Latest / The K.B. Radio Network / Celebrate Black Music Month - Showcasing Pharrell Williams/Piece by Piece (2024) Movie Review

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Celebrate Black Music Month - Showcasing Pharrell Williams/Piece by Piece (2024) Movie Review · The K.B. Radio Network

0:11
hello everyone and welcome to movie goodness where we examine life through cinema here on the kb radio network i am your host kevin reeds and welcome to the month of june of 2025 everybody we are what
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is this officially the middle part of the year we've reached the halfway point or is it at the end of the month
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I don't know how it goes,
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but we have reached
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June of 2025,
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and it feels like,
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it feels like we have had 12 months of action in 2025 already,
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at least here in New Orleans.
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New Orleans has been popping literally since the first day of the year.
1:03
It all started with the terror attack that took place on
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bourbon or in the French Quarter on New Year's Day we had snow day we had a blizzard here in New Orleans we've had escaped convicts down here in New Orleans we've had slave plantations burned to the ground it's just been wow for
1:25
the first five months of this year and it feels like we are at the end of the year I'm like my god we just got to June
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But it is what it is.
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And I'm just talking about New Orleans.
1:40
I can go on.
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I can do an entire show about worldwide implications,
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you know,
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with this buffoon that's in the White House and all of that foolishness.
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It's just been wild for the first five months of this year.
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But things are starting to pick up.
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There are brighter days ahead.
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and
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Since we're in the month of June,
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why not do something celebratory?
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Why not talk about something that's exciting and uplifting?
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And today's episode is just that.
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In case you don't know,
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June is Black Music Month.
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It's been celebrated here in the United States since 1979,
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believe it or not.
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For 46 years,
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June has been Black Music Month.
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Unfortunately,
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I didn't know this until,
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what,
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about five,
2:38
six years ago,
2:39
and when I realized that June is designated as Black Music Month.
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That just goes to show you how much respect and love that it gets worldwide,
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but I'm going to do my part and celebrate it.
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And since the month of June is set aside to appreciate the contributions of black artists,
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African-American artists,
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composers,
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singers,
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and songwriters throughout American history.
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Today,
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we're gonna showcase one in particular and this is an artist who
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I am a giant fan of and millions of others are.
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You probably heard music that he has performed,
3:23
produced,
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wrote,
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whatever the case may be and you may not even know that he was a part of it this year's
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black history or not black history but black music month episode we are going to showcase the one the only pharrell yes pharrell williams this is his episode today and in
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accordance to black music month we're gonna talk about his history and how he became who he is in the industry and since we're talking about pharrell
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And to go with the motif of this show,
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we're going to review a film that is focused on Pharrell,
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and that is
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Piece by Piece,
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the animated Lego slash documentary that focused on Pharrell Williams.
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Pharrell Williams,
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he was born on April the 5th,
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1973,
4:21
and he is professionally known as simply
4:25
Pharrell.
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and he is a musician,
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a singer,
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a songwriter,
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a rapper,
4:30
a record producer,
4:32
and a fashion designer,
4:33
believe it or not.
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He became the first known as one half of the music production duo
4:40
The Neptunes,
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who he partnered with
4:43
Chad Hugo.
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They formed this group in 1992,
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I believe,
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and
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15 of their productions have peaked within the top 10.
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of the Billboard Hot 100,
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which...
4:59
includes four songs that peaked at the very top of the charts.
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The two also formed the rock and hip-hop band
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N.E.R.D. or N.E.R.D.
5:12
back in 1999 and Pharrell served as the lead vocalist of that group.
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He has been regarded as one of the most influential producers in modern popular music.
5:26
Pharrell co-founded
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the label Star Trek Entertainment with
5:31
Chad Hugo in 2001 and in case you was wondering why he didn't get a copyright strike or anything like that it was Trek with an A not an E and so he avoided that but he's a huge Star Trek fan which a lot of people are so
5:49
in dedication to that he named his record label Star Trek.
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Pharrell back in 2003
5:58
He had a debut single which dropped and it featured
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Jay-Z and the song was called Frontin'
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and that peaked at number 5 on the Billboard Hot 100.
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He then signed with Virgin Records and Interscope Records to release his debut solo album In My Mind in 2006 which peaked at number three and the billboard 200 despite mixed critical reception
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And I'm in that mixed.
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I liked a couple of songs on that album.
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I wasn't a big fan of In My Mind,
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but he had some bangers on there.
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It wasn't like it was trash.
6:37
It wasn't trash,
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but it was kind of,
6:41
it was eh.
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But Pharrell produced and guest performed alongside T.I.
6:47
on Star Trek signee
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Robin Thicke's 2013 song
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Blurred Lines.
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And that's the song.
6:57
that took the world by storm in 2013 and for many years after that and that song peaked at the very top of the billboard hot 100 and it received diamond certification by the recording industry association of america that same year his
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guest appearance alongside neil rogers on daft punk's song Get Lucky peaked at number two on the chart.
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and won record of the year and best pop dual group performance at the
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56th annual Grammy Awards.
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Pharrell's 2013 single Happy,
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released for the soundtrack to the animated film Despicable Me 2,
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became the second song to peak atop the charts that same year.
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It also served as lead single on his second album,
7:53
Girl,
7:53
in 2014,
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which
7:55
peaked at number two on the billboard 200 and saw positive critical acclaim.
8:03
Pharrell received numerous accolades and nominations.
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He has won 13 Grammy Awards including three for producer of the year non-classical one of one as member of the Neptunes.
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He is also a two-time Academy Award nominee.
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uh in 2014 no surprise he was nominated for best original song for happy and in 2017 for best picture as a producer on the film hidden figures i know a lot of people didn't know that he actually produced that film um
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he didn't win neither one of those awards but hey it was an honor to be nominated as sole proprietor he founded the multi-disciplinary
8:53
media company
8:54
I am other in 2012 which acts as both a record label and creative umbrella for the other endeavors such as uh his fashion label and retail billion dollar boys club he
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has served as men's creative director for Louis Vuitton since 2023 uh going back to his upbringing as I said before he was
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born on August the 5th 1973 in Virginia Beach Virginia he is the oldest of three sons of Carol Carolyn who is a school teacher and
9:38
Farrell Williams who was a handyman in Virginia Beach his family history goes back many generations in in Virginia and North Carolina.
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One of his ancestors journeyed to
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West Africa in 1831,
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prompting other relatives to
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migrate from the U.S.
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to
10:02
Liberia in 1832.
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Williams met his producing partner,
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Chad Hugo,
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in the seventh grade summer band group where Williams played the drums and Hugo played tenor saxophone.
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They attended
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Princess Anne High School where they were in the school's band,
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the fabulous marching Cavaliers.
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Pharrell graduated from high school in 1991 and he attended Northwestern University for two years before he dropped out to pursue his musical career.
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It was at that point that
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Pharrell formed a hip-hop group named Surrounded by Idiots.
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That was the name of the group.
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Surrounded by Idiots with Chad Hugo along with his cousin.
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Yes,
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a lot of people don't know this.
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his cousin
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Timbaland and Magoo RIP.
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Magoo passed away a couple of years ago I believe.
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They disbanded before making any records though.
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They didn't.
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So if you go trying to search
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Surrounded by Idiots and find some unreleased tracks you're not gonna find it.
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They didn't make anything.
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He then formed a four-piece
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R&B type group the Neptunes with Hugo and his friends
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Mike and Shay.
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They entered a high school talent show where they were discovered by producer
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Teddy Riley.
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Yes,
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Teddy Riley from the group Guy,
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Backstreet,
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and so many more.
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He's a super producer in his own right when it comes to
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R&B in the
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80s and 90s.
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He worked with Michael Jackson.
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He worked with,
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I mean,
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numerous.
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He's a big-time producer.
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But he was discovered.
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He discovered
11:58
Pharrell Williams and his group,
11:59
the Neptunes,
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whose studio was next to the school.
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That's how he got to hear him.
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After graduating,
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the group signed with Riley.
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Pharrell wrote Riley's verse on Rex in Effect's 1992 song,
12:15
Rump Shaker.
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Yeah,
12:19
that was written by Pharrell.
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As the Neptunes,
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Pharrell and Hugo produced...
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Noriega's 1998 single Super Thug.
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The Neptunes began working with rap duo
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Clips in the late
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1990s and worked on Clips album exclusive audio footage which was not released.
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The Neptunes produced Mystical's single
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Shake That Ass in 2000,
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Jay-Z's single
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I Just Wanna Love You
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Give it to me in 2000.
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Nelly single hot in here in 2002 they worked with senior singer Khalees producing her first two studio albums kaleidoscope and
13:07
Wonderland in 2001 in 2001 in any RD a band composed of Williams Hugo and Haley released their debut album in search of.
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Williams and Hugo signed clips.
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to the record label through Williams Star Trek
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Entertainment. The Neptunes produced songs for singers such as Babyface,
13:34
who they produced songs on the
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2001 album he put out face-to-face,
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including the lead single,
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There She Goes.
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And the Neptunes produced the Britney Spears song,
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I'm a Slave for You and Boys,
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on her third album,
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Britney.
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in 2001.
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In 2002,
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Clipse released their debut album,
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Lord Willing,
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with the Neptunes producing the entire album.
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That year,
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the Neptunes produced numerous songs for Justin Timberlake's debut album Justified,
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including the singles,
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uh,
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Señorita,
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Like I Love You,
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and Rock Your Body.
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In 2003,
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the Neptunes released a composition album clone.
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Now,
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get this.
14:24
According,
14:26
now,
14:27
depends on the source.
14:29
According to the unnamed,
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I think this was late 2003,
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something like that,
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there was a survey conducted.
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And according to this survey,
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it was found that the Neptunes produced almost 20%
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of the songs played on British radio at that particular time.
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Another survey in the United States found that
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They produced 43%
14:58
of the songs played on the radio around that time.
15:03
The Neptunes produced
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Snoop Dogg's single,
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Drop It Like It's Hot,
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in 2004,
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which also features the vocals of Pharrell.
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The Neptunes produced Gwen Stefani's single,
15:18
Holla Bad Girl,
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which entered the Billboard Top 100 at number 82.
15:25
in August of 2005 and topped the chart within six weeks of his release.
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In 2006,
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Pharrell released his debut solo album,
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In My Mind.
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It debuted at number three in the United States Billboard 200.
15:40
The Neptunes produced Clip's second album,
15:43
Hell Have No Fury.
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The Neptunes produced several songs on Gwen Stefani's second album,
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The Sweet Escape,
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in 2006,
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including And.
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the promotional single yummy which features well you guessed it pharrell um in december of 2006 pharrell was announced as a performer at concert for diana at wimley stadium london and
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on july the 1st 2007 in 2007 the neptunes produced jay-z's
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10th solo album american gangster
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Pharrell went on to work with Madonna on her
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11th studio album Hard Candy in 2008.
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In June of 2008,
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an article in
16:33
NME revealed that Pharrell was interested in producing the next album of American rock band
16:42
The Strokes.
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Later that year,
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Pharrell worked on a remix album for Maroon 5 entitled...
16:51
call and response to remix album.
16:54
N.E.R.D.
16:55
released their third studio album,
16:58
Seeing Sounds,
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in
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2008.
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Pharrell worked with Sakura on her songs Did It Again,
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Why Wait,
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Good Stuff,
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and Long Time for her sixth studio album,
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She Wolf,
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in 2009.
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The following month,
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Pharrell made a guest appearance
17:19
on French singer
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Euphrates, I believe that's how you say their name,
17:25
debut album,
17:26
which was released in early 2010.
17:29
The Neptunes produced numerous songs for the clip's third album,
17:33
Till the Cast It Drops,
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in 2009.
17:37
In 2010,
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Pharrell worked on a musical score for the animated film Despicable Me with legendary film composer Hans Zimmer.
17:49
In 2010,
17:51
N.E.R.D.
17:52
released their fourth studio album,
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Nothing.
17:55
In late 2011,
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Pharrell worked on three tracks for Mike Polzer's second album,
18:02
Sky High.
18:04
In 2012,
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Pharrell composed and produced the music for the
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84th
18:10
Academy Awards,
18:11
along with Hans Zimmer.
18:14
In 2013,
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Pharrell collaborated with...
18:18
Daft Punk for the song Get Lucky and Lose Yourself to Dance,
18:24
both included on Daft Punk's fourth studio album,
18:27
Random Access Memories.
18:30
Get Lucky peaked at number one on the UK singles charts and number two in the United States Billboard 200.
18:38
In 2013,
18:41
Pharrell collaborated with Ezell Erbanks on the song
18:45
ATM Jam.
18:47
The song was initially attended for Banks debut album,
18:51
Broke
18:52
With Expensive Taste in 2014,
18:55
but was later removed from the album after Banks blamed Pharrell for the song's poor commercial performance.
19:02
Pharrell penned three new original songs for the film Despicable Me 2 in 2013.
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These were
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Just a Cloud Away,
19:16
Scream,
19:17
which features CeeLo Green and of course,
19:20
Happy.
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His two original songs for the first film,
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Despicable Me and Fun Fun Fun,
19:27
were also reprised for Despicable Me 2 soundtrack.
19:32
He also participated in the drummer section of the soundtrack for
19:38
Man of Steel for Hans Zimmer.
19:41
Yes,
19:41
the Superman movie.
19:43
in
19:44
March of 2013.
19:46
Robin Thicke's song
19:48
Blurred Lines written and produced by Pharrell was released the song peaked at number one on multiple countries including the UK and the United States in mid 2013
20:01
Pharrell was included in on two songs that sold a million copies in the UK that is get lucky and blurred lines in August of 2013 Busta Rhymes talked about in
20:17
unreleased documentary album by Pharrell which talks about inner city stripe and hardships in
20:25
November of 2013 Pharrell released the first
20:31
24-hour music video for happy at this music video which I watched not all 24 hours straight but I would I did watch it in that video you had guest appearances by magic Johnson
20:45
Steve Carell who
20:47
coincidentally voiced the character in the Despicable Me films,
20:52
Jimmy Kimmel,
20:53
Odd Future,
20:54
among others.
20:55
On
20:56
November the 1st,
20:57
2013,
20:58
Pharrell performed with the Gospel Choir,
21:01
the Emanuel African Methodist
21:04
Apostle
21:06
Church in Charleston,
21:08
South Carolina,
21:09
where nine black petitioners were shot and killed on June the
21:15
17th, 2015.
21:16
2015 in case you don't remember that that's when the guy came in during Bible class,
21:22
I believe it was during the week and
21:25
Shot just just open fired during that service and whatever.
21:31
But anyways,
21:32
yes He came to perform with them on to kind of
21:39
Commemorate that event it was announced in December of 2013 that Pharrell
21:46
had been nominated for seven Grammy Awards,
21:49
including Producer of the Year.
21:51
In the same month,
21:52
Pharrell signed a contract with Columbia Records and announced an album set to release in 2014 that would feature Happy.
22:02
For Happy,
22:03
Pharrell was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song.
22:08
In February of 2014,
22:11
Major Lazer announced they would be releasing the fifth...
22:15
a five-track EP entitled Apocalypse Soon on the 25th of that month.
22:22
The EP featured varied mad dissent and secretly Canadian featuring
22:30
Pharrell and
22:33
Sean Paul,
22:34
among others.
22:35
The first single off of the EP,
22:38
which featured Pharrell,
22:39
was entitled
22:41
Aerosol Can.
22:42
Pharrell contributed a verse too
22:45
Futures
22:46
February 2014 single
22:49
Drop That Dope which also featured Pusha T and Casino over production from Mike Will Made It.
22:58
On February 18 2014 Pharrell announced via Twitter that his second album Girl would be released on
23:08
March March 3,
23:09
2014.
23:12
The album was supported by
23:13
by a european concert tour dear girl tour at the
23:19
86th academy awards on march the 2nd 2014 pharrell song happy lost to let it go from frozen and it look look i understand the cultural phenomenon that that is frozen and i i guess i could see uh but that had to be a close race man happy.
23:42
You gotta understand,
23:44
a lot of kids were singing
23:46
Let It Go.
23:48
A few adults,
23:49
but it was more kids.
23:51
Everybody was singing Happy.
23:52
Kids,
23:53
adults,
23:54
elderly people.
23:56
I don't care if you was a Christian,
23:58
an atheist,
23:58
a Muslim.
23:59
I don't care what it was,
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black,
24:01
white.
24:02
Everybody was singing Happy.
24:04
Happy was just the song,
24:06
man.
24:06
Still,
24:07
still,
24:08
if it come on right now,
24:09
it does nothing but...
24:10
bring joy to your to your heart that is like the greatest song ever but that's just my my little rant on that but anyways uh afterwards when gq magazine asked pharrell how badly did he want to win that academy award he
24:27
responded when they read the results my face was frozen wink wink but then i then i thought about it and i just decided
24:38
to let it go anyways uh and you gotta love pharrell man at the uh awards that same year he wore a controversial outfit that a lot of people were tripping on which was kind of
24:53
I don't know.
24:54
It wasn't like he was butt naked.
24:56
He wore a tuxedo with shorts.
25:00
Like,
25:00
who cares?
25:01
You know,
25:02
but people,
25:03
they had an actual issue with that.
25:05
In May of 2014,
25:08
Pharrell received an Innovator Award at the iHeartRadio Music Awards.
25:14
In January of 2015,
25:17
Pharrell was announced
25:19
As the musical director of a seven continent live.
25:22
earth concert on june the 18th 2015 and this was to raise awareness about and to pressure governments to act on climate change on february the 8th 2015 pharrell made a cameo on an episode of the simpsons entitled walking big and tall where
25:45
he comes to springfield to write a new anthem for the town pharrell recorded
25:51
three songs for the soundtrack to the 2015 animated film the spongebob movie sponge out of water on may the 18th 2015 team pharrell had 16 year old sawyer fredericks
26:09
win the eighth season of the voice at the 2015 grammy awards pharrell performed an orchestrated rendition of happy with Hans Zimmer
26:20
penis
26:21
Ling Ling that included a tribute to the black live matter movement which I'm pretty sure just brought joy to the heart of all of the MAGA people running around and it was inspired by Eric Garner's death and the Ferguson unrest and
26:42
in case you don't remember what took place around that time involving Eric Garner and what took place in Ferguson.
26:49
Google it.
26:50
uh google it man i mean come on you shouldn't forget stuff like this uh i know it's seared into my brain unfortunately in 2015 a unanimous jury determined that blood line uh blood lines uh blurred
27:08
lines which pharrell co-wrote and produced was an infringement on the 1977 marvin gaye song
27:19
got to give it to you and this was a big thing around it i remember uh because i was like where are they getting this from and then when you listen to both of those songs yes you can hear the same kind of i
27:34
guess you could say notes or beats or whatever it's not i don't think it was plagiarism per se or uh done on purpose but i mean all songs are recycled but yeah it was done
27:49
It was determined that that song was infringing on the great Marvin Gaye song.
27:56
And look,
27:57
man,
27:58
the song never,
28:00
Blurred Lines never recovered from that lawsuit because it was sweeping the world by storm up to that point.
28:06
And then that lawsuit happened and it just went kaput.
28:10
The jury awarded the Marvin Gaye family
28:13
$7.4 million in damages for the copyright infringement.
28:17
infringement based on the profits generated by the song.
28:21
In October of 2015,
28:25
the Tesh School of Arts at
28:27
New York University named Pharrell as their artist in residence.
28:33
He gave the 2017 commencement address at the university and received an honorary doctor of fine arts degree on May the 17th,
28:44
2017.
28:47
In 2018,
28:49
Pharrell worked with Ariana Grande on her fourth studio album,
28:54
Sweetener.
28:56
He produced several songs on the album and is featured on the song,
29:00
Blazed.
29:02
In March of 2019,
29:04
Pharrell in the city of Virginia Beach announced the launch of a three-day music and cultural festival entitled
29:14
Something in the Water.
29:16
to be held during college beach weekend
29:19
April the 26th through the
29:21
28th at the Virginia Beach
29:24
Oceanfront. The festival's lineup included Travis Scott,
29:28
the Migos,
29:30
Jhene Mornay,
29:31
SZA,
29:34
Alexander Peck,
29:35
Lil Uzi Vert,
29:37
Missy Elliott,
29:38
Pusha T,
29:39
the Dave Matthews Band,
29:41
and many,
29:41
many more.
29:42
It was a...
29:43
I wish I would have went.
29:45
It was back.
29:47
The first day of the festival was canceled due to severe storms.
29:51
The Pharrell and Friends set that closed the festival's second day featured Pharrell in a lineup of guests such as
30:00
Jay-Z,
30:01
Diddy,
30:04
Busta Rhymes,
30:06
Usher,
30:06
Snoop Dogg,
30:07
Missy Elliott,
30:08
Timbaland,
30:10
Charlie Wilson,
30:12
Tyler the Creator.
30:14
yeah it was a
30:16
it was a heck of a final day the festival's final day featured trey songs chris brown little duvall swv blackstreet yeah it was a that was a fest man pharrell produced five songs for the
30:31
disney film the lion king the remake the quote-unquote live-action remake that came out in 2019 making his third contribution as composer wit on Zimmer
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In October of 2019,
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Pharrell stated that he regretted the 2013 song Blurred Lines,
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which received intense backlash for its appeal to apparent sexualizing that went on in the song,
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which that's all the song is.
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I don't know what the song is,
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but sexualized.
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But he has shown regret for that song.
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the pharrell life and career is the subject of the film that we're going to discuss in a couple of minutes piece by piece an animated documentary film which was released in 2024 and there was a film uh or at least there is a film was a film whatever the case may be a film loosely based on his life which is entitled golden and
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was filmed it actually was filmed
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and it was set to be released this year it was supposed to come out last month may the 9th of 2025 however the film was canceled by universal in february of 2025 prior to the film's end of entering post-production due to a
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disagreement with pharrell and other producers the film is permanently shelved and will not be offered to other studios which means
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that was just a waste of money that movie that movie will never see the light of day uh uh that feel um it's crazy it's kind of crazy because it had a cast bro it had a cast that movie was going uh uh calvin harris jr uh
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haley bailey uh divine joy rudolph uh michael tyree henry was in it janae mornay was in it
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missy elliott andre 3000 it was a stacked stack cast but they couldn't get along the studio in pharrell could not get along which is kind of weird because you know they did they
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did the uh piece by piece film so i don't understand what happened here but either way uh that is the little rundown history of uh pharrell's musical career
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his contribution to the genre I mean it ain't the genre because it spanned every genre every corner of the music industry whether it was hip-hop whether it was R&B whether it was pop whether is rock music whether it was I mean he went through all genres
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of music and has been successful in all genres of music the The dude is phenomenal.
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And
33:39
I.
33:39
am a huge super fan of pharrell and the neptunes you know i even go around i used to go around and aggravate my family with that neptune sound i used to just do it you know that was my thing yeah driving them crazy with it but i love pharrell's
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style you know i still love i'm talking like past tense like this is a uh uh in memoriam episode no the dude is still doing awesome work
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I'm just saying that,
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man,
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when he was really at the time,
34:13
when he was just putting out bangers after bangers after bangers,
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it was like,
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my God.
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Almost every other song,
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I just read out the statistics a while ago,
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how...
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Like every third song on the radio was either a Pharrell song or a song that he wrote and or produced.
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He was that inferential in the industry and he still is.
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And some of those songs that he wrote and produced and performed are still celebrated.
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Rather,
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he put them out in early
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2000s or just put them out a couple of years ago.
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They still are songs you can go back and listen to today.
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they don't
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seem dated and out of place or nothing like that is is just multi-generational man i love his music and his cousin it must be in the blood his cousin uh uh timbaland who i'm also a big fan of but pharrell
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he he did it just i mean globally bro i don't even know how to describe that young man and so with that being said since we ended on his doc
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documentary about his life let's review that film it is the 2024 biographical documentary comedy animated i should say piece
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by piece and it is a film that is co-written produced and directed by morgan neville and it was his debut and the film follows the life and career of american musician
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Pharrell Williams who stars in the film through the lens of Lego animation or brick film however you want to describe it and this is a unique way to tell this story and I think it was the
36:10
right way to tell it and I only felt that way after I watched it because when they uh showed the trailers or they talked about the production how they were gonna
36:22
release this film i'm like why are we getting a lego film about pharrell you know it just didn't make sense to me i was i was like man if you're gonna do a film just do the film you know a little documentary that's fine because i'm a documentary guy so i i love documentaries and
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just a standard documentary would have been suffice for me but okay you want to add this element to it all right but when you watch the movie and put it all in context
36:52
yeah it makes sense because the way this guy sees music he sees music you know and you can only display that through some form of animation or special effects and so they they settled on this animation style this lego style and it fit the tone of the movie and it fits the tone of
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the storytelling that we get from pharrell
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I really enjoyed the movie.
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If you're a Pharrell fan,
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if you love his music,
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you love him as a person,
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this is a great way to kind of celebrate him.
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The film features the voice talents of,
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and I say voice talents,
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but they're just playing themselves.
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And that is Gwen Stefani,
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Kendrick Lamar,
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Timbaland,
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Justin Timberlake,
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Busta Rhymes,
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Jay-Z,
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Snoop Dogg.
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They're all in this film.
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uh voicing their selves as these lego characters and honestly i had to watch this movie twice because when i went into it i just thought it was going to be a movie i didn't know this was a documentary you know because i'm expecting a lego movie to be honest with you i wasn't expecting a
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you know true storytelling documentary style lego film man so my first approach to it my first viewing of it.
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I didn't really get into it.
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You know,
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I was kind of confused by it because
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I thought it was something else.
38:25
And so when I rewatched it about a week ago in preparation for this show,
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I really enjoyed it more because
38:35
I knew what it was.
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And
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I'm saying all this because
38:39
I don't think this was marketed right.
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I don't think it was told to the audiences that,
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what type of movie this is you know it was kind of sold as a lego movie and not sold as a documentary at least that's the that's what i got from it there are some of you out there who probably did see it as that or saw it promoted like that but i didn't and so when i when i went into it i was so confused there for it
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you know i was so confused but i i'm glad that cooler hairs prevailed that's why I never reviewed it
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if you go back to past episodes you can't find a piece by piece review because i i i was confused by it i didn't it wasn't that i hated it
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And it wasn't because I liked it.
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I was so like,
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okay.
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And that was that.
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And so I never reviewed it.
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And when I decided to talk about Pharrell for this episode and dedication to Black Music Month,
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I said,
39:43
okay,
39:43
I'm going to go back and watch piece by piece and view it through better eyes or wiser eyes,
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you should say.
39:53
And
39:54
I enjoyed it even more.
39:57
uh the animation style is what it is is is lego style if you watch the lego movie the the lego batman movie and all of those lego movies i mean pick one there's a hundred of them um it's the same style same animation um
40:14
is entertaining in that sense uh the vibrant colors are just beautiful i love the colors i love the color palette of this uh film you know it
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It's appealing to youngsters and oldsters alike.
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You know,
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it's not just a kiddie film.
40:31
It's a really fun film to watch.
40:36
My only drawback to the movie is the fact that if you're not a fan of Pharrell,
40:41
if you're not a fan of this music genre that he is embedded in,
40:48
the movie's not going to appeal to you.
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It's not going to touch you.
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You know,
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the hopes is that you...
40:54
watch it and want to be a part of that you know what i'm saying want to watch you know start listening to that music and uh uh start looking into his life and looking into all the stuff that he's a part of but
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to be honest you you know a lot of people not because people are stuck in their ways and they're stubborn and they're not gonna uh uh jump on board the pharrell train but if you
41:23
are a fan of
41:25
Pharrell if you're a fan of this this genre of music whether it's hip-hop whether it's R&B or pop music or whatever the case may be this is a really fun exciting entertaining movie because you get some behind the scenes of how
41:44
Pharrell came to produce this or write this and how his upbringing brought him to this point
41:52
in his life and kind of shaped his music how uh stevie wonders uh listening to stevie wonder when he was younger influenced him so much to the point to where is he you know where he is right now and you got you know you look at somebody like a like
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a stevie wonder who who sees music yeah stevie Wonder is of course blind but you know the way he is
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musically inclined.
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It's like he sees music visually.
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And it's the same thing with
42:27
Pharrell. And this was a great showcase to show that.
42:33
You really couldn't do it in a live action form without using visual effects and all that good stuff.
42:39
So doing it in an animated Lego style form was kind of genius in a way.
42:46
My only...
42:47
my pushback a little bit uh aside from if you're not a fan of uh pharrell is the fact that it is a documentary and i know a lot of people aren't documentary people um so if you're not a documentary type person this
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is not going to be the film for you but if you like to learn more about a person's motivations and what what makes them tick and you know uh what
43:15
what's their process of coming up with this music or whatever form of art that they're associated with um yeah you you won't be appealed by it but this is truly a film
43:30
designed for fans of pharrell williams piece by piece which came out in 2024 gets a letter grade of a b minus yes it's a very well-made film and i thought it was entertaining uh
43:45
adding some comedy elements to it and you know some fantastical elements to it aside from it being a straightforward documentary type film it still have some entertaining elements as well but yes everybody it is black music month june of 2025 and today of course this month of course uh the kb radio network has chosen pharrell williams
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as their showcase artist for this month in celebration of the occasion.
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I would love to know,
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what is your favorite
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Pharrell song?
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what what what rather he produced it or was featured on it co-wrote it whatever the case may be what what what's your favorite pharrell slash in n-e-r-d a slash neptune song out there mines mines
44:43
it it's happy it's it's happy happy happy is the song that you put on when you're not in a good mood and for somebody like me who deals with mental health
44:54
who deals with anxiety and depression uh struggles with it and to put on happy to kind of get me out of the funk and it actually works that song actually works it's better than medication for me i
45:12
know a lot of people who are dealing with these afflictions they they're not so fortunate you know they do need the help of medication to help them throughout their
45:25
functions of everyday life and you know for them i i really sympathize and pray for them but for me even though i do take medicine i i still uh at times need a little pick me up and happy is the song to do it it's just one of the greatest feel-good songs of all time
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but that's just me i want to know your favorite pharrell williams song
45:52
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45:52
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45:55
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45:59
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46:01
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46:02
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46:04
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46:05
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46:06
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46:08
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46:09
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46:10
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46:15
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46:16
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46:17
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46:20
this video if you don't mind everybody thank you for joining me as we celebrate black music month june of 2025 as we showcase pharrell want you all to know that i love you continue to love everyone and until we speak again be
46:41
happy and be blessed