Pharrell just came out with a new song called “Entrepreneur” featuring Jay-Z. I will listen to anything that has Jay on it. Pharrell is a hit or miss for me. I get he is a genius. I understand why he is so amazing. I will not deny his talent and drive. It’s just that about half of his songs I can only listen to once or twice. That being said, I was excited to hear how this song would work with these two, seeing as how it’s been awhile since their last collaboration.
I gave the lyrics a read through before I listened to the song. I didn’t look up anything about it before I listened so I wouldn’t have any notions in my head. The lyrics themselves are so great. The verses are filled with emotion about being Black in this country. You can just feel Pharrell’s feelings ooze through when you read them.
I really thought the song would be more rough, the beat and melody a bit harder. The song starts with Pharrell whispering the first verse, and then his whispers his other verse. At first I didn’t like that, but after the second listen I thought Pharrell was trying to show that Black voices are really hard to hear in this country right now. We have to strain to listen to them. They aren’t being heard as loudly as they should be. I didn’t care for the whispering though.
Jay-Z’s verse was everything that I thought it would be. I absolutely loved it. I know it’s about Black Lives Matter, but the bit “sittin' around waitin' for folks to throw you a bone. If you can't buy the building at least stock the shelf (Word). Then keep on stackin' 'til you stockin' for yourself, uh” I think can hit the heart of a lot of people right now. Also “shows with no hues that look like you do” is such a part of our culture right now. Trying to make sure every single person is represented. Making sure all voices are heard, that there is an equal opportunity is very much where we are at.
Now, the song itself, not so much. I just didn’t like most of it. The beat was fine. I can almost get over the whispering of Pharrell’s verses. The parts where he just says “Black man” over and over again was fine. The rest though, it was almost too busy. I know he likes to put funk in his work and his songs all have their original thing. I just found this one to be a bit too much with the layering. There was so much over the actual song it was hard to hear it. Then I thought maybe that was intentional, that Pharrell was trying to show how hard it’s been for Black voices to be heard. I don’t know if I’m reading into it something that’s not there, and he just thought it sounded good. It just didn’t work for me. The lyrics yes, so much yes. The sounds itself of the song, no, not really.
Pharrell just came out with a new song called “Entrepreneur” featuring Jay-Z. I will listen to anything that has Jay on it. Pharrell is a hit or miss for me. I get he is a genius. I understand why he is so amazing. I will not deny his talent and drive. It’s just that about half of his songs I can only listen to once or twice. That being said, I was excited to hear how this song would work with these two, seeing as how it’s been awhile since their last collaboration.
I gave the lyrics a read through before I listened to the song. I didn’t look up anything about it before I listened so I wouldn’t have any notions in my head. The lyrics themselves are so great. The verses are filled with emotion about being Black in this country. You can just feel Pharrell’s feelings ooze through when you read them.
I really thought the song would be more rough, the beat and melody a bit harder. The song starts with Pharrell whispering the first verse, and then his whispers his other verse. At first I didn’t like that, but after the second listen I thought Pharrell was trying to show that Black voices are really hard to hear in this country right now. We have to strain to listen to them. They aren’t being heard as loudly as they should be. I didn’t care for the whispering though.
Jay-Z’s verse was everything that I thought it would be. I absolutely loved it. I know it’s about Black Lives Matter, but the bit “sittin' around waitin' for folks to throw you a bone. If you can't buy the building at least stock the shelf (Word). Then keep on stackin' 'til you stockin' for yourself, uh” I think can hit the heart of a lot of people right now. Also “shows with no hues that look like you do” is such a part of our culture right now. Trying to make sure every single person is represented. Making sure all voices are heard, that there is an equal opportunity is very much where we are at.
Now, the song itself, not so much. I just didn’t like most of it. The beat was fine. I can almost get over the whispering of Pharrell’s verses. The parts where he just says “Black man” over and over again was fine. The rest though, it was almost too busy. I know he likes to put funk in his work and his songs all have their original thing. I just found this one to be a bit too much with the layering. There was so much over the actual song it was hard to hear it. Then I thought maybe that was intentional, that Pharrell was trying to show how hard it’s been for Black voices to be heard. I don’t know if I’m reading into it something that’s not there, and he just thought it sounded good. It just didn’t work for me. The lyrics yes, so much yes. The sounds itself of the song, no, not really.