Mr Pharrell Williams has been in the music industry since '92 but didn't really break into the scene till 98' with the help of Ma$e. He met is business partner and long time buddy Chad, when they were both 12 in a music workshop.
Ever since they've been together they have produced some of the biggest Hip-Hop and R&B songs known to today. His album 'In My Mind', was released in 2006 and was his first album, from the album he was released three singles from it, which improved record sales and made his bank account a whole lot bigger.
:::::::::: Tracks :::::::::::
The album doesn't actually have an intro track, which I thought was kinda weird but nether-the-less the first track was:
1. +++Can I Have It Like That? Ft. Gwen Stefani+++
I don't know if I was the only one, but when this track was released from the album, I was really disappointed because it was crap. Stefani's only role in this song was to say 'Can I have it like that'?, which was a real waste because she has so much talent and this song does nothing to back it up. Pharrell is no better in the song, but the credit i will give him is that the bongo drums lead the song which makes it sounds ok-ish. Poor effort
2. +++How Does It Feel+++
Fast track, the intro starts with Pharrell speaking Spanish which is cool. The snare drum in the back stands out and gives the song the edge, and you can really here Chad going crazy on the korg when the chorus comes up.
3. +++ Raspy Shit+++
I loved this track, I thought it was different because when it first begins your introduced to a cow bell and a bass guitar, the lyrics are slick: 'Ma the way you huggin on me is a problem what the fuck you tryin' to end up in the gossip column’, I loved that sentence because I can imagine the amount of women who just throw
themselves at him just to literally make it in the news, which I thought was funny.
4. +++Best Friend+++
I had mixed feelings on this track because I didn't completely love it but then I didn't hate it. It was just in the middle. The lyrics aren't anything special, in verse three it has the same backing on Oukast's 'Miss Jackson', with the decks being round back. Ok-ish
5. +++ You Can Do It Too Ft. Jamie Cullum+++
This track is a message to the youth, saying that even if you live in a rubbish area, or sell drugs and think you have nothing going for you, 'you can do it too'. Pharrell, if you listen to the lyrics carefully is talking about his childhood and how he managed to not become another statistic and make something of himself. Good track, thought provoking lyrics. And it features English bred Jamie Cullum on the track sings right at the end 'Don't be afraid to look up in the Sky'
6. +++Keep It Playa Ft. Slim Thug+++
Snare drum introduces you to a two beat rhythm on a medium tempo. Slim thug brings the Texas feel to this song and turns it into a nice little song. There's a small 5-second slot when Pharrell raps over a beat boxer that sounds real cool. 'Keep It Playa' from what I understood is if a girl comes into your life don't over do it and buy her expensive things because she's going to up and leave you and take the things you bought her... along with a few of yours.
I adored this song as soon I heard it. The song was released from the album and did really well on the top 100 chart in the USA. In the video Pharrell's new love interest (played by Lauren London) is going through his phone and looking at all the girl's pictures and numbers he's collected, and Pharrell's just dreamily staring at her saying that even though he's got hundreds of girl's numbers he only wants one special girl. Snoop Dogg in the development stage had some kind of input because this track is well suited to him and his lyrics 'All these memories breed seeds of a rhythm rhyme pleaser' is classic Snoop lyric. If you liked Snoop and Pharrell's work in the past this song will become your best mate.
8. ++Angel++
This is another song released off the album, but was a year before the album actually was. It didn't do as well as 'That Girl' and 'Number One', but nether-the-less it here it is anyway. The beat starts straight away and pharrell's first lyrics are 'She got an ass like loaf of bread', which cracked me up because I didn't know what to make of it and I still don't. The piano is heavily used in the song, which is nice because The Neptune’s usually use too much keyboard which just gives it that achy sound. I found it sounded better with just Pharrell on this track, I think if anyone had featured on it, it wouldn’t have to same feel. It's a very nice feel good track, definitely a feel good track.
9. +++Young Girl / I Really Like You Ft. Jay Z+++
Gosh, this song is unnecessarily long!! It's full length is 8:13 and I found that it just dragged on and on, and the sound of Pharrell's voice towards the end just grates on you and gave me a headache. The notoriously known rapper Jay Z, I think didn't do enough on this track, and if they had actually tried they could have been a good production, but they failed miserably. The drums lead the song and you can also hear alot of string instruments which does the job well. The full song is split into two, and about halfway through cuts into the next song which I didn't understand, to say Jay Z AND Pharrell, two of hip-hop's biggest producers I was extremely disappointed in the end result.
10. +++Take It Off (Dim the Lights)+++ My favourite track off the whole album! Very Sexy, Very slow, Very nice!!! Pharrell is singing over a slow tempo, which is accompanied with a beautiful three beat clap. The title of the song is referring to a young woman taking off her clothes (as if you didn’t know), A perfect slow song to dance to.
11. +++Stay With Me Ft. Pusha+++
This song is one of the rare ones that really make you feel good inside! It's upbeat tempo makes you wanna dance on table with a bottle of tequila, (maybe that’s just me) I think this would do well if they decided to release it separately from the album. Very nice work Mr Williams!
12. +++Baby Ft. Nelly+++
Nelly’s southern drawl really was very perceptible in this song and didn’t do much for me. I think it they moved the tempo up to like 180 then it would be a worthy dance track. The bass beat I thought was going to break out and go into something a bit slow or deeper but it didn’t plus it sounds like the beat from Timbalnd, Nelly Furtado and JT ‘Give It To Me’ just without the flirty touch to it. Bit of a disappointment after ‘Stay with me’ and ‘Take It Off’
13. +++Our Father+++
When I first saw the title of the song I was a bit unsure what to expect because it’s not usually Pharrell’s style to do a religious or gospel song so I was a kinda excited but a bit weary on how it would turn out. ‘you're the greatest (Jesus is my daddy I’m telling you’), Either Pharrell has become hugely big headed and started to compare himself with Jesus or this song was so whack he had to hide it by covering it with Jesus. The beat is rubbish and doesn’t stick out like a few other tracks do. 2/10
Mr West!! Mr controversy burst onto the scene in 01 and has been causing trouble ever since. This is a typical Kanye song and with him producing it with Pharrell is just pure genius and it pays off big time. It’s a brilliant song; production wise and the video (directed by Hype Williams) just killed it. I love the bass guitar in the background that accompanies the drums perfectly. This really is how I remember music when I was younger and if there were more tracks like this around I think Nas wouldn’t have had to release ‘Hip-Hop is Dead’.
15. +++Show You How To Hustle Ft. Lauren+++
I have never heard of Lauren and if this is her first song it’s nothing wonderful. Pharrell I think must have decided to try a new rapping technique because he sounds like Travis McCoy from Gym Class Heros. The story is about drugs and pimping which didn’t really surprise me, an organ is played heavily through out the song and gives it a gothic feeling which shows Pharrell can use and experiment with different genres of music, not just hip-hop, even though this wasn’t a success he still tried.
+++-Conclusion-+++
This album for me was a bit of a disappointment. I don’t know if my standards were too high or if Pharrell just released a load of crap and expected people to buy it. Because I’ve been tracking Pharrell’s music for as long I can remember I know what he is capable of and this album really does nothing to show his true music ability. I think this album has a few good tracks but most of the songs I think should be at a much higher quality. I wouldn’t recommend you to buy it unless you really are a fan of Pharrell or have a lot of money to waste, but I still praise Pharrell for his work he has done in the past and hopefully this album will just become a hitch when looked back.
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A sort of King Midas of the US pop firmament, as one half of hit-making cartel The ... more
Neptunes and a founding member of NERD, Pharrell Williams boasts a remarkable track record. Roughly one half hip-hop and one half R&B,In My Mindfollows the magic formula...
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A sort of King Midas of the US pop firmament, as one half of hit-making cartel The ... more
Neptunes and a founding member of NERD, Pharrell Williams boasts a remarkable track record. Roughly one half hip-hop and one half R&B, In My Mind follows the magic formu...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
Can I Have It Like That ft Gwen Stefani How Does It Feel? Raspy Shit Best Friend You Can ... more
Do It Too Keep It Playa ft Slim Thug That Girl ft Snoop Dogg Angel Young Girl ft Jay Z/I Really Like You Dim The Lights Stay With Me ft Pusha T Baby ft Nelly Our F...
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A sort of King Midas of the US pop firmament, as one half of hit-making cartel The ... more
Neptunes and a founding member of NERD, Pharrell Williams boasts a remarkable track record. Roughly one half hip-hop and one half R&B, In My Mind follows the magic formu...
Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
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