Pharrell Williams, the backbone of the music industry, is behind a lot of popular songs. Forming The Neptunes, a production duo, in the early 90s, Pharrell and his colleague, Chad Hugo found great success in a very short time. Following his time with The Neptunes, Williams became the lead vocalist for an R&B/rap band, N.E.R.D. with Hugo and Shay Haley, the band’s drummer. Williams’s quick accomplishments skyrocketed his career very quickly. From a teenage boy in a talent show to a world-renowned music producer, Williams has made a huge name for himself off of just four beats.
“Milkshake,” released in 2003 by Kelis, is an early-aged, absolutely iconic bop. I grew up listening to this song. Featured in movies like Mean Girls, this song has grossed 883,000 paid song downloads and is characterized by low R&B beats and a euphemistic chorus. Right when you hit play on “Milkshake,” you instantly hear a four-count riff of synthetic, bass-heavy beats dropped. Williams is the brilliant mind behind these four beats leading up to a fifth downbeat, beginning the start of the first verse, sung by Kelis.
As if one hit wasn’t enough, Pharrell Williams found himself making it big in the early 2000s-2010s. Snoop Dogg’s arguably most popular song, “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” released in 2004 is an ear worm, featuring the same four-count producer tag. Distinguished by four repetitions of a double beat bouncing from ear to ear, “Drop It Like It’s Hot” is one of Pharrell’s biggest hits. As if this incredible trademark wasn’t enough, Pharrell got his verse on Snoop’s track letting fans know “think before they mess with lil’ Skateboard P”.
The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift, the standalone sequel to the beloved The Fast and the Furious movie chain, features many hits in its discography. The most popular hit, “Tokyo Drift (Fast and Furious),” by the Teriyaki Boyz is a club-certified party classic. Aggressive electronic loops, guitars, and heavy percussion are an immense part of this song. The Gamelan, a Javanese ensemble consisting of gongs, xylophones, metallophones, and flutes is used to drop the quintessential four-count producer tag Williams has made notable.
Williams has been the magic behind the scenes for many artists, but he has also given himself credit for his songs. On his album, G I R L, released in 2014, Pharrell features his most popular song to date, “Happy,” gaining fame after being promoted in Despicable Me 2. Following suit with the rest of his charting songs, “Happy” is introduced with four accents of consistent tempo setting the pace for the upbeat elation throughout the rest of the song. Like many of the other songs Pharrell Williams has produced, “Happy” shakes in movement and catchy fluctuations, making it a modern-day anthem.
The ingenious production of just four short beats has made Pharrell Williams huge in the world of music. In an interview with GQ and Tyler the Creator, Williams revealed that he is always working on new music. Fans can look forward to many new hits from Williams and his paradigmatic 4 count introduction.
