If you hadn’t noticed, everything is still coming up Pharrell. His singles “Get Lucky” (with Daft Punk) and “Blurred Lines” (with Robin Thicke) were last year’s most inescapable songs. His hat game is now legendary. His tux game is impeccable. The 40-year-old producer, who’s been in the industry for nearly a quarter of a century, is suddenly the hottest thing in pop.
G I R L is a thoroughly lightweight album, but it’s already gaining an importance that the breezy music doesn’t immediately suggest. “Happy” is the first single credited primarily to a black artist to top the Hot 100 in well over a year since Rihanna’s “Diamonds” did it at the end of 2012. It doesn’t seem like the type of song that could or should shoulder something as significant as the racial divide that’s sneakily conquered the pop charts in recent months. Like Pharrell himself, it’s far more vital to pop’s health than you might think.
