PicoBlog

This week, Pharrell unveiled his new collection as the Creative Director for Louis Vuitton’s menswear collection.

He’s only the 2nd Black person in history to hold the position. The first one was Virgil Abloh.

In short, this was a historic moment in fashion and Black culture.

Pharrell’s ascent over the years has been astronomical. From being 1/2 of the Neptunes to becoming the symbol of counterculture in Hip-hop and even an ad agency owner, he’s one of Hip-hop’s greatest icons.

So today’s piece dedicated to none other than Skateboard P — a legend in two games like he’s Pee Wee Kirkland.

This is LONG post today, so grab some coffee (or smoke one, if you prefer).

From streetwear to high fashion Pharrell’s impact on the culture can’t be overstated. Much of what we see today can be attributed to him, especially Hip-hop’s adoption of international streetwear brands like Bape (founded by Nigo, who we see below).

Nigo is widely considered one of the founding fathers of streetwear and has been one of Pharrell’s creative partners for much of his creative career.

In fact, one of the shirts from Pharrell’s new Louis Vuitton Collection says “I Know Nigo” — an homage to his friend who is a pillar in the fashion community.

Nigo started Bape (aka A Bathing Ape) in 1993, and it became one of the most popular apparel brands in Japan. He was always a fan of Hip-hop culture and wanted to make inroads in the American market. To do so, he reached out to none other than Pharrell.

By the mid-2000s, you could routinely see Pharrell, and even the artists he worked with, wearing Bape Clothing which was known for its camo look that came in various colors.

Bape became so popular that by 2005 it was a staple amongst Hip-hop artists. Their signature shoe, "The Bapesta," even became a staple culturally.

(Fun Fact: when I was in school if you had Bapestas that meant you had some money. Those joints were $300. See below).

In 2003, Pharrell’s friendship with Nigo would turn into another venture in the streetwear space. The two fashionistas officially partnered together to create two fashion lines that would dominate the early 2000s:

BBC was primarily focused on apparel, and Ice Cream focused on sneakers, and both made their debut commercially in the video for Pharrell’s single “Frontin” and by 2004. They formally introduced Ice Cream sneakers to the market via a partnership with Reebok (seen in the clip below).

At a time where most rappers were focused on major fashion houses like Gucci, BBC brought a different perspective on clothing that was bright & colorful. Their items were also priced like high fashion items giving them an air of exclusivity. All of which helped the brand’s legend grow in the streetwear community.

Nigo had made his mark with Bape, but like any creative, he wanted to push the boundaries with a new vis ID and philosophy. That’s why in 2010 he decided to sell of Bape and focus on a new apparel brand named Human Made. Naturally, Pharrell was a part of that new venture.

Human Made sells everything from t-shirts to rugs, and the items are reasonably priced — all in line with Nigo’s design philosophy. And with Pharrell in the mix, that led to another brand partnership that rocked streetwear:

A few years after Human Made was created, Pharrell formed a partnership with Adidas that continued his run in the sneaker world.

Adidas had just announced a new silhouette called the NMD in 2015, and knowing they’d need an authentic cultural co-sign for it to be successful, they released their first shoe collab with Pharrell.

To date, the first NMD x Pharrell shoe garners thousands of dollars on sneaker retail sites, according to NikeBot.com. And, as part of the partnership, Pharrell & Nigo release Human Made Adidas collabs too.

The picture below is from the first run of those shoes, and honestly, they had the game in a chokehold, especially the pair in the middle.

Pharrell encouraged an entire generation to embrace being different & that started with music production.

In 1992, Chad Hugo & Pharrell Williams combined to make music under the moniker The Neptunes. By 2003, they were responsible for 43% of the songs that played on the radio. 

Their production was distinct. It was minimalistic and percussive, and defined by a signature instrument that was immediately recognizable — the Clavinet (and the Korg Triton, for my music production folks).

Culturally, they introduced artists and sounds that defined the 2000s on 3 different levels:

Pusha T & No Malice (formerly known as Malice) are widely regarded as one of Hip-hop’s greatest groups. In the earlier SNOBHOP piece on Pusha T we mentioned that the Clipse are widely regarded as the pioneers of coke rap, but we didn’t mention that they grew up with The Neptunes who eventually became their main producers.

The Neptunes produced Clipse records like Grindin,’ which is still referenced to this date. The beat sounds like the one many kids would make using pencils on the lunch table growing up and elicits a ton of chatter on social media.

In later years, Pharrell & The Clipse would even reference how everyone was copying the wave that they ushered in on the record “Mr. Me Too.” — from Bape, to benzes the trends were started by them and they had to let the world know.

Pharrell & Chad’s unmistakable sound created a slew of hit records for Hip-hop’s biggest artists. In the process, the records along with their visuals helped usher in new cultural codes.

Drop it Like It’s Hot became a cultural phrase. As did the lyrics from Kelis’ record Milkshake, and Jay-Z’s Excuse Me Miss.

Pharrell’s debut album “In My Mind” showed his range as a vocal artist, but more importantly, it reaffirmed just how different he was from the mainstream.

The art direction for the album (designed by Nigo) inspired the next generation, and even 20 years later Brent Faiyaz actually used the same style for his record with Drake (produced by The Neptunes).

After an epic production run in the early 2000s, Pharrell began another run in the 2010s when he produced “Get Lucky” for Daft Punk. However that was just a prelude of what was to come.

In 2014, he dropped a song he recorded for Despicable Me 2 named “Happy” took the world by storm.

It went mega viral.

In fact, it went so viral that it has over 1.1 billion views on YouTube, UGC created in over 153 countries, and it led to the world’s first -ever 24 hour music video.

Also, in 2001, Pharrell & Chad formed Star Trak Entertainment in partnership with Arista Records.

It was the home of their artists Kelis, Robin Thicke, and Chester French — artists who changed the musical landscape at a time when Gangsta rap was running the airwaves. (Ja Rule/Murder Inc. was on a crazy run and 50 Cent was about to hit the scene in 2003).

However the biggest shift happened when N.E.R.D. hit the scene.

The release of their debut album “In Search Of…” along with its aesthetic made it cool for Black youth to identify Punk culture & lean away from what society was serving up to them. And, in the process, they brought a new sub-culture to the forefront.

Rockstar is a perfect example of that? Y’all should remember, but if not give a listen.

Pharrell fans know that one of his many aliases is Skateboard P.

At a time when there wasn’t a light on Black youth who were into skate culture or punk culture, Pharrell became a beacon of hope for them on a mainstream level.

At the height of Ice Cream’s ascent, he created a skateboard team that gave youth a chance to break through in culture.

Continuing the work he and chad started with Star Trak, Pharrell created new creative collective named "i am OTHER" in 2012.

In a sense, it’s the hub that connects all of Pharrell’s different ventures from the OTHERtone podcast with Beats One to the “Something In The Water” music festival hosted in VA.

(Fun Fact #2: At one point, i am Other even served as the home for Issa Rae’s seminal web series “Awkward Black Girl.”)

”The Gandalf hat and the weird ass clothes, That's Comme des Garçons and the Buffalo”

As we’ve seen this past week, Pharrell’s impact doesn’t just stop at streetwear or music, It also includes high fashion.

If I had to guess, the most memorable fashion moment that people have of Pharrell in recent memories stems from a 2014 appearance at the Grammy’s where he donned…

The hat was made by Vivienne Westwood — a fashion designer whose roots go as far back as the 80s with the Sex Pistols (who ironically wore a similar hat back then).

It created a frenzy on social media and a ton of earned PR for Pharrell, who was working with Daft Punk at the time. The hype was so massive that the hat became the most talked about fashion accessory of the next few months. It even elicited attention from Arby’s who used it as an opportunity to generate press for themselves by buying the hat at auction.

Pharrell also has a digital auction house & content that sells off highly coveted items.

His new collection “Just Phriends” was curated by his friend(and founder of Colette) Sarah Andelman. It includes 61 rare items designed by MSCHF, Futura, and KAWS, to name a few.

As of today, the store is only open for 4 more days, so if you see something you want, you might want to grab it now.

Earlier this year, Louis Vuitton made headlines when they announced that they approached Pharrell about becoming creative director for their line. He wasn’t formally trained, or anybody’s apprentice but it didn’t matter because he created the wave.

The world was waiting to see what he’d come up with and he gave the world a sneak this week in Paris. If you look closely at the video below you’ll see a billboard featuring Rihanna (who is presumably wearing the line) and some of the items featured in the collections.

Details are still scarce on when the line will officially debut in stores but I’m willing to bet it’s going to do numbers.

There are so many other pieces to Pharrell’s story that could be told. His impact on culture can’t be overstated and he continues to push the envelope further.

The Neptunes are in full swing again, Human Made/ Humanrace is killing the game and with Louis in the mix P is at the center of it all. He’s still rocking gold grills, still making music with The Clipse, and still bringing Blackness into new spaces.

Gotta give him his flowers while he’s still here.

Peace.

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