Pharrell Williams is an excellent artist who is overflowing with creativity and talent.

[Warning: this article contains spoilers, viewer discretion is advised]

Piece By Piece is a 2024 biographical comedic documentary about the life of Pharrell Williams, and the success he has had in his life. It was co-produced, written, and directed by Morgan Neville, who has previously been nominated for five Grammys, prior to his work on this film. The movie tells a story using Lego animation, making it the sixth Lego based film under the name of Universal Pictures.

The film includes the voices of many famous music stars such as Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, and many others, all as Lego versions of themselves. They help tell their thoughts and side of the story behind some of the pieces from Pharrell’s life.

The movie begins with Pharrell as a young boy with synesthesia and his discovery of music. His love of Stevie Wonder and the ocean brought him to begin to explore the light he has inside. The story continues as he grows up and finds his passion for music, rapping, and producing beats for deeply influential people, such as Jay-Z, Britney Spears, and many more.

Using lots of colors and styles of music, Pharrell illuminates how crazy and colorful his music is while also showing what his synesthesia feels like to the audience. He creates this world out of Legos to create something entirely new and better from pieces that already exist, and that’s something he does with his music as a producer.

This film, to me, was something that will forever change my life because of how much music Pharrell has really made since his first feature. He started off as some odd kid who saw colors in his music to becoming a guy who makes music for the Despicable Me franchise.

He wrote the song “Happy” that, in 2014, caused the biggest surge of wholesome internet content ever in that era. From being a feature in Tyler The Creators “IFHY” to “Get Lucky” with Daft Punk. Pharrell, in my opinion, has one of the most amazing ranges in music, and should be more recognized in his work.

Pharrell has such a wonderful way of telling his story, and through Legos, it just becomes that much more captivating. The sounds, the sights, and the music are all so powerful and moving that you sit and realize that music is in everything, even if you don’t see or feel it. It’s in the ground we walk on, it’s in the air, and in our countries.

Music is engraved into everything we do, and Pharrell really highlights how it changed and molded who he is now. He shows how he used the music that pre-existed and found new ways to create movement in society and the music industry. So much so, that probably many of your own favorite songs have his signature four-count beat producer tag.

I rate this movie a 9/10. If you are a fan of music at all, you should watch this movie. You don’t ever really hear what passion and art truly go into what you listen to until you give it a chance to speak to you.