By Odeisel
Pharrell Williams is perhaps the most underrated super producer in Hip-Hop. His run has been just as long and more sustained year in and out than just about anyone. He’s come a long way from the Ma$e and N.O.R.E. days when you could tell everything he did. He breathed life into Snoop when Dre was nowhere to be found, gave life to the Clipse with the classic Hell Hath No Fury album and is generally good for a Jiggaman hit whenever he’s on speed dial. Skateboard P wants to rhyme. People were loath to admit that he dropped Snoop like it was hot on the opening of that banger, and as a performer he’s often enamored in trying to falsetto his way into the fake MJ neighborhood, but P got bars.
After a N.E.R.D. project that made a bit of noise but mostly flew under the radar, and Pusha T’s desire to nestle under the wings of Yeezy, Phareal got a chip on his shoulder. That chip sounds more like a boulder on his latest Flex-bombed release “The Game Has Changed.”
Rubber band synth punctuates the minimalist rhythm atop big clashes similar to the booms of “Grindin.” That emptiness eventually gives way to rising strings and brass which subside to periods of barely audible distortion at the edges. The big sound comes in waves crashing against that original synth.
“I know, I disappeared and popped up in Paris making chairs with a beard,” notes Williams, aware that his absence was conspicuous. It’s been a long time, he probably shouldn’t have left you but he needed that time to get right and observe. There are some solid lines (like Tron I’m brightly outlining my shit up) and perhaps a subtle dig at the Kanye / Pusha T dynamic (the admirers, mini-Me’s and clones selling you n***as dreams that are boxes full of foam). In the third verse he apes Biggie’s slow flow and even gives a nod to his lazy eye in homage. He closes with animus and a smooth hardcore that belies his pretty boy image.
Pharrell had a lot to get off his chest and a short amount of tiem to do it. Production is understated and his delivery matched but the words were loud and clear. The game may have changed but Pharrell doesn’t intend to be passed by.
Follow Us on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/planetill
Follow Odeisel on Twitter @ http://twitter.com/odeisel
Join Us on the Planet Ill Facebook Group for more discussion
Follow us on Networked Blogs
I didn’t even catch the Pusha / Kanye dig, one of the hardest joints I have heard all year right next to “Rich & Black”!