Pharrell Williams is beyond “Happy”

Adilene Gomez Santiago is a content writer, photographer, videographer and disc jockey for KCPR. The opinions expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of Mustang Media Group.

“Drop It Like It’s Hot” by Snoop Dogg, “Milkshake” by Kelis and “Pink + White” by Frank Ocean are all well-known songs. You recognize the lyrics, the beats and the artists, however, what often goes unnoticed is the person behind the production of each track. Chances are, the song you currently can’t get out of your head was produced by the same person: Pharrell Williams.

Singer-songwriter, rapper, producer, jack of all trades and master of all, Pharrell Williams, is the talented artist behind these highly revered songs, who created and tweaked each track for a plethora of well-known artists. Williams has written and produced songs for musicians of various genres since his first step onto the music industry landscape, with his contributions to Teddy Riley’s verse for Wreckx-n-Effect’s 1992 hit song “Rump Shaker.”  

It has been 32 years since Williams entered the musical sphere and began influencing the sounds that crossed his path. However, many remain unaware of his story and the impact that has led him to his prominent position in the music industry.

Williams’ road to achievement 

It all started when Williams was just a child in the Atlantis Apartment, a subsidized housing community in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He spent his most fundamental childhood years surrounded by music in every inch of his Atlantis community neighborhood.

“Music was everywhere, you know,” Williams said in an interview with New York University students in 2015. “It was like air, it was like you go outside to hear music, you are in the house, someone’s playing music. It was just, music was just like second nature.”

Williams began to experience a unique sensation during his time at the Atlantis Apartments, as the music surrounding him flooded into his conscience. He discovered that he has a unique neurological condition known as synesthesia. According to the Cleveland Clinic, this phenomenon leads to sensory crossover which causes a person to experience more than one sense simultaneously. 

Synesthesia isn’t something one can see with the naked eye; instead, it is visible only to the mind’s eye –– a fact Williams explores in his recent Lego biopic “Piece By Piece.” The film is told through the eyes of Lego animation, as he believed it would be the best way he could be his purest self. 

With the limitless colors, the animated biopic of Williams’ story was by far the best way to see into the world of his creative thinking. In his earliest memories, this synesthesia sparked a passion for music, allowing him to see color when sounds entered his ears.

“Everybody loves music,” Williams said as he talked with Academy Award-winning documentarian Morgan Neville when shooting the film. 

“I realized I had a different kind of relationship with it like it was literally mesmerizing to me, I didn’t even know that I was mesmerized,” Williams told Neville in the Lego biopic. 

This scene was followed by a flashback to Williams’ earliest memory of music, which featured a Lego-formed hand lightly placing the stylus onto a record player and Williams staring into the spinning record.

“I just thought that’s what all Black kids did. I thought we all just stared into the speaker like, ‘Woah.’”

While Williams’ youthful self listened to the waves and lyrics of Stevie Wonder, bopping his head and tapping his Lego hand on the side of his leg with a bright smile, it came to his family’s attention that these interactions were instilling a passion for music.

As his grandma watched him take her pots, pans, whisks and spoons to make an at-home drum set, she supported Williams’ innate musical interest by giving him his first instrument in 7th grade: a snare drum. 

Soon, with a buzzing anticipation, Williams joined the Princess Anne High School band, entering a classroom filled with melodic strings and percussion. In the animated film, they noted a particular moment of connection as a jazzy sound coming out of a conic metal tube caught Williams’s attention. Behind the saxophone was an instrumentalist who soon became a lifelong musical partner with Williams.

Williams met Chad Hugo in the school band, where a kindred relationship was built from their mutual understanding of music. Although Hugo does not have synesthesia, he understood what Williams meant when he would say he sees colors when he listens to music.

In an interview with NPR in December 2023, Williams told former NPR Morning Edition Host David Greene, “Our ambitions were the same as any other kids that were studying music and being classically trained. You do it because you love it, and, you know, there’s a genuine curiosity to want to know more and see how things work.”

The two then devoted themselves to music, spending hours, days, weeks and months in Hugo’s house combining Williams’ percussion and rap skills with Hugo’s guitar and synth machine, creating an eclectic library of their own. Subsequently, they crafted an intergalactic sound that was ahead of their time in the ‘90s.

The iconic duo acclaimed their name as The Neptunes –– pulling inspiration from their earliest performances in front of the King Neptune statue outside the Virginia Beach boardwalk. Soon enough, they became a reputable and game-changing production duo, shaping the music industry’s sound to what it is today –– and what defined Williams himself.

The Neptunes had their first big break when they showcased their musical creativity at their high school’s talent show, where they were first discovered by Teddy Riley in 1991. Riley’s record studio, Future Records, was located just walking distance from their high school. 

The two brought ’70s-inspired sounds to the 1990s, meshing them with hip-hop and rap while also creating an alternative rock sound, which was initially questioned by artists as it was an unfamiliar arrangement.  

Consequently, in 1998 when they stepped into unknown territory on their own and produced the ‘98 hit single “Superthug” by Noreaga, their doors were being consistently knocked on.

This was followed by the production of Kelis’s first two studio albums, “Kaleidoscope,” (1999) and “Wanderland” (2001). Kelis is most well-known for her hit single “Milkshake,” which was also composed by The Neptunes in 2008.

The Neptunes released anthem after anthem, defining what the early 2000s sound was, take “Grindin’” by Clipse for example. The duo is also credited for the production of Jay-Z’s “I Just Wanna Love You (Give It 2 Me)” track from “The Dynasty: Roc La Familia” album and Britney Spears’ iconic “I’m A Slave 4 You.” 

Hugo and Williams wrote and released their personal music under the name “N.E.R.D,” releasing their first album, “In Search Of…” on March 12, 2002. Nine months following their debut, Justin Timberlake unveiled his own solo album titled “Justified,” also produced and co-written by Hugo and Williams. 

The N.E.R.D discography features a variety of collaborations with artists like Nelly Furtado, Lenny Kravitz, Lee Harvey, T.I., Kendrick Lamar, Rihanna, Future and many more artists. These collaborations highlight the versatility of their music as each artist brings a different dish to the table. 

Kravits offers sounds of rock, Lamar hands over poetic in-depth lyricism, while Furtado adds that touch of vocal flair. These serve as reflections of Williams’ artistic identity, embodying the multitude of influences that define him as an artist. 

From hip-hop and pop to rock and R&B, The Neptunes have had the strong ability to blend diverse styles of music into harmonious genre-defying hit songs –– many that brought different musical worlds together. 

Who would’ve thought that Williams would be behind the production of “Hentai” by Rosalia or “Alright” by Kendrick Lamar? His more well-known tracks like the “Despicable Me 2” hit song “Happy,” showcase Williams’ carefree side, which creates for the sake of joy and connection.

This ability to merge worlds not only comes from Williams’ influence of sounds but also from the influences of cultures that surrounded him. In an interview with HighSnobiety, Williams mentions that he was part of the skater world, “it was black hippie beatnik-type vibes meet skater,” he said referencing the sounds of  “A Tribe Called Quest,” “De La Soul” and furthermore.

However, there was also inspiration from hustlers with their gold chains, driving in their decked-out cars with shiny wheels. Williams was moved to curate music he thought that both communities would listen to, which also translated into his interest in fashion. 

This story would become a never-ending one as Williams has worn and continues to wear many hats. In 2023, he was appointed as Louis Vuitton’s menswear creative director, which was previously occupied by Virgil Abloh. He has also obtained a seat as co-chair for the Met Gala this year.

The importance of making an impact

Williams lives in three worlds: the world of music, fashion and the world of being a father. He has left a lasting impact on the music industry, creating this new standard of having more than just creative abilities in music. 

You can see Williams’ lingering influence with creators like Tyler, The Creator who have followed Williams’ footsteps by experimenting with sounds, creating different worlds within each album and also delving into fashion by collaborating with Converse and coincidentally enough, Louis Vuitton as well.

You can hear the “Pharrell-effect” in Tyler, The Creator’s newest release “Chromokopia” with the track “Darling, I,” which samples “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” and has a Neptunes-produced feel. 

Reflecting on my earliest memories of pop and hip-hop music, I remember tuning in to Wild 106.1 FM almost every car ride home. Nearly every hit song that filled my mother’s car with its bright and lively sounds was produced by Williams, unbeknownst to me at the time. 

Now, at 21 years old, I’ve come to realize that Williams played a significant role in shaping not only my childhood but also the experiences of all kids born in the early 2000s. 

In a playlist full of your favorite tracks, could you have guessed that they were produced by Pharrell Williams?