Yesterday, author and activist, dream hampton tweeted that she was disappointed by Pharell’s album cover for his new project, G I R L. hampton was displeased because, from her perspective, there appeared to be no black women represented. hampton referenced the decades-long practice of black artists white washing their covers to appeal to mainstream audiences and spoke about how album art sends messages about to whom the artist and culture assign value.
Some agreed with her and wondered when black women were going to be represented by black artists and others felt the criticism was unwarranted.
But what does Pharrell have to say about this? Turns out the woman in the middle, the one he’s standing the closest to, is a black woman. Pharrell called into “The Breakfast Club” this morning to speak about the mini controversy. Here’s what he had to say:
What really disappointed me is they jumped the gun, because the one I’m standing closest to is black. She’s a black girl from Wisconsin that I used to date over ten years ago or maybe like twelve years ago. That just must suck man for people to look at something and to assume they know what’s going on. If they just bothered to listen to my album, they would know that my album was an ode to women, period. And the one thing that I’m trying to kill…well I can’t kill anything…but the one thing I was just trying to help and aid in changing the crazy statuesque standard of you gotta be white, waif, and thin for you to be beautiful.
Pharrell explained how his song “Marilyn Monroe” challenges the notion of one set beauty standard.
My next record is called “Marilyn Monroe” and the chorus is, ‘Not even Marilyn Monroe who Cleopatra pleased, Not even Joan of Arc, That don’t mean nothing to me, I just want a different girl.’
So that means no matter what color you are, what size you are, what you’re into, your sexual orientation, I respect you as a woman because I know without you, none of us would be here. But unfortunately, they looked at the cover & they didn’t see what they felt like — I don’t know what the definition is. That she’s a light-skinned black woman. But I mean, what is the conversation? So is our president not black? Is Lenny Kravitz not one of our greatest? What are we talking about? Is Lisa Bonét in or out?
I’m not mad because I understand. I understand that plight. My dad is a dark-skinned man. I understand that, I know what that is all day long. Have I lived it specifically? Yeah, I’m a black man.
They just reported I was the first black person to go number one on pop radio since Rihanna, but then you’re gonna shoot at me? What do you mean? I’m gonna turn 41 in April. Of course I’m doing this for us. What are you talking about, man?
My mom is a black woman who is a huge part of my business. My business is run by another black woman and I’m married to a black woman. What are you talking about?
Then Charlemagne suggested that Pharrell include women like Gabourey Sidibe in his video.
Pharrell responded:
I refuse. My whole album is about women — period. There’s such a bigger statement that I’m making in the album that relates to all women and that’s how I think we bring everyone together is when we respect the female species across the board. I’m not telling you my album don’t have no slick, perverse things. That’s what I do sometimes! I like curves I like eyes, beauty, body, all that stuff. But there are some real, true, keystone points about how I feel about women as it pertains to humanity, the social imbalance, how they don’t get paid as much as men do. Or like how these legislatures are trying to tell women what they can and can’t do with their body. Meanwhile, these same people are beneficiaries to a woman. Not a man, but a woman agreeing to have them, but you’re going to tell them when they can and can’t do it. It just bothers me because they’re missing the point.
And he wrapped up the conversation like this:
Man, it must suck to be that black woman that’s on my cover right now because she’s black. When they find out that she is black, then what? Then we’re arguing amongst ourselves within color. Then the argument’s going to be she’s not brown enough. Then my question to you is, are y’all asking me do I have an Indian person on the cover? Why aren’t you asking about a Pakistani person? A Middle Eastern person on the cover. I just…MAN! What are we talking about? We’re making huge strides here. Let’s unify, dude. ‘Cause honestly, if you know anything about me, if you’ve seen any of my videos, you seen any of the girls I’ve ever dated, you know I like ‘em all.. You would know that.
Thank you Pharrell! I’m so glad he decided to speak up about this. Yesterday, when I saw that his album cover, which I had already seen, was trending on Twitter, I sighed. No the women didn’t immediately look black to me. But I know enough black people to know that we come in a variety of shades. As my coworker asked me, “Do we know for sure that these women aren’t black?” No, we didn’t. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. Blackness is broad. dream hampton, who is light complected herself, should know this first hand. Perhaps the argument then becomes one about colorism rather than representation. Which I don’t find too valid in this situation, considering the fact that Pharrell has featured darker complected women in his videos (see: Frontin’) and is married to a black woman himself.
And on another note, I listened to the album last night on iTunes Radio and I must say it’s the most refreshing mainstream album I’ve heard in a long time. Every song and I do mean every song paints women favorably. That’s huge. Huge. As he mentioned, there are parts where he references sexual attraction. But we won’t pretend that our sexuality is not a part of what it means to be a woman or even a human being. The fact that Pharrell, a man with a huge history in various genres but specifically Hip Hop is taking this kind of stance could be revolutionary. And here we are looking at complexion, assuming and jumping the gun.
Should we hold black artists accountable? Sure. Should we be able to freely express our disappointment? Of course. Should we make sure we have all the facts before doing so? It’s imperative.
And more than anything, whether in Hip Hop or in our everyday lives, we must remember that blackness is unlimited.
What do you think about the whole G I R L controversy?
You can listen to Pharrell’s entire interview in the video on the next page.
