BGR is a three-letter acronym with several meanings:

• Bulgaria using ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code
• Bangor International Airport, IATA airport code for the airport in Bangor, Maine
• Barbour, Griffith, & Rogers (BGR Group), a D.C. based lobbying firm
• BGR Capital & Trade, a D.C. based investment bank focused on sell side and buy side mergers and acquisitions, divestitures, management buyouts, capital raising, and joint ventures.
• Blind Geographic Routing, a geographical routing protocol
• Blue, Green, Red. An alternate arrangement of the RGB color model sometimes found in LCD displays
• Boarding Gate Reader, an automated device that reads ATB boarding passes at an airport departure gate
• Bob Graham Round, a 24-hour fell running challenge in the English Lake District.
• Boy Genius Report, a weblog that specializes in technology and consumer gadgets.

This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the same title. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article.

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (June 2011)

Justin Smith, better known as Just Blaze, is an American hip hop music producer from Paterson, New Jersey.^[1][2][3] Blaze is also the CEO of Fort Knocks Entertainment.^[4] He is most well known for producing Jay-Z songs on the albums The Blueprint, The Blueprint 2, and The Black Album.^[5] He is also known for producing a number of songs on Eminem's most recent album Recovery. Blaze also appears in the video for the third single from Recovery entitled "No Love", which he also produced.

Discography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Just Blaze discography at MusicBrainz

Jay Sean
Sean at the 2009 Indian Day Parade in New York City
Background information
Birth name	Kamaljit Singh Jhooti
Also known as	Jay Sean
Born	March 26, 1981 (age 31) Harlesden, Brent, London, England
Genres	Pop, R&B, hip hop, bhangra, electropop, British soul
Occupations	Singer–songwriter, beatboxer, record producer, arranger, Rapper
Instruments	Guitar, piano
Years active	2003–present
Labels	Jayded, 2Point9, TM3 Records, Cash Money, Universal Republic
Associated acts	Rishi Rich, Lil Wayne, Birdman
Website	jayseanworldwide.com

Kamaljit Singh Jhooti^[1][2], better known by his stage name Jay Sean, is a British singer-songwriter, rapper, beatboxer and record producer.^[3] He debuted in the UK's Asian Underground scene as a member of the Rishi Rich Project with "Dance with You", which reached #12 on the UK Singles Chart in 2003. This led to him being signed to Virgin Records and having two UK top 10 hits as a solo artist in 2004: "Eyes On You" at #6 and "Stolen" at #4. They were included in his critically acclaimed debut album Me Against Myself which,^[4] though only moderately successful in the UK, sold more than two million copies across Asia and remains his most successful album to date.^[5][6][7] Alongside the Rishi Rich Project, Sean was a pioneer of Bhangra-R&B fusion, which his debut album helped popularize among the worldwide South Asian diaspora.^[8]

He eventually left Virgin in 2006 and founded his own independent label, Jayded Records. After a gap of nearly four years, he returned in 2008 with "Ride It", which reached #11 in the UK and topped the charts in several Eastern European countries, including Romania where it was one of the best-selling singles of the year. It was followed by hits such as "Maybe", which reached #7 on the Japan Hot 100,^[9] and "Tonight". They were included in his second album, My Own Way, which became his most successful album on the UK Albums Chart, reaching #6, and topped the UK R&B Chart. At around this time, he began increasingly incorporating electropop sounds into his R&B music.^[10]

Since the end of 2008, has he been signed to Cash Money Records. In 2009, his American debut single "Down" topped the Billboard Hot 100, making him the first solo artist of South Asian origin and first UK urban act to top the Hot 100.^[11] It was the seventh-best selling song of 2009, having sold more than three million copies in the United States that year,^{[12][13][14][15]} eventually reaching four million sales in the United States^[16] and six million sales worldwide,^[17] making him the most successful British/European male urban artist in US chart history.^[18][19] As of 2011, it is the fifth best selling song by a British artist in the digital era.^[20] It was soon followed by another hit, "Do You Remember", which has sold more than a million copies in the US,^[21] and entered the top ten on the Hot 100,^[22] making him the first male act since Chingy in 2003 to "simultaneously appear in the Hot 100 top 10 with his first two charting singles."^[23] They were included in his American-debut album All or Nothing, which debuted at #37 on the US Billboard 200 and reached #11 on the Japan Oricon Albums Chart.^[24] Sean is sometimes referred to as a "one-man boy band"^[25][26] and was ranked #35 in Billboard's Hot 100 Artists of 2009.^[27]

Life and career[link]

1981–2002: Early life and career beginnings[link]

Jay Sean was born as Kamaljeet Singh Jhooti in Harlesden, Northwest London^[28] to Sharan and Bindi Jhooti, Punjabi Sikh immigrants. His year of birth is uncertain, with different sources giving dates ranging from 1979^[29] to 1983.^[3] He was raised in Southall, west London,^[30] and displayed musical talent at an early age. At age 11, he and his cousin Pritpal Rupra formed a hip hop duo named "Compulsive Disorder". His stage name at the time was MC "Nicky J", with the "J" being derived from the first letter of his last name "Jhooti".^[31] He eventually came to be known by the nickname "Jay" among his friends.^[2]

He was a student at Latymer Upper School, the same private school that Hugh Grant, Heston Blumenthal and Lily Cole had attended.^[32] He left the school in 1997.^[33] He finished his GCSEs as a "straight-A student" and then completed his A Levels with an A grade in Biology and B grades in Mathematics and Chemistry.^[32] He later enrolled in Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry at Queen Mary, University of London, to study Medicine before he dropped out in 2003 to pursue a singing career. For his music career, he chose the stage name Jay Sean; "Jay" was the nickname his friends knew him as (derived from his previous stage name "Nicky J"), while "Sean" is derived from "Shaan"—a nickname he was called at home by his grandmother—which means "shining star" or "pride" in Punjabi.^[2][34][35]

[edit] 2003–06: Me Against Myself with Relentless Records

After Sean's track "One Minute" fell into the hands of producer Rishi Rich,^[36][37] the Rishi Rich Project was formed (consisting of Rich, Sean and Juggy D) in 2003. Their first taste of UK chart success was the Asian underground song, "Dance with You (Nachna Tere Naal)", which became a Top 20 hit, peaking at #12.^[38] This led to Sean signing a £1m deal with Virgin Records, under their label Relentless Records.^[37] His second single, "Eyes on You," was his first solo effort and became a Top 10 hit, peaking at #6.^[39] His third single, "Stolen," peaked at #4,^[40] with Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu making an appearance in the video. His debut album, Me Against Myself, was released in 2004 and received much critical praise and acclaim.^[4][41][42] Sean was referred to as an "Asian sensation" and was praised for his experimental, creative fusion of contemporary R&B, British hip hop and Indian music.^[43][44] The title track in particular was considered innovative, featuring two alter egos of himself, one an R&B singer and the other a rapper, clashing in a rap battle.^[45]

Despite initially failing to reach the top 20 on the UK Albums Chart (where it peaked at #29), the album gradually managed to sell 100,000 copies in the UK^[46] and went on to become a substantial hit in India, selling over two million copies there.^[5][6][7] He made a brief appearance in the 2005 Bollywood film Kyaa Kool Hai Hum, providing the song "Dil Mera (My Heart)" to the soundtrack, based on "One Night" from his own debut album.^[47] Beyond India, the album sold over 300,000 copies across other parts of the world,^[48] including Europe, the Middle East, Southeast Asia,^[3][49] and Hong Kong.^[50] His performance of tracks from Me Against Myself on MTV Asia (alongside the Rishi Rich Project) had a television audience as large as 165 million viewers.^[4][49] It helped establish Sean as a major recognized artist across Asia and among the worldwide Desi diaspora, and remains his most successful album to date. With his debut album, Sean was influential in popularizing Indian-R&B fusion sounds in Asian underground and Indian pop music.^[8] He recorded a 16 track album which was scrapped because Virgin felt the market had changed to where it was all about Pop music.^[51] In February 2006, after several delays of his second album, he left Virgin Records.^[52]

[edit] 2007–09: My Own Way and All or Nothing

After parting ways with Virgin Records, Jay Sean continued to work on his second album, which was initially named after the title track "Deal With It," but the song ended up being given to Corbin Bleu. Sean's background vocals remain on Bleu's version of the track. The song "Deal With It" earned Sean a BMI Songwriter Award^[53] and later inspired the 2009 single "Juliette" by South Korean band Shinee.^[54][55]

Jay Sean returned in late 2007 with the new single "Ride It", which was the first single from his second album My Own Way. It was to be the first album released as a joint-venture between his own label Jayded and 2Point9 Records. The video for "Ride It", released in early 2008, featured Jay Sean with a new style after being out of the limelight for nearly three and a half years. My Own Way debuted at #6 in the official UK Albums Chart and generated two more UK top 20 singles, "Ride It" and "Maybe". On the back of this Jay received two MOBO Award nominations, for Best UK Male (alongside Dizzee Rascal, Taio Cruz, Wiley and Sway) and Best R'n'B/Soul (alongside Usher, Estelle, Ne-Yo and Chris Brown). "Ride It" was successful in Eastern Europe, especially in Russia,^[56] Turkey and Romania, where it became one of the three best-selling singles of the year.^[57] "Maybe" was his most successful single in Japan, where it reached #7 on the Japan Hot 100 Singles.^[9] A Mandarin Chinese cover version of "Maybe" by Coco Lee has been released in China. Sean sang a Hindi version of the album My Own Way for release in India. The album sold more than 350,000 copies across the world.^[48][58]

Touch Magazine in the UK described him as "the U.K.'s answer to Ne-Yo," while The Independent called him "...an urban legend in the making." In August 2008, Jay Sean co-hosted London radio station Choice FM's Breakfast show a week in which he only performed previously unheard tracks, including a song whose title was left to the listeners to decide. The unknown track was later confirmed to be called "Tonight" and is included in My Own Way: Deluxe Edition. Jay Sean was confirmed for the third series of Celebrity Scissorhands in October 2008 but he withdrew before the show was aired for unclear reasons.^[59]

On 15 October 2008 during the MOBO Awards, Jay Sean announced that he had signed with the American hip-hop oriented record label Cash Money Records distributed via Universal Republic Records^[60] making him the first male British Asian singer to sign with an American label.^[61] His American-debut single was "Down" featuring American rapper and label mate Lil Wayne. It topped the Billboard Hot 100, replacing The Black Eyed Peas. This makes him the first British artist to top the Hot 100 since Freddie Mercury of Queen in 1980, and the first solo artist of Asian descent to do so.^[62] "Down" has sold more than six million copies worldwide,^[17] and three million digital copies in the US,^[13][14] making the song the best-selling single by a British/European male artist in North America since Elton John's "Candle in the Wind" in 1997.^[19][46][63] In addition, "Down" has received a large airplay of two billion listener impressions on radio worldwide.^[64][65] As of November 2011, "Down" has sold 4.1 million copies in the US, which is currently the fifth best-selling song by a British artist in the digital era.^[20] In November 2009, Sean's next single from his album, "Do You Remember", was released and featured Jamaican dancehall superstar Sean Paul plus US Southern crunk rapper Lil Jon.^[66] It entered the Hot 100 top ten on the week of 9 January 2009,^[22] breaking "a three-week streak of no titles moving into the top 10" since December 2009.^[23] Like its predecessor, it has sold more than a million copies in the United States.^[21]

At the 2009 UK Asian Music Awards (AMA), Jay Sean won three awards, including "Best Male", "Best Urban Act" and "Best Album", the latter for his second album, My Own Way. He met with Rishi Rich, Juggy D and H-Dhami during the ceremony.^[67] After the award, he was in America for the first time since signing with Cash Money, he announced through an interview with MTV IGGY that he was recording five new songs for his album, then titled My Own Way (U.S. edition), one of which was his American-debut single with Lil Wayne, later titled "Down". Sean discussed a collaboration with Akon at the 2009 Grammy Awards, in addition to recording a song with Nadine Coyle^[68] and told viewers that the album will be released in third quarter of 2009.^[69] The album title was later changed to All or Nothing, and featured brand new songs and some of the songs from My Own Way. Despite success with two singles from the album, the album itself only debuted at #37 on the US Billboard 200. It was his lowest-charting entry on the UK Albums Chart, debuting there at #62. Despite this, it has become his highest-charting album in Japan, reaching #11 on the Oricon Albums Chart.^[24]

Sean was featured on a song called "Written on Her" alongside Birdman for the CEO’s project, released on 23 June 2009 on iTunes.^[70] This song was played during an interview on Westwood Radio 1 with Birdman and Jay Sean. Jay Sean has featured on Skepta's single "Lush" released on 10 June 2009 on iTunes.^[71] On 2 February 2010, Kevin Rudolf's single "I Made It (Cash Money Heroes)", featured Jay Sean alongside Birdman and Lil Wayne, was released.^[72] In early December 2009, it was confirmed that he has collaborated with Justin Timberlake and Esmée Denters on a song, "Love Dealer".^[73][74] There have been talks of collaborations with other American artists such as Ashley Tisdale, Taylor Swift,^[75] Nicole Scherzinger,^[76] Rihanna,^[77] Usher,^[78] and Jay-Z & Beyoncé.^[79]

Jay Sean was in early September 2009 nominated for the 30 Under 30 award.^[80] At the 2009 UK Urban Music Awards, he won the Best Collaboration award for "Down" alongside Lil Wayne.^[81] In early December 2009, he was ranked #35 in Billboard's Hot 100 Artists of the year.^[27] On 11 December 2009, he became the first South Asian origin artist since Freddie Mercury to perform at Madison Square Garden, as part of the Jingle Ball concert, alongside beatboxer MC Zani.^[82] Sean's performance "had the entire crowd – parents and children, teens and twenty-somethings – dancing."^[83]

[edit] 2010–present: Worth It All

Sean began working on his fourth album and second with Cash Money Records Freeze Time in July 2010.^[84] At the time, he stated that he had completed roughly 75 percent of the album and that guests included Lil Wayne, Pitbull, Nicki Minaj and Mary J. Blige.^[85] Three singles, "2012 (It Ain't the End)", "Hit The Lights" and "Like This, Like That" were released in support of the album. Sean also co-headlined with Joe Jonas on the Joe Jonas & Jay Sean Tour with JoJo as the opening act.^[86] Sean released a mixtape titled The Mistress in September 2011 and a Japan exclusive album titled Hit the Lights in January 2012.

Freeze Time was scrapped due to legal issues in 2011^[87] and Sean began working on a new, be more R&B influenced album altogether.^[88] Sean's upcoming album Worth It All is set for a 2012 release. The first single "I'm All Yours" featuring Pitbull was released on May 22 2012.^[89]

Community work[link]

Jay Sean is known for community work. He has worked with BBC Blast doing Q&A's on tour events in an effort to "give something back".^[90] He has supported the Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) in the charity event Partnership Walk and Run by performing in Regent's Park in 2004 and 2009.^[91]

In 2009, Sean performed in Justin Timberlake's charity concert to raise funds for the Shriners Hospital for Children, alongside artists such as MC Zani, Taylor Swift and Alicia Keys. It became one of the highest-earning charity events of the year, raising more than $9 million.^[92]

In 2012, Sean became a part of Child Hunger Ends Here campaign along with artists like Owl City and Jewel.^[93] For this purpose he recorded a song named "Here's Hope"^[94] which was available for digital download on the Child Hunger Ends Here official site.

Awards and nominations[link]

Discography[link]

Studio

• Me Against Myself (2004)
• My Own Way (2008)
• All or Nothing (2009)
• Worth It All (2012)^[95][96]

Compilation

• Hit the Lights (2012)

Mixtape

• The Mistress (2011)

Filmography[link]

• Kyaa Kool Hai Hum (2005), himself

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Jay Sean at the Internet Movie Database

Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Williams performing with N.E.R.D in Pori Jazz 2010.
Background information
Also known as	Skateboard P, Pharrell, Sk8brd (mononym), Auto Goon
Born	(1973-04-05) April 5, 1973 (age 39)
Origin	Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States
Genres	Various
Occupations	Producer, musician, songwriter, singer, rapper, fashion designer
Instruments	Piano, keyboards, guitar, drums
Years active	1992–present
Labels	Star Trak, Interscope, i am Other
Associated acts	N.E.R.D, Chad Hugo, Clipse, Kelis, Snoop Dogg, Justin Timberlake, T.I, Lupe Fiasco, N.O.R.E., Child Rebel Soldier
Website	pharrellwilliams.com
Notable instruments
Piano, keyboards, drums

Pharrell Williams (born April 5, 1973), commonly known simply as Pharrell, is an American rapper, singer, record producer, composer, and fashion designer. Williams and Chad Hugo make up the record production duo The Neptunes, producing hip hop and R&B music. He is also the lead vocalist and drummer of hip-hop band N.E.R.D, which he formed with Hugo and childhood friend Shay Haley. He released his first single "Frontin'" in 2003 and followed up with his first album In My Mind in 2006.^[1]

As part of The Neptunes, Williams has produced numerous hit singles for various musicians.^[2] The two have earned three Grammy Awards amongst ten nominations. He is also the co-founder of the clothing brands Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream Clothing. He is a member of the supergroup V.A. Playaz with Fam-Lay, Clipse, Skillz, Missy Elliott, and Timbaland & Magoo.

Early life[link]

Pharrell Williams was born on April 5, 1973, in Virginia Beach, Virginia,^[3][4] the eldest of three sons of Carolyn, a teacher, and Pharaoh Williams, a handyman.^[5] He met Chad Hugo in a seventh-grade summer band camp where Williams played the keyboards and drums and Hugo played tenor saxophone. They were also both members of a marching band; Williams played the snare drum while Chad was student conductor.^[6][7] With Hugo, Williams attended Princess Anne High School where they played in the school band; there he got the name Skateboard P.^[8]

In the 1990s, Hugo and Williams formed a four-piece "R&B type" group, The Neptunes, with friends Shay Haley and Mike Etheridge. They later entered a high school talent show where they were discovered by Teddy Riley, whose studio was next to Princess Anne High School.^[9] After graduating from high school, the group signed with Riley.^[10]

Career[link]

1992–1997: Career beginnings[link]

Through working with Maddison Harper, Williams went on to write a verse for Wreckx-N-Effect's 1992 hit "Rump Shaker".^[11] That same year, he also performed a small rap solo on SWV's second hit, "Right Here (UK Remix)". In 1994, Hugo and Williams had established themselves as a production duo under their old name "The Neptunes", and produced "Tonight's The Night" from Blackstreet's self-titled album. Over the next three years they continued to produce occasionally. Some of the results had little resemblance to the Neptunes sound of today. However, some like Mase's 1997 song "Lookin' at Me" from his album Harlem World, and the most definite beginning of the distinctive "Neptunes sound", came with N.E.R.D's "Superthug" in 1998, reaching number 36 on the Billboard Hot 100, and gaining them widespread attention for the first time. In 1999, a friend introduced Pharrell to Kelis, they really vibed so the beginning result was producing her first album Kaleidoscope.

1998–2004: The Neptunes[link]

At this point The Neptunes were gaining a wide fanbase and audience. In 2001, The Neptunes produced Britney Spears' single, "I'm a Slave 4 U" gaining their first worldwide number one.^[12] The same year, N.E.R.D, consisting of Williams, Hugo and Haley, released their first album, In Search of..., in Europe, where the first Kelis album was better received. The album sounded very much like their previous production work; the group decided that they should make their work as N.E.R.D sound different, and re-recorded the album with the rock band Spymob. Williams and Hugo met rap duo Clipse in Virginia Beach in 1993, where they were signed to Arista Records through Williams' Star Trak Entertainment imprint.^[13][14]

Then in 2002 their re-produced album was released worldwide, and The Neptunes reached number one in the U.S. with Nelly's single, "Hot in Herre". In August of the same year, The Neptunes were named "Producers of the Year" at both The Source Awards and the Billboard Music Awards. Clipse released their commercial debut album Lord Willin' in August 2002. The album started at number one on the Billboard Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart and number four on the Billboard 200, fueled by its first two singles, "Grindin'" and "When the Last Time", which peaked at number 34 and number 19 respectively on the Billboard Hot 100.

The Neptunes released a self-credited album called The Neptunes Present... Clones in 2003, with songs and remixes from various artists. This topped the U.S. Billboard 200 Albums Chart. The Neptunes and Williams specifically were also kept in public eye largely due to ties with Jay-Z, producing several hit singles for him and two tracks on his The Black Album. The track "Frontin'" was a big hit (the 34th biggest of 2003 according to Billboard). A survey in August 2003 found the Neptunes produced almost 20 percent of songs played on British radio at the time, a survey in the US had them at 43 percent.^[6] The same year, The Neptunes remixed the Daft Punk song Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger for the duo's poorly-received remix album Daft Club. The track also had a brief rap section performed by Williams.^[15]

N.E.R.D's second funk rock-oriented album, Fly or Die, released in March 2004. Williams' rock credentials were further bolstered by his appearance at the 2004 Grammy Awards, performing The Beatles' "I Saw Her Standing There" on drums with Sting, Dave Matthews, and Vince Gill. Williams received two Grammy Awards that night, one for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical, and another for Best Pop Vocal Album for his work on Justin Timberlake's hit album Justified. They also gained their first UK number one, again with Nelly, and Flap Your Wings.

2005–2009: First album and collaborations[link]

Williams and Astronaut Leland Melvin present a montage to Quincy Jones

On September 9, 2005, Williams performed the opening single from his first solo album In My Mind, "Can I Have It Like That", featuring Gwen Stefani. The single did poorly in the US, reaching only number 48. It fared better in the UK, reaching number three. Between then and the July 25, 2006 release of "In My Mind", he released "Angel" (in Europe only), and later "Number One" with Kanye West. Several songs leaked to the internet before the album release, most notably "Mamacita" featuring Daddy Yankee, which was subsequently cut from the final version. "That Girl" featuring Snoop Dogg was the final single.

In 2006, Williams, with Chad Hugo, produced Clipse's second album Hell Hath No Fury. Most critics labeled the album Williams's best production in years, and put the duo back in the charts.^[16] A year later, Williams collaborated with Madonna, on the song "Hey You", which was available for download on the MSN website. 25 cents for each of the first one million downloads was donated to the Alliance for Climate Protection, in support of Live Earth.^[17] Later that year, Williams performed songs at the Concert for Diana on July 1, 2007. Then, on July 7, 2007, he performed at the Brazilian leg of Live Earth in Rio de Janeiro.

A second album, titled Out of My Mind, was recorded with his newly formed band "The Yessirs" featuring Questlove of The Roots. However, Williams' record label did not think that a companion album to the first would sell well.^[18] He also produced Beyoncé's version of "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend". He then wrote and produced "Why Should I Be Sad" on Britney Spears' fifth studio album, Blackout. He also produced two songs from The Hives album, The Black and White Album, titled "Well All Right!" and "T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.".

In April 2008, Madonna released her eleventh album, Hard Candy, which featured vocals from Williams and production from The Neptunes on several tracks. In June, an article in NME revealed that Williams was very interested in producing The Strokes' fourth album.^[19] Later that year, Williams worked on a remix album for Maroon 5's Call & Response.^[20]

Williams continued working with a variety of artists, including Shakira on the songs 'Did It Again', 'Why Wait', 'Good Stuff' and 'Long Time' for her sixth studio album, She Wolf. ^[21] In September 2009, Williams was credited as a co-writer and producer of the song "Fresh Out the Oven" for Jennifer Lopez.^[22] It was released as a buzz single from Lopez's seventh studio album Love? The following month, Williams made a guest appearance on French indie/electronic rapper Uffie's first album, which arrived in early 2010.^[23] In late 2009, Williams worked with the rapper Game on his fourth studio album, The R.E.D. Album.

2010–present[link]

In July 2010, Williams composed one of the soundtracks^{[dubious – discuss]} in the movie Despicable Me at the Hollywood Studio Symphony.^{[citation needed]} In October 2010, Williams and his group N.E.R.D supported Gorillaz on their Escape to Plastic Beach World Tour. On the tour, Damon Albarn recorded a song on his iPad with Williams but this was not featured on Gorillaz's album, The Fall, but it may appear on a future album.^[15] In late 2011, Williams worked on three tracks for Mike Posner's second album Sky High.^[24] In 2011, Williams collaborated with singer/composer Adam Lambert, co-writing two tracks for Lambert's album "Trespassing", which was released in May of 2012, including the title track and "Kickin' In".

In 2012, It was announced on Lupe Fiasco's website that he and Lupe will work on a collaborative album and work on Waka Flocka Flame's album Triple F Life: Friends, Fans and Family.^{[citation needed]}

Williams composed and produced the music for the 84th Academy Awards with composer Hans Zimmer.^[25]

2012: Pharrell is now collaborating with teen pop sensation, Miley Cyrus on her new album which is set for a release this year, with a single dropping this summer. Miley's new album has a slick genre of pop/hip-hop and R&B.

Musical style[link]

Pharrell did music for the Universal film Despicable Me. The film makers liked his genre of music for the movie. Williams has encompassed a broad range of genres, including hip hop, R&B, pop, rock, and funk.^[3][26] His lyrics often pertain to his childhood, family, religious faith and sexuality.^[27] In the review of Seeing Sounds by N.E.R.D, Christian Hoard of Rolling Stone said he learned nothing from his lyrics except that Williams was sexually aroused.^[28]

Williams has stated that he does not have any direct influences,^[29] but has expressed his admiration of several musicians, including Michael Jackson, J Dilla, Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway, Marvin Gaye, Rakim and Q-Tip.^[29][30] Williams explained that A Tribe Called Quest's 1990 album, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm, caused a "turning point" in his life, which "made me see that music was art".^[30] His style of production includes very unusual sounds, which give a feeling of being extra terrestrial. His beats have heavy percussions and synths.

Business ventures[link]

Williams met Nigo, a Japanese record producer and creator of the clothing line A Bathing Ape, in Japan and bonded^[vague] through similar interests, where they began working together on their fashion lines.^[4] Williams later co-founded the clothing brands Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream Footwear. He has a store in New York City. In 2008, he co-designed a series of jewelry ("Blason") and glasses for Louis Vuitton.^[31] He has also worked on furniture with Galerie Emmanuel Perrotin and a French manufacturer, Domeau & Pérès. One of his works, a molded plastic seat with human legs, was created because he "wanted to know what it was like to be in love." The chair depicts a sexual scene with a pair of female legs and male legs.^[32]

In 2009 Williams unveiled a collaborative sculpture with Takashi Murakami at Art Basel, which spoke to the metaphor of value.^[33]

In 2010 Williams founded Kidult, a news and entertainment website for teens. Inspired by his young fans, Williams believed they deserved a website that respected their intelligence and covered their diverse interests—from science to fashion.

In May 2011 it was announced that Williams would serve as Creative Director of Karmaloop TV alongside founder and CEO Greg Selkoe and former AMC (TV channel) president Katie McEnroe.^[34]

On August 1, 2011, Williams launched his new record label, i am Other.^[35]

Personal life[link]

In 2005 Williams was voted "Best Dressed Man in the World" by Esquire.^[36] He is a fan of the science fiction series Star Trek,^[37] as indicated by his consistent use of the Vulcan salute to signify his label name, Star Trak. He also enjoys the works of the late astronomer and science lecturer Carl Sagan, whom he calls "a genius".^[38] Williams is a skateboarder and has a half-pipe inside his home.^[39] In April 2009, Williams underwent a skin procedure for tattoo removal.^[40]

Discography[link]

Pharrell and Lupe Fiasco are currently working on a collaboration album set to be released sometime in 2012.^[41]

TBA (with Lupe Fiasco) (2012)

Awards and nominations[link]

References[link]