Pharrell Williams has to be near the top of the list for most relevant music performers of 2013, and he hasn't even released any music in his own name. The producer/noted falsetto vocalist has been part of two of the year's top selling singles, Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" and Robin Thicke's "Blurred Lines," plus has worked as a producer with Jay Z among many. Next year promises to be just as happening, with Williams already working with Hans Zimmer on the soundtrack for "The Amazing Spider-Man 2," as well as handling production for Beyonce.
He dropped some hints during a recent interview that he'll manage to squeeze an album of his own into the mix, and it won't feature one drop of hip-hop.
"I love rapping," he said. "But something's coming, and I'm not rapping on it...No rapping. It's focused. Like I told you, that's the difference between 30 and 40. 'Cause I was 30. Now I'm 40 and I'm not rapping."
We're not complaining. Williams brought his work as an emcee to the fore, along with fellow Neptunes founder Chad Hugo, as part of the hip-hop group N.E.R.D. The group generated a decent number of hits, but frankly we've been much more enamored with the Neptunes' production and beat-making, whether it be Clipse or Britney Spears. Williams' aforementioned falsetto is vocal gold, and we can easily see an album of his crooning turning out several Top 10 hits. It certainly worked with Daft Punk and Thicke.
