Pharrell Williams is a creative force, using music, fashion, and design to express his distinctive style. From his beginnings as a teenage prodigy and multi-instrumentalist in Virginia Beach in the early ’90s, through enough hits to earn him Billboard’s Producer of the Decade in 2010, to his current status as multimedia superstar, Williams continues to be an innovator. Starting his producing career as one half of The Neptunes with Chad Hugo, Williams has helped create such classics as Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky,” Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines,” Nelly’s “Hot in Herre,” Jay-Z’s “I Just Wanna Love U (Give it 2 Me),” Britney Spears’s “I’m A Slave 4 U,” and Justin Timberlake’s “Like I Love You.” Over four albums, Williams and Hugo along with Shae Haley created an unpredictable hybrid as part of the alt-rock/hip-hop group N.E.R.D.
With over 100 million copies of his productions sold, his numerous awards and honors include seven Grammy Awards (including 2004’s and 2014’s “Producer of the Year”), ASCAP’s prestigious Golden Note Award in 2012, and a 2014 Academy Award Nomination for his original song “Happy” featured in the animated film Despicable Me 2.
His prolific body of work also ranges from designing a sculpture with Tokyo-born artist Takashi Murakami to accessories and jewelry for luxury goods brand Louis Vuitton, to T-shirts for Japanese mega-brand Uniqlo, to Adidas sportswear and to the forthcoming perfume collaboration with Comme des Garcons.
Williams is also a noted humanitarian and, in 2008, he founded From One Hand To AnOTHER aka FOHTA, a foundation focused on supporting the Pharrell Williams Resource Centers’ learning programs for underserved youth in at-risk communities across the nation. Williams partnered with the United Nations Foundation to celebrate the International Day of Happiness inspiring individuals all over the globe to demonstrate their unique “happy.” Now, with his latest venture i am OTHER — a multimedia creative collective that serves as an umbrella for all his endeavors, including Billionaire Boys Club & ICECREAM apparel, textile company Bionic Yarn and a dedicated YouTube channel — Williams’s vision continues to push pop culture forward.
