Pharrell Lanscilo Williams is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, entrepreneur, and fashion designer. Williams and Chad Hugo comprise the record production duo The Neptunes, producing hip hop and R&B music. He is the lead vocalist of the band N*E*R*D, that he formed with Hugo and childhood friend, Shay Haley. He released his first solo single, "Frontin'", in 2003 and followed up with his debut solo album, In My Mind, in 2006. His second album, Girl, was released in March 2014 and included the commercially successful single, "Happy". As part of the Neptunes, Williams has produced numerous singles for various recording artists.

Williams has earned ten Grammy Awards including two with the Neptunes. He is also a two-time Academy Award nominee, receiving a 2014 Best Original Song nomination for "Happy" (which was featured in Despicable Me 2) and a 2017 Best Picture nomination as one of the producers of Hidden Figures. Williams owns i am OTHER, a multimedia creative collective that serves as an umbrella for all of Pharrell Williams' endeavors, including Billionaire Boys Club.

Williams owns a non-profit organization called "From One Hand To AnOTHER" (FOHTA). FOHTA is an educational foundation. According to its website, its mission is to "change the world one kid at a time by giving them the tools and resources to meet their unique potential". FOHTA's vision is to modernize the community center concept by empowering kids to learn through new technologies, arts, media and motivation.

PHARRELL WILLIAMS TO HOST YELLOW BALL CHARITY, PERFORMANCE BY MISSY ELLIOTT

Pharrell has progressively stepped up his philanthropic efforts as his celebrity looms larger and larger. His most recent project is the Yellow Ball, a function going down on September 10 at the Brooklyn Museum. The occasion is intended to profit the Young Audiences Arts for Learning, an organization that advocates for the arts to be taught in school. He announced the gala today via Billboard.

The night will also feature a number of performances, including fellow Virginia legend, Missy Elliott. Art and fine dining will also be apart of the experience.

Pharrell shared his inspiration for the event in a recent interview. “Workmanship is to a great extent reducing all through the educational modules all through this nation, and we have to secure the innovative personality,” he said. “Everything around you right now as opposed to all that you’re utilizing, it’s simply not natural, it was somebody’s epiphany. That is imagination, that should be secured. In the event that we don’t have that, I don’t recognize what sort of future we have. We need to secure the craftsman network no matter what, over every single masterful teach.”

The super producer also embraced the new generation of artists and shared what he loves the most. “I love what they do and how they express themselves. It’s like these amazing pockets of lyrics or melodies that feel good to them,” he explained. “The music just takes on a direction of its own, it’s not so formatted. I love that this generation is just grabbing the instruments and using them in whatever way feels good to them. That’s just like a sign of how the times have changed.”

Pharrell has his hands in many pots these days, including fashion and footwear. His Adidas NMD Hu Solar Pack will drop soon; also he previewed an unreleased shoe with Three Stripes. This all comes in the wake of releasing an N.E.R.D. rendition of the Adidas NMD Hu in June. He also has triplets. What a busy man.

Pharrell Williams bans Trump from using his music as president plays ‘Happy’ after Pittsburgh shooting

Pharrell Williams has banned Donald Trump from using his music.

The singer’s lawyer sent a cease-and-desist letter to the president after he played his hit single ‘Happy“ at an event during the weekend, just hours after nearly a dozen people were killed in a Pittsburgh synagogue.

“On the day of the mass murder of 11 human beings at the hands of a deranged ‘nationalist,’ you played his song ‘Happy’ to a crowd at a political event in Indiana,” Howard King wrote in the letter, which has since been obtained by USA TODAY.

While noting that the deployment of the song was ill-timed, Williams’ lawyer also highlighted it was used in violation of “copyright infringement” and “trademark rights.”

King added: “There was nothing ‘happy’ about the tragedy inflicted upon our country on Saturday and no permission was granted for your use of this song for this purpose.”

According to the letter, Williams “will not” allow Trump to use music from his back catalogue at any future event.

Intertextuality

KILL BILL: VOL 1 AND 2

Not only is she fighting with a group of dudes who are clearly members of "Kill Bill" Tokyo gang the Crazy 88s, but Taylor's POV shot as she falls out the window is pretty much a perfect recreation of this low-angle view of Lucy Liu as O-Ren Ishii, right down to the chic haircut.
THE MATRIX

Multiple parts of the video could have been taken straight from the "Matrix" trilogy, as Taylor goes through the window in bullet-time slow motion and then goes on to kick ass in an outfit she clearly borrowed from Trinity's closet.
SIN CITY

A smashed classic car, a femme fatale, and that very particular font? Unmistakable.
DAREDEVIL

Don't pretend like Lena Dunham, a cigar, and a picture window don't say "Wilson Fisk" to you, too.
THE FIFTH ELEMENT

That iconic white bandage outfit from the 1995 sci-fi flick gets a second outing as Taylor retires to a healing pod to recover from her injuries.
THE HUNGER GAMES

This training center full of weaponry is clearly located in the Capitol. Look closely and you'll even see someone toting Katniss Everdeen's signature weapon...
AND SOMEONE ELSE SPORTING HER SIGNATURE HAIRSTYLE.

Nice braid, Tay Sway.
DIVERGENT

From knife-throwing to boxing, there's a whole lotta Dauntless biz going on here.
AEON FLUX

Um, Gigi Hadid clearly took this look straight from the classic vintage animated MTV series.
RIO

And hey, isn't that Luiz next to her?!
QUANTUM OF SOLACE

That invisible car belongs to a certain licensed killer from MI6 -- which makes Kendrick Lamar Taylor's personal Agent Q, I guess.
PROMETHEUS

Or maybe it's "Alien," or possibly "Star Wars," but we've definitely seen this hexagonal hallway somewhere before.
TRON

Just make sure you return the light bike with a full tank, mmkay?
SUCKER PUNCH

This definitely isn't the first time we've seen a cohort of hot pop stars dressed in bondage gear, strutting a fiery post-apocalyptic landscape like it's their own personal catwalk.
KINGSMAN

That blade protruding from a platform boot looks an awful lot like one of Gazelle's weaponized prosthetics.
JEM (THE 1980S CARTOON, NOT THE 2015 FEATURE FILM)

Media Language:

Camera Work:

Establishing Shots- Typical of a music video and of action adventure 'films'
Close Ups- Mainly of Taylor. Close ups of others, but Taylor is always in the background
Quick pan when they stab the teddy- exadurates the strong female image
Pan over Taylor's body- male camera. Sexualisation of female body

Editing:

Reflection of Taylor on the smashed glass- she's always on screen
Slow motion- mainly on Taylor- Keeps her on screen for longer
Use of CGI and Special FX- Adds to the atmosphere of the video
Split screen of Taylor and Kendrick
Fast Cuts throughout
Pixelated Fades- Shows reference to the technology

Mise-en-scene:

Low key Lighting with faces always visible- adds to the atmosphere
Dark costumes and make up add to the atmosphere and reflects the mood
Selena is seen in dark clothing when Taylor is in light- shows the protagonist and antagonist.
Taylor has both red hair and lipstick at the end- suggests danger
The setting is very mysterious as it has no windows and little light- Shows it as being hidden and a secret.
Costumes- Sexualised

Genre:

Highly edited, glossy, slick look to it- typical music video look.
Futuristic sci-fi style
The costumes, make up and setting are typical of a pop music video ( key to it)
Choreographed elements ( not dancing)
Artist gets lots of screen time
Quick editing and fast pace reflects the song

Audience:

Makes the audience feel powerful and strong after watching the video- Feel empowered
Feel like you're part of the team
Female strength message- empowerment
Audience feels moments of tension throughout
Young audience can aspire to be like Taylor and her team/girls
Enjoyment from watching the video as it's like a mini movie

Narrative:

Taylor was once weak (falling through the window) now she's regaining power throughout the video
Intertextuality-references to Divergent, Hunger Games, Tron, Sin City and more. CGI & Special FX suggest that there will be a fight or action in the video.
Weapons create a clear message on what's happening
Taylor is pushed out the window- You take her side.
Her teams faces are visible- Shows friendship and trust- Close ups show they are the good side
Selena's team all have their faces covered- shown as bad- don't support or connect with them.
CGI and Special FX tell us that there will be a fight.

Representation:

A-typical representation- shown as strong & violent throughout.
Still certain aspects are stereotypical- Putting on lipstick and wearing heels
Shown as feminine through their appearance
Shown as equal to men- split screen showing Taylor is equal to Kendrick
Empowering Females
Star Image- Strong, Edgy image

Bad Blood analysis

In my opinion Bad Blood is an empowering song focused on women expressing the power they have. this becomes clear as we see the range of stars we might know from other forms of media, like movies and TV shows. there are also many of Taylor swifts famous friends highlighting the idea of female empowerment as she is promoting female friendships which goes against the commonly seen stereotype in Hollywood saying that female friendships aren't genuine. The familiarity we get from the known stars is extended to the intertextuality of the music video where we can see hints of movies like "the hunger games" as well as "divergent" in both of which we see powerful women saving others. this extends to Prop's theory where the main character is seen as the hero. we see this in Bad Blood with Taylor Swift acting as the hero of the narrative.

Many people would disagree and say that women are being sexualized. Which is supported my Laura Mulvey's theory of the male gaze, saying that the camera is the male gaze and even if the director is a women the male gaze will still be present. However, i believe that women can be both sexy and powerful without being sexualized. this is because i believe that taylor swift is promoting female sexuality and is encoureging women to take back their power saing that we should be able to wear what we want and feel good about ourselves withought it being a form of us presenting ourselves to men.