I was sitting at Zapatisto's, a Mexican restaraunt in Chicago, with some close friends when I mentioned that I had recently been bumping Pharrell's Out Of My Mind LP, which is a remix project of his In My Mind LP handled by the Yessirs (Ahmir "?uestlove" Thompson and James Poyser). The record company heard the new album, but decided not to release it. ?uestlove leaked it anyway.
So like I was saying, I was sitting amongst friends with my beef bean burrito and extra sour cream when I said...
"Pharrell can sing."
Forks stopped shoveling.
Servers stopped refilling.
The world came to an end.
The glances that were piercing my head made me question if I said Marvin Gaye instead of the Virginia Beach native. So I said it again for the group. They were astonished. I think my better half was embarrassed for me. But I stood by my statement then, and I'll stand by it now. I think Pharrell can sing. Now he's not a strong singer, but he can sing. As a musician, he's phenomenal. Together as the Neptunes with his partner Chad Hugo, Pharrell makes very innovative and fantastic work (I wish I had better adjectives to describe it). Basically, I'm a fan.
"But Donnie, he CAN'T sing!"
No, the answer is that he can't sing falsetto. When he brings it down an octive, dude can hold his own. He's not the best, but he's good. Good enough. And dude has an ear for vocal arrangements. Rumor has it there's a version of Justin Timberlake's Justified album sung by Pharrell. And if you listen to Justin sing it, you can hear Pharrell's adlibs and style. Missy Elliot, another great vocal arranger who isn't a strong singer, does the same thing when she works with other artists ("Steelo" by 702).
His voice fits with Neptune production like Slum Village fits with Jay Dee. Below you will find just a few* examples of Pharrell at his best vocally. Some tracks he's featured, others he's just playing the background.
Pharrell "Take It Off" (f/ The Yessirs) // Out Of My Mind (2007)
N*E*R*D* "Yeah You" // Seeing Sounds (2008)
Alana Davis "New Glasses" (f/ Pharrell)
* Unfortunately I misplaced my first two N*E*R*D* albums, so there won't be any examples from In Search Of... and Fly Or Die.
2 comments:
I agree. Pharrell is not the best singer. But his voice fits the neptunes production style perfectly. Just like how dudley perkins and macy gray are far from great. But somehow their soul shines thru the music.
To add to that. People hate on mos def's melodic tendencies. But I rather enjoy it when he sings. Once again, that raw soul. Like hearing somebody sing at church. You know they'll neva go platinum. But their voice gives you the "tingalies". It just feels good.
Post a Comment