On Will.I.Am.: He says he hates conflict, but it's not always possible to avoid it in the litigious world of music. He and Thicke are being sued by Marvin Gaye's family over Blurred Lines – they claim it rips off the Gaye song Got To Give It Up. Meanwhile, will.i.am has sued Pharrell over his "I am OTHER" trademark, claiming it is too close to his "I Am" branding. Has that dispute been resolved, I ask. "I don't know," he says. For the first time, his face frosts over.
"Can you use the trademark now?"
"I never knew that I couldn't," he says tetchily.
"But weren't you in dispute with will.i.am about it?
"I don't know who he's in dispute with."
I'm surprised you are at war, I say. I always thought you were friends.
"I always thought so, too," he says.
You're similar in so many ways, I say. Obsessed with gadgets and technology and education. You even use similar language.
"Listen: we do not use the same language. We're not anything alike." You're not? "No. But here's the thing. That which makes us different is what makes us special. So God bless him." It doesn't sound like the most heartfelt of blessings.
Label Pressure To Be Full Time "Singer/Artist":
At the album playback, the head of Sony talked about Pharrell's renaissance. Today, Pharrell says he's never been away, but yes, he is astonished at his current popularity. "I am freaking out a bit." He stumbles over his words. "The popularity is not for me. It's cos I just gotta… It's about, you know, services to others. I know my intention, and my intention is not to make it about me."
Fine, but what if the album is so successful that the moguls say, sod the producing, we just want you to be a solo superstar? He looks horrified, and his answer sounds more a plea than a statement. "I have to produce people! I have to work with people. It's my only means of learning, my only means of colliding with foreign energy. It would be like asking Captain Kirk to just stay on Earth."
http://www.theguardian.com/music/201...view-daft-punk
