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.
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00:00Yo, yo, it's Pharrell.
00:01I'm going undercover on the internet with GQ.
00:04It's actually me, for real.
00:13Reddit.
00:16BasemanSpiff944 says,
00:19what discipline of art would Pharrell compete
00:22if it got reintroduced to the Olympics?
00:24I don't know that I would compete
00:25because I never really felt like
00:26I was good enough for anything.
00:28If I had to compete with any of them,
00:29it would be music,
00:30although I'd probably get smoked by so many people.
00:33The Olympics is about like the best of the best
00:36for the next four years.
00:37The planet's best.
00:39Planet's best should also include the mind.
00:41The mind is a muscle as well.
00:43Post it.
00:44Then there's me ordering McDonald's in Paris.
00:48You guys can watch that on your own time.
00:50Yes, it's true that I got fired from three McDonald's.
00:54The narrative that Shay, you know,
00:56that I was like stealing nuggets.
00:58I wasn't stealing nuggets.
00:59Was I eating on the job?
01:00Sure.
01:01Is that a form of stealing?
01:01Sure.
01:02Or was it dealing nuggets?
01:05Okay.
01:05I would like make my own sandwiches
01:08the way that I wanted to.
01:09I would make them piece by piece.
01:10Literally, I'm not even saying that.
01:12I had like the most bangingest like version of a burger.
01:18Should I share it right now, Amanda, or should I wait?
01:21So you take the bun from the fish filet.
01:23You toast it first,
01:25but then you put it back in the steamer.
01:27So it's toasted already,
01:29but then when you put it in the fish filet steamer,
01:31then you steam it.
01:32Now it's like the softest thing in the world.
01:35Obviously the quarter pounder, you do it well done.
01:37Crispy lettuce, mayo.
01:39You take the sweet and sour sauce,
01:42put it together, slice it in half.
01:45It's the best.
01:48Next.
01:50Today I learned that Pharrell Williams
01:52requires a framed picture of Carl Sagan
01:54in his dressing room.
01:55It's false.
01:56It's just what my team likes to do.
01:58They think it's funny.
02:00Next.
02:00I thought he was religious.
02:01Why would he dig Sagan?
02:03Carl spoke religiously about the universe.
02:09To me, the universe is God.
02:11In a lot of ways,
02:12spirituality speaks very clear to the essence of science.
02:16Start talking about the first cause,
02:19the way the universe came to be.
02:21What was their first?
02:22The three monotheistic religions
02:24tend to agree with the origin of the Big Bang.
02:28There was light.
02:29And there's just so much that we don't understand.
02:31We talk about dimensions, right?
02:33Like what's the fourth dimension
02:34and what's the fifth dimension?
02:36Do they not exist because we can't perceive them?
02:38And I'm willing to bet
02:39there's more to what we don't know and understand.
02:43Next.
02:44Why does Pharrell like Despicable Me franchise so much?
02:47Duh, they pay me, bitch.
02:49No, I'm kidding.
02:51No, because Chris Meledandri
02:53walked me into the animation world
02:56and it's just changed my life,
02:57especially being a kid that loved cartoons so much.
03:00So that's why I have to thank this woman named Kathy Nelson,
03:03who was the one who introduced me to Chris.
03:05I also scored that first one as well with Ator Pereira.
03:08And we have a new one
03:09that you will remember in this interview
03:12in a couple of years.
03:12You'll be like, yo,
03:13that was the first time you talked about it,
03:15but it's insane.
03:16When I tell you insane, insane.
03:19And that's because me and him
03:21connected through animation like this.
03:24Let's check X.
03:29Went to the cinema and saw a trailer for Pharrell's biopic.
03:32In Lego?
03:33Sure, why not?
03:34Which will apparently feature new music from him.
03:36So my question is,
03:37will we finally be getting that mythical RM-Pharrell collab
03:41that was teased forever ago?
03:43You have to ask RM.
03:44What I was gonna put it out on,
03:46I changed gears and ended up
03:47doing something completely different.
03:49So all the music that I have
03:50from all the different collaborations
03:52for that project are there.
03:54The songs were great,
03:56but the project itself I felt like wasn't right.
04:00Next.
04:01Hobiecore.
04:02Okay, is Hobiecore coming?
04:03The anticipation continues.
04:06And I think this is a real spoiler.
04:08I'll tell you, okay?
04:11I said prepare.
04:12You know, you look at your little comments and shit
04:15and people were like,
04:16what was gonna happen?
04:18What happened?
04:19Prepare for what?
04:21You see it now, bitch.
04:23Next.
04:24The conspiracy theory that Pharrell Williams is a vampire
04:26really freaks me out.
04:28Cool.
04:29Keep some garlic on you.
04:30All right, let's see some YouTube comments.
04:35Actually, when it comes to the comments,
04:37you gotta come up for air sometimes, you know?
04:40Or you could really go down like a rabbit hole
04:42of like hysteria and wake up one day
04:45just eating couch filler.
04:49I was just researching
04:50if they ever did do a collab and they haven't.
04:52Dude, I need to feast on whatever they cook.
04:55Yeah, this was like five or six years ago.
04:57This was before the pandemic, I think.
04:59In the N.E.R.D. days,
05:00I wanted him to produce one of the records
05:02or what he calls himself as the great producer.
05:05I wanted him to do that,
05:06but it was like a timing game and we weren't able to do it.
05:08I would love to go back and find records
05:11that they may have,
05:14that Rick may have made with like Run DMC
05:19or like the Beastie Boys that they never released
05:23or like make new tracks out of that.
05:25I've never worked with him before,
05:27but that's what I would love to do if I could.
05:28Next.
05:38The target audience is for people who are curious
05:42and wanna go on a journey
05:43and who appreciate the luxury and the details.
05:46Look, at the heart of anything that I do is curiosity.
05:49It should make some people uncomfortable at times
05:52because then it means it's new.
05:53Post it.
05:56Instagram.
05:58What was the pressure like to fill the shoes
06:00at LV for Virgil?
06:02You can't fill the shoes of a legend.
06:05I have my own shoes.
06:06There's a very famous photo of myself, him,
06:11Virgil and Kanye,
06:12and they're both wearing the sunglasses
06:14that I did for LV 20 years ago.
06:17I could never fill his shoes.
06:18He has his own.
06:20I'm just honored to be a part of the history, period.
06:23Okay.
06:24Wikipedia.
06:27Other names.
06:28Skateboard P, Skateboard, Auto Goon,
06:30Burb Lord, Station Wagon P.
06:34Yellow Lightning.
06:37Now on to Cora.
06:41Hey, is it me?
06:42Or like, is it full-on demolition in the neighborhood
06:46plus helicopter above right now?
06:49I feel like we on fucking Call of Duty.
06:51How were Pharrell Williams, BBC,
06:54and Ice Cream Brands started?
06:55This guy, Steve Stout, gave me this awesome opportunity
06:59to make a sneaker with Reebok.
07:01Right around that time, I was meeting with Nigo,
07:03and I knew that I wanted to do something with BBC,
07:07this crazy idea that I had in Ice Cream,
07:09and Nigo really just helped me organize the idea.
07:13I knew what I wanted for my logo.
07:14I worked with his artist to create it.
07:16It was just really me and Nigo.
07:18And Nigo's the GOAT.
07:19You already know.
07:21Post it.
07:22Okay, TikTok.
07:26If he could give creative advice
07:28to a younger version of himself,
07:30back when he was just getting started,
07:31I wonder what he'd say.
07:33I wouldn't give myself any advice
07:35because I wouldn't be where I am right now.
07:38Life literally is like a domino effect.
07:40Every time you change anything,
07:42it completely takes you on a different course.
07:45The creative advice that I would give,
07:47write down all your fears, your flaws, your insecurities,
07:50the guilt, the pressures.
07:51Look at them on a list.
07:53Know they're all distractions.
07:55Once you do that,
07:56you will experience your life uninterrupted.
07:59That is the most important thing that you can do
08:01for your creativity,
08:03is to eliminate all the distractions.
08:05Period.
08:06Post it.
08:06That's it.
08:08I'm hanging off the internet.
08:09This was fun.
08:11And that's it.