I see, I search my feelings, and then I make my decisions based on my gut-and I don’t always make the right ones.”
“I see a world of blurred lines and limitless creativity. That’s where evolution comes from. That’s where natural selection comes from. That’s just learning and gathering information and taking things to the next step. Don’t get me wrong--I don’t see everything in the world as all positive. But it all has the ability to be. You don’t know what the sunshine is until you kind of get caught in the rain.”
More…
- Number One (video)
- Pharrell on iTunes
- Pharrell's Fansite
- Pharrell on MySpace
Albums
- In My Mind [Pharrell]
- Pharrell & DJ Drama In My Mind (The Prequel)
- Fly or Die [N.E.R.D.]
- In Search Of... [N.E.R.D.]
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