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.
