| The N.E.R.D. From Another Planet Fires Back at the Power of the Media (from the September 2001 issue XXL Magazine, page 50. NOTE: This article is a response from Pharrell Williams after a negative review from XXL and the inclusion of a quote from Pharrell in the magazine’s “Negro Please” section. Both were included in the June 2001 issue. “Can we just go some where else? Like, man, who gives a fuck where we’re from, how old we are? Like either (A) talk about music, or (B) talk about the world. Can we do that?” was the quote from the “Negro Please” section.) I think that whoever at XXL listened to my album to review it should’ve listened to it from the perspective of me being a person--not listening to me for what it is that I do. Like nobody shits on Will Smith for acting. Can I just be like, uh, I ain’t gonna say multi-talented, can I just be multi-skillful or something” ‘Cause at the end of the day my album wasn’t made for you to go and shoot anybody. Or it wasn’t made for you to go sell any drugs and something that you’re not. My album was a matter of practicing the freedom of expression. Whoever reviewed my album said I sounded like a wack Everlast. And they shitted on it like I was trying to be Everlast. I’m not trying to be Everlast! A diss is telling me I sound like Lil’ Kim on the operating table. That’s a diss. That was fucking unnecessary! Like at the end of the day you don’t like what it is that I’m trying to do then just don’t say nothing at all. Kim is my homegirl and a rapper so why would you compare me to her? That’s like me saying XXL is no different then a fuckin’ regular fuckin’ cheap neighborhood newspaper. People say [rappers] got influence on the hip-hop game. But it’s the media, dude. At the end of the day, if your record don’t get played, people won’t hear your record nine times out of 10. If they don’t see you on TV they won’t hear about you. If they can’t read about you in a magazine they won’t know about you. We should be more responsible about the things that we print. You can always hear about a rapping feud in magazines. And that’s fucked up because when you read a rock magazine they not talking about shit like that. They also not talking about the cars and the houses either. It’s a whole different culture and I totally understand that. But I’m just ready for my people to be taken to another level. At the end of the day, I do this shit for not only myself but I’m trying to do it for the world. I’m trying to be like how Marvin [Gaye] was great and fuckin’ Donny Hathaway was great. I want to be one of those niggas that know that they contributed to the betterment of mankind. When you read a magazine and it says “nigga please” to me saying can we either talk about music or talk about the world and end that shit with “nigga please” then that’s wack. That shit pissed me the fuck off because you know what it is, at the end of the day, whoever fuckin’ did that dumb-ass column doesn’t know me, man. I don’t hold my dick and think about fuckin’ houses and cars all day cause I got ‘em. That’s not me man. Had that came from some typical rapper guy that you assume is like that, it might have made more sense. If you don’t like me, man, don’t say nothing about me. ‘Cause there ain’t no “nigga please” about me. I do more fuckin’ charity than most people write off on their taxes. That’s who I am. So whoever said “nigga please” don’t say “nigga please” about me, man. Say “nigga please” about yourself. You don’t fuckin’ know me. That shit pissed me off so bad. Finally, the person who reviewed my album was probably listening to the shit that I did for Busta or was listening my shit on the Jay-Z or Babyface record. I got music all over the fuckin’ spectrum but people wouldn’t know because we’re segregated as a race. But that’s not my fault. So the minute I do something that is not necessarily challenging to…fuckin’ do your homework first, man. Read my discography first and see that I’m not stepping out. I’m not trying to be Everlast. I could be super cocky and run down 100 rock groups that I’ve worked with already. That’s so dumb and all you’re gonna do is blow that shit up like I’m being cocky. And I don’t want to be cocky. --As told to Vanessa Satten |