In Search Of... Pharrell Williams

by Paul Lester

First substantial overview of the life and career of Pharrell Williams, the foremost producer of the modern era, and performer in his own right. It follows him from his days growing up in Virginia, his meeting with musical partner Chad Hugo and formation of The Neptunes, through his collaborations with the great and the good of pop, rap and R&B, including Jay-Z, Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Usher, Snoop Dogg, Gwen Stefani, Nelly and Kelis. It assesses his ground-breaking work with the radical rap-rock-pop band N*E*R*D, and his emergence as a solo superstar via Daft Punk's Get Lucky, Robin Thicke's controversial Blurred Lines and global mega-hit Happy. It delves behind the immaculate facade to find out what makes Williams one of the most driven and inventive musicians of the last 20 years.

Genres: Music, Biography

256 pages, Paperback

First published August 10, 2015

Reviews

[Grace Taldone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was nothing really more than just okay. It was well written, but was also hard to follow at times. I caught myself confused at many times, because there was so much going on at the same time. I agree with the other Goodreads review, about how the book was just a rundown of his life. At times in the book it was hard to stay concentrated, because I felt it was kind of repetitive and at times just boring.
At the same time, it did have its interesting parts. It taught me many things about Pharrell that I never knew. This book starts all the way back when Pharrell was just a kid. It explained how he got into music, who he first collaborated with, and how he was inspired to continue his music career after many times of being shot down. I also enjoyed the many quotes that were included with each topic that was talked about in the book. These were quotes from Pharrell’s family, friends, colleagues, and from Pharrell himself. Something that was kind of neat in this book, was the pictures that were included in the book. The first area of pictures was mainly Pharrell at the beginning of his career, and the second set of pictures were all more recent. In these pictures it included his Grammy’s, his time at the Voice, his family, and many more.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading autobiographies. Like I said earlier this is a book of basically just a run down of Pharrell’s life. To people who would like to learn the ins and outs of his career this is also the book for you. This book could also be a motivator to people who are struggling in the music career. I say this because it shows that with a little motivation anyone can continue to push through the hard times, and maybe make it as big as Pharrell did.

[Neil Briscoe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I went into this book knowing almost nothing about Pharrell and little of his music. I did know that there was a lawsuit against Pharrell and Robin Thicke over the copyright of a Marvin Gaye song which I feel this book could've had a little bit more information on. There is a lot of interviews used in this book which gives you the impression that you are getting a very good insight into what makes Pharrell tick but at a second glance you realise that in the interviews he can be very secretive. I am confused by other reviews here hassling the writing, I found no problem there and found it a quick and easy read that is very interesting at the same time.

[Miranda Moberg Diaz · Rating 1 out of 5]

Love Pharrell but worst book ever. Horrible writing, and the story isn't much more than a rundown of who he's collaborated with and what songs he's done.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!