Happy people hand out hugs, right? Pharrell Williams is just about on top of the music world right now, thanks to a string of smash hits, and the music star popped by Saturday Night Live last week to lend his talents to a brand-new music video with Andy Samberg and the Lonely Island crew.
Pharrell pops up about a third of the way through the new Lonely Island track , “Hugs,” and of course he’s rocking a new hat. One not nearly as ostentatious as his Ranger Smith-meets-Arby’s headgear from the Grammys, but how can one top that? In any case, Pharrell chimes in to let the misled females know that just because they caught a hug doesn’t mean they should be catching feelings.
Pharrell brings the melody for the track, while Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone handle the rapping. As the two comedians tend to perform better as, well, comedians than they do as rappers, we’d almost prefer Williams had brought back his Skateboard P personality, but beggars, choosers, and so forth. The track is still solid comedy, with Pharrell informing listeners that “I be huggin’ on ya mama, especially when ya daddy’s gone. Wearin’ his pajamas…”
Cold. Pharrell is just the latest actual musician to pair with Lonely Island. The comedy team is probably best known for pairing with Justin Timberlake for “D**k In A Box,” a send-up of early 90s R&B that went viral a few years back. Prior to teaming with Williams, Lonely Island had also released “Mother Lover,” “I’m on a Boat,” and “J**z in My Pants.”
The comedy cameo is a bit new for Pharrell, who has largely stuck to straight music. The “Happy” singer holds his own, though, hugging all up on somebody’s mama, his preternaturally youthful face agleam as he does so.
It’s the second new music video Williams appeared in this week, by the way. An animated Pharrell – with oversized Grammys hat, of course – also showed up yesterday in the animated video for “Last Night, Good Night (Re:dialed).”
Since Pharrell has contributed to a number of the biggest songs of the last two years, you’d be hard pressed to find a time when the singer hasn’t been in the news over that span. Last week, Pharrell took some time out to tell US Magazine 25 things fans might not know about him. Among the weirdest is the revelation that Pharrell is a true synaesthete: “Whenever I hear music,” Williams says, “I see colors.” Williams also revealed that he has a photographic memory and that all three of his favorite movie moments involve Bill Murray.
