The indisputable star of music in 2013 (and possibly 2014, as well), Pharrell has received a prolonged stay beneath our cultural spotlight for some time now. His success is certainly deserved and stems from differing avenues and mediums, but such visibility very easily escalates into controversy.
The seemingly affable, amiable artist first faced fiery flames of hate by association thanks to his guest role in Robin Thicke’s video for “Blurred Lines”, visuals that have garnered outcry and anger from those who label it misogynistic. Pharrell would later find himself in the hot seat for, of all things, his chart topping track “Happy” after Iranian police officers arrested six women and a director who together filmed their own harmless, innocent video to the tune of the Despicable Me 2 song.
Pharrell recently sat down with interviewer Krishnan Guru-Murthy to field a line of questioning in regard to those topics aforementioned and answered all inquiries with a delicate honesty; Williams walked a thin line, voicing opinions on feminism, his art and even Hillary Clinton that are likely seen as immoral and inappropriate to some, yet truthful and respectable to others.
Watch Pharrell’s interview on British TV below, and let us know what you think about these issues in the comments section.
I felt like Pharrel really stood his ground and fought for what he interprets his song as. Music is art, and its all up to how the viewer/listening interprets the content.
He came off as way too goddamn arrogant. And his blurred lines responses were pure bullshit. If a car salesman (the most notoriously slimy profession) says, “I know you want it,” he’s saying it to get what he wants even if he has to screw the customer to get it. Sounds familiar…