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Pharrell Replies To Fans Online

Pharrell Williams goes online to answer the internet’s questions. The GQ Men of the Year 2024 cover star responds to questions on Quora, Reddit and X, as well as fact-checking Wikipedia and replying to YouTube, TikTok and Instagram comments.

Released on 11/13/2024

Transcript

Yo yo, it's Pharrell.

I'm going undercover on the internet with G.Q.

It's actually me, for real.

[gentle music]

[keyboard clicking]

Reddit.

[keyboard clicking]

Spaceman Spiff 944 says, What discipline

of art would Pharrell compete if it got

reintroduced to the Olympics?

I don't know that I would compete

'cause I never really felt like I was

good enough for anything.

And if I had to compete with any of 'em, it would be music.

Although I'd probably get smoked by so many people.

The Olympics is about, like, the best of the best

for the next four years.

The planet's best.

The planet's best should also include the mind.

The mind is a muscle as well.

Post it.

Then there's me ordering McDonald's in Paris.

You guys can watch that on your own time.

Yes, it's true that I got fired from three McDonald's.

The narrative that Shea, you know

that I was like stealing nuggets.

I wasn't stealing nuggets.

Was I eating on the job?

Sure. Is that a form of stealing?

Sure.

Or was it dealing nuggets, okay?

I would, like, make my own sandwiches

the way that I wanted to.

I would make them piece by piece, literally,

I'm not even saying that.

I had like the the most banging-est

like, version of a burger.

Should I share it right now Amanda, or should I wait?

So you take the bun from the Fish Filet, you toast it first,

but then you put it back in the steamer.

So it's toasted already.

But then when you put it in the Fish Filet steamer,

then you steam it.

Now it is like the softest thing in the world.

Obviously the quarter pounder, you do it well done.

Crispy lettuce, mayo, you take the sweet and sour sauce,

put it together, slice it in half.

It's the best.

Next.

Today I learned that Pharrell Williams

requires a framed picture

of Carl Sagan in his dressing room.

It's false.

It's just what my team likes to do.

They think it's funny.

Next.

I thought he was religious.

Why would he dig Sagan?

Carl spoke religiously about the universe.

To me, the universe is God.

In a lot of ways spirituality speaks very clear

to the essence of science.

Start talking about the first cause,

the way the universe came to be.

What was there first?

The three monotheistic religions

tend to agree with the origin of the Big Bang.

There was light and there's just so much

that we don't understand.

We talk about, like, dimensions, right?

Like, what's the fourth dimension

and what's the fifth dimension and do they not exist

because we can't perceive them?

And I'm willing to bet there's more

to what we don't know and understand.

Next.

Why does Pharrell like Despicable Me

franchise so much?

Duh, they pay me bitch.

No, I'm kidding.

[crew laughs]

No, because Chris Miller Dondre walked me

into the animation world and it's just changed my life.

Especially being a kid that loved cartoons so much.

So that's why I have to thank this woman named Kathy Nelson,

who was the one who introduced me to Chris,

but I also scored that first one as well with Heitor Pereira

and we have a new one

that you will remember in this interview

in a couple years, you'll be like, yo,

that was the first time he talked about it.

But it's insane.

When I tell you insane, insane.

And that's because me and him connected

through animation like this.

Post it.

Let's check X.

[gentle music]

[keyboard clicking]

Went to the cinema and saw a trailer

for Pharrell's biopic in Lego?

Sure, why not?

Which will apparently feature new music from him.

So my question is, will we finally be getting

that mythical R.M./Pharrell collab

that was teased forever ago?

You have to ask R.M.

What I was gonna put it out on,

I changed gears and ended up

doing something completely different.

So all the music that I have from all the different

collaborations for that project are there.

The songs were great,

but the project itself, I felt like wasn't right.

Next.

Hobicore, okay, is Hobicore coming?

The anticipation continues

and I think this is a real spoiler.

I'll tell you.

Okay, I said prepare.

You know you look in your little comments and shit

and people were like, what was gonna happen?

What happened?

Prepare for what?

You see it now, bitch.

Next.

The conspiracy theory that Pharrell Williams is a vampire

really freaks me out.

Cool, keep some garlic on you.

All right, let's see some YouTube comments.

[gentle music]

[keyboard clicking]

Actually when it comes to the comments,

you gotta come up for air sometimes, you know?

Or you could really go down, like, a rabbit hole

of, like, hysteria and wake up one day

just eating couch filler.

[gentle music]

I was just researching if they ever did do a collab,

and they haven't.

Dude, I need to feast on whatever they cook.

Yeah, this was like five or six years ago.

This was before the pandemic, I think.

In the N.E.R.D. days

I wanted him to produce one of the records

or what he calls himself as the Great Reducer.

I wanted him to do that.

But it was like a timing thing.

We weren't able to do it.

I would love to go back

and find records that they may have,

that Rick may have made with like Run-D.M.C.

or like, the Beastie Boys, that they never released,

but like, make new tracks out of that.

I've never worked with him before,

but that's what I would love to do if I could.

Next.

I would love to know who is the target market

for LV Mens.

Maybe one or two things I can see myself owning.

That other stuff is a firm no.

The target audience is for people who are curious

and wanna go on a journey

and who appreciate the luxury and the details.

Look, at the heart of anything that I do is curiosity.

It should make some people uncomfortable at times

because then it means it's new.

Post it.

Instagram.

[keyboard clicking]

What was the pressure like to fill the shoes

at LV for Virgil?

You can't fill the shoes of a legend.

I have my own shoes.

There's a very famous photo of myself, him,

Virgil, and Kanye,

and they're both wearing the sunglasses that I did

for LV 20 years ago.

I could never fill his shoes.

He has his own.

I'm just honored to be a part of the history, period.

Okay, Wikipedia.

[keyboard clicking]

Other names.

Skateboard P., Sk8brd, AutoGoon, Verb Lord,

Station Wagon P.

[Crew] Give us one people don't know about.

Yellow Lightning.

Now onto Quora.

[keyboard clicking]

Hey, is it me, or like, is it full-on demolition

in the neighborhood, plus helicopter above right now?

I feel like we on fucking Call of Duty.

How were Pharrell Williams, BBC

and Ice Cream brands started?

This guy, Steve Stoute, gave me this awesome opportunity

to make a sneaker with Reebok.

Right around that time I was meeting with Nigo

and I knew that I wanted to do something with, you know,

BBC, this crazy idea that I had,

and Ice Cream and Nigo really just helped me

organize the idea.

I knew what I wanted for my logo.

I worked with his artist to create it.

It was just really me, me and Nigo, and Nigo's the goat.

You already know.

Post it.

Okay, TikTok.

[keyboard clicking]

If he could give creative advice

to a younger version of him himself

back when he was just getting started,

I wonder what he'd say.

I wouldn't give myself any advice

because I wouldn't be where I am right now.

Life literally is like a domino effect.

Every time you change anything,

it completely takes you in a different course.

The creative advice that I would give,

write down all your fears, your flaws, your insecurities,

the guilt, the pressures.

Look at 'em on a list.

Know they're all distractions.

Once you do that, you will experience

your life uninterrupted.

That is the most important thing that you can do

for your creativity, is to eliminate all the distractions.

Period, post it.

That's it.

I'm signing off the internet.

This was fun.

And that's it.

[gentle music]

Starring: Pharrell

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