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Following a stellar year, Pharrell has been tapped to grace the cover of Complex magazine’s Best Of 2013 digital issue. In the accompanying story the hitmaker discusses everything from fashion to his influence in music, but he also announces plans to release a solo album without rapping.
“I love rapping,” Pharrell tells the mag. “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.”
The producer also talks about crafting the most successful hits this year — Robin Thicke‘s “Blurred Lines” and Daft Punk‘s “Get Lucky” — which he describes as an “unbelievable” accomplishment.
“I couldn’t explain it,” Pharrell says before comparing his success to designing a really nice sock. “Imagine all your life you go to school to study fashion, and you find out the one thing you really like is the sock. So you’re not gonna be greedy. There’s a lot of designers out there: streetwear, high-end fashion. And you decide, ‘You know what? My niche is the sock.’ So you become decent at it. People start to recognize you for your socks, your little designs and stuff. And all of a sudden, God or the universe taps you on the shoulder and goes, ‘Hey, reach on the inside, squeeze it, and pull it out.’ And you realize that there is a reverse inside the sock. That’s what this is for me.”
He adds, “I’ve never been on the forefront of such a huge thing — done by the people, by the way. The people vote for the songs, they pay for the songs, they stream the songs, they look at the videos. So my point is that my understanding of what I was supposed to do, what I could do, had been turned inside out. That’s my life.”
You can read the full interview via Complex.com now.
Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio
2013 album best complexs confirms covers digital issue pharrell solo
