The two were inseparable and unmatchable in the late 90s and early 00s, getting their start under the wing of Teddy Riley, super-producer of the previous generation who had come to stay in their native Virginia. However, there is an astronomical elephant in the room Pharrell came up in tandem with Chad Hugo, known unitedly as the Neptunes. Just days ago, Kanye interviewed Pharrell for i-D, and celebrated how the man they call Skateboard P wrote Virginia into the hip-hop census. Praise has been given here and there, such as a great section from Netflix’s ‘ Hip-Hop Evolution’ docuseries, but there is no definitive guide to the magic of a Pharrell production, which he highly deserves with his extensive catalogue and path-paving. It’s uncertain if it’s a byproduct of having one single hip-hop-focused project under his own name (a symptom of Three Stacks syndrome), or that the other solo project was a saccharine pop record built to capitalise off of his success in the charts, but it seems as though he has not, truly, gotten all of his flowers yet. I remember, very vividly, saying aloud: “This has to be Pharrell”.įour years on, and ‘Pink + White’ remains one of Pharrell Williams’ most lavish and evocative pieces of production, but the man has been making hits for almost 30 years now. That stumbling, jazzy piano riff, that silicone bassline that warmed the face like hot chocolate. But as track three opened its doors, my ears perked up immediately. The starkness of those songs impoverished me of a clear head, especially with the disorientating energy radiating off the first two cuts. Tucked into a bed that wasn’t my own, it seemed like the perfect setting in retrospect. I recall my first listen to Frank Ocean’s Blonde. Written by Nathan Evans Artwork Designed by Nathan Evans

Pharrell in my mind root