For his first exhibition in a gallery, Pharrell has created some furniture with vibrant colors and slick surfaces. Two chairs will be exhibited: one with the legs of a lion and the second with human legs. They will be produced in different colors, with a choice for the seat in veal skin or leather. The shape of the seat is inspired by the “Eames chair”. Pharrell Williams diverted examples of classical furniture and update them into a sort of Hip-Hop style with his intense colors and sensual material. Pharrell Williams represents the aspiration of a new generation of Hip-Hop artists.

Wow! "Eames chair," eh? Sign me up. I love the elegant simplicity of the Herman Miller Eames chairs.

I can't wait to see Pharrell's hip-hop-inspired version of that! Let's take a look together!

Oh. Hmm. Call me a Negative Nancy, but I don't think that the Eames' had crude butt sex jokes in mind when they designed their chairs. Remember how, in Spinal Tap, when David St. Hubbins says "There's a fine line between stupid and clever?" Everyone, meet stupid.

These chairs just walked in off the mean streets!

Oh No They Didn't]

Yep, that's a gold-plated iPhone Pharrell is holding. And his Billionaire Boys Club blog has a nod to iPod designer Jonathan Ive. And he owned an iPod.

Man, I miss the days when celebrities really used the products they were endorsing.

Drunken Orson Welles [YouTube]
'I'm A PC' Made On A Mac [Sydney Morning Herald]
I'm a PC ... and I Love My iPhone! [AdAge]
Microsoft Gets Pharrell Williams To Lie For Them [Agency Spy]

Seinfeld got the axe after a series of fairly bizarre ads that I think I liked. Maybe that's part of the problem there. The one where Bill Gates and Jerry Seinfeld went shoe-shopping really had very little to do with Microsoft, and seemed to be a rather blatant attempt to counter the hip Justin Long/John Hodgman ads that Apple's been cranking out of late. But I gotta admit, moving to Pharell? I like him and all, but I wasn't 100% sure I even knew what the guy looked like until I Googled him and said, "Oh yeah, sure I do." And he's known as much, if not more, for his behind-the-scenes work as for his MCing, no?

In an a skewed way, it's kind of cool to see an artist like Pharrell pitching a behemoth like Microsoft. But in another, less skewed way, it doesn't make a lot of sense given Seinfeld's actual stardom. Seeing as how Seinfeld got $10 million for the ads, this is probably a wise financial decision. Pharrell costs what, a few grand? (Keep in mind, I'm guessing based off my standard rate for public appearances, which is a sixer of Bud Ice.)

Pharrell is actually part of Microsoft's "Phase Two" phalanx. Translation: "Phase One featuring Jerry Seinfeld" only became "Phase One" when those ads tanked. "Phase Two" places Pharrell in a marketing Cerberus that includes Eva Longoria and Deepak Chopra, last seen in The Love Guru. We all know how that one turned out.

I need to point out here that the guy who played weak-spined newspaper editor Thomas Klebanow in Season 5 of The Wire is in this ad. Seeing that guy makes me mad. You should have listened to Gus and Alma, you creep!

Microsoft Dumps Seinfeld For Rapper Pharrell [AllHipHop]

ONE-LISTEN VERDICT: When Santogold talked to Gigwise about recording "My Drive-Thru" for Converse, she said it was "such a Pharrell track," by which she likely meant that it sounds like it was rejected by Madonna after the Hard Candy sessions for being just a hair too incoherent. At the outset, each vocalist is given their own instrumental cue to let listeners know who's singing: Pharrell gets a guitar riff that sounds like it was the result of someone playing Guitar Hero on a level just beyond their ability; Julian gets some keyboard-mashing that may or may not have been performed by an inquisitive two-year-old; and Santogold gets cowbell (plus Pharrell saying "oh," because he's contractually obligated to do that on every track his vocals appear on). From there, things get more incoherent, with many repetitions of the word "dance"; perhaps egged on by this chaos, or perhaps just the promise of free kicks, Julian actually sounds kind of, well, alive.

This track may result in a few extra-compositional reactions. It may reinforce your feeling that musicians should stick to licensing their existing material if they want to make a buck. Or you may like it, and wonder why the world hasn't embraced Pharrell as its jingle writer yet. (Imagine what he could do with this Burger King campaign.) Or you could run screaming from it, thus deciding that musicians should just be happy with the piddling cash they get for making their contractually obligated releases. Whatever your reaction, be warned: You'll probably hear this track a ton if you'll be attending any Cobrasnake-chronicled soirees in the coming months, since I'm sure this will be on the tip of many DJs' styluses (stylii?) at many a free-vodka-soaked affair this summer.

WHERE TO FIND IT: Stereogum.

Earlier: Pharrell, Santogold, Julian Casablancas United By Converse

ONE-LISTEN VERDICT: A new Rick Ross track? Less than six months since the release of Trilla? Are we sure this is Rick Ross? The lyrics are his usual dick-grabbing swill, but riding Pharrell's beat, it's as easy to ignore Ross' nonsense as it is to ignore Flo Rida's. In fact, as Flo Rida has yet to realize a single with Pharrell, I'm going to pretend this is exactly that. Because if I admit that Rick Ross is capable of not sinking a fun track, I might have to admit that he's not leaving the pop charts any time soon.

WHERE TO HEAR IT: Nah Right, 2DopeBoyz, YouTube, etc.

ONE-LISTEN VERDICT How did Pharrell keep this beat away from Madonna? It's his best in a while—electro-dance that makes me want to put some cardboard out on the sidewalk and practice my moves. (Anybody want to school me on the source?) Common's staid, cheesy flow even fits the retro "yes, yes, y'all" vibe. This is easily the most immediately likable track I've ever heard from Common, possibly because it's the first one where the beat grabbed my attention before the lyric, without being Kanye bombast.

WHERE TO HEAR IT: Hip-Hop DX has a stream, Rap-Up has a download, and the track's starting to pop up on YouTube.

"Julian and I, I mean everybody on it does there own separate thing and we didn't do it together so it ends up being just this weird long song with sort of everybody with lots of their own personalities separate," White explained.



The singer, who has also shot a video for the song, said she felt that "everybody really represented themselves well on it."

Just in case you've missed out on Santogold, here's the video for "L.E.S. Artistes."

For those who love M.I.A.'s big earrings and use of military signifiers but would prefer to listen to Tegan & Sara.

Exclusive: Santogold Records Song With The Strokes And Pharrell Williams [Gigwise]
Santogold - L.E.S. Artistes [Official Music Video] [YouTube]

Lupe's also delayed his second album a month and claims he's turning into a weary soul before his time. " I'll do what I have to do to promote my next album, but I'm not enthused about doing seven albums," he told Billboard. "I'll do my three, and then I am going to keep moving to the next phase of life and maybe grow trees." Have we already lost the snotty skate rat we all fell in love with a year ago?

Lupe, Kanye, Pharrell Hoping To Make Full Album As CRS [Billboard]

"Hey You" [liveearth.msn.com]
Earlier: And Now, An Awkward Attempt At Sincerity