Happy And Humble — Pharrell Reveals The Moment That Shifted His Perspective

Pharrel Williams was a hot topic during his time and his newest documentary will help show this.

Daphnie

• Published in Interesting
• September 22, 2024

Pharrell Williams, the infamous singer of his top song "Happy" spoke out about how he wasn't always humble, but how his career, fame, and the popularity of his songs helped to humble him as a creator.

His very first credit was earned on "Rump Shaker" which was in 1992 and was a top pop song that screamed Pharrel as it had a hot beat and made people want to dance, much like his other music.

Before he made and sang the music, he helped many other artists land their top songs, such as "Drop it Like It's Hot." He even helped Ariana Grande win her first Grammy and helped Jay-Z land his first No. 1 song. It's clear that Pharrell was riding a high even before he started making his own music and really getting his name out there.

With this, Pharrell spoke out about how he wasn't always humble and how his songs blowing up actually helped to humble him. He's worked with popular artists like SZA, Kendrick Lamar, Frank Ocean, and Daft Punk.

There's been a lot that's changed his life as he's grown into a famous singer and a household name, but he's giving credit to three different songs that truly changed his entire perspective. So, let's dive into more of what Pharrell had to say about how his career humbled him.

Pharrell has done more than just music, as he's been recently seen in the fashion world as well.

Pharrell Williams has given credit to Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky,” Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” and “Happy” for helping to humble him in his career. He spoke out about what he thought of writing a song for someone else, but how it actually changed his life.

“When I was 40 and I had three No. 1 records in a year, all of them were commissions. With ‘Get Lucky,’ the Robots (aka Daft Punk) asked me to write a song. I’m thinking I’m writing a song for somebody else to sing, and if I would’ve written it for me, it probably wouldn’t have been as big, because I would’ve written for my ego,” he said.

When that sh*t blew up, I was like, ‘Whoa! OK, hold on.’ And that humbled me.”

It's clear that Williams didn't even realize just how much these songs would propel his career.

“I’m getting all this adoration from it and I’m like, ‘Whoa, whoa, whoa.’ At this point in my life, just so you understand, before ‘Get Lucky’ or ‘Blurred Lines,’ I’m thinking, ‘Oh, OK, I’ve had my peak.," he said. Pharrel said that he actually originally wrote "Happy" for CeeLo Green, but it was rejected by his record label, so Pharrell took it over.

He spoke out about how he felt when the record exploded.

When that record exploded, it was like, ‘OK, I didn’t wake up one day deciding that I wanted to make a song about an emotion. It was conditioned. At that point, I’m crying, because I’m like, ‘OK, God, what’s going on?’ Because my reality was always, ‘I wrote this song. I produced this song.

"I sold this many records. I sold this. I sold that.’ It was me, me, me, me. Those three No. 1 songs [written for and in collaboration with others] enlightened me that it’s so many other factors,”

Pharrell Williams wasn't exactly fond of creating a documentary of himself, but doing it this way made sense to him.

Pharrell stated that he didn't want to do a documentary especially not the regular way that people tend to do them. The producers told him that he could do the documentary however he wanted to and he knew that doing it like this, using LEGO, would be the best way for him.

He said that watching Piece by Piece, his documentary, was great because he was able to take himself out of it and realize that it's not really him in the movie. He can relate to it this way and connect to it.

Pharrell Williams is a household name at this point and although his career started well before his popular song "Happy" took off, many are still appreciating him. We would've never imagined he wasn't humble, but the fame truly allowed him to be humble and show him his calling in the industry.

He went from success focused on himself, to realizing that being humble is the true way to success.

Daphnie