*Pharrell Williams is helping redefine masculinity in the latest issue of GQ, which, judging by his cover (see below), involves rocking euro-blode hair and wearing campy ball gown capes.
Are you with it, Black men?
In his GQ cover story, the musician reflected on the controversy surrounding his track “Blurred Lines” with Robin Thicke — with lyrics many deemed “rapey” — but the singer/rapper admits he didn’t understand the criticism initially– here’s why:
“I didn’t get it at first. Because there were older white women who, when that song came on, they would behave in some of the most surprising ways ever,” Pharrell, 46, shared. “And I would be like, wow. They would have me blushing. So when there started to be an issue with it, lyrically, I was, like, ‘What are you talking about?’ There are women who really like the song and connect to the energy that just gets you up. And I know you want it — women sing those kinds of lyrics all the time. So it’s like, What’s rapey about that?”
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.@Pharrell covers GQ’s New Masculinity issue, an exploration of identity, culture, and style in 2019: https://t.co/4W0UkG3ndE pic.twitter.com/tRwzm5F1PR
— GQ Magazine (@GQMagazine) October 14, 2019
But when Pharrell realized that toxic men use similar language with women, he understood the backlash surrounding the tune.
“… it doesn’t matter that that’s not my behavior. Or the way I think about things. It just matters how it affects women,” he said. “And I was like, ‘Got it. I get it. Cool.’ My mind opened up to what was actually being said in the song and how it could make someone feel. Even though it wasn’t the majority, it didn’t matter. I cared what they were feeling too.
“I realized that we live in a chauvinist culture in our country. Hadn’t realized that. Didn’t realize that some of my songs catered to that.”
The acclaimed music producer also dished about the career defining moment that occurred when he released “Happy.”
“That made me cry. It literally made me cry. Like, I was on the ‘Oprah’ show for my birthday, and she showed me a video of people around the world singing that song, and that s–t f–ked me up,” he said. “Bad. I was never the same. So I don’t beat on my chest.
“I haven’t been the same since any of that music.”
Last year, Thicke and Pharrell were ordered to pay Marvin Gaye’s family $5 million for “Blurred Lines” because of its similarity to his 1977 single “Got to Give It Up.”
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