Man-of-the-moment Pharrell Williams is a wearer of many hats–and not just that iconic Vivenne Westwood one. He’s a superstar producer, a Grammy-award winning artist, and now, a gym owner?
GQ’s Zach Baron caught up with Pharrell in Miami where the hit-maker drove him around town in his Rolls-Royce Phantom, with wife Helen in the backseat–now that’s what we call a joy ride.
During the interview, Pharrell talks about his newest business venture (investing in a women’s gym where he says “they can find their inner beauty and find their inner challenging spirit and find their bravery, all by dancing, and then at the same time getting fit”), politics (no, he isn’t running for president–but if we were, we’d be happy to vote for him), and being a renaissance man (but don’t call him that, he says).
Before the April issue hits stands, check out what some excerpts from the interview below.
On the iconic Buffalo hat:
“Anything different, people are going to look at and go, ‘Ha ha ha ha, what is that??’ Then, after a while, they do a little bit of research; they realize it’s Vivienne Westwood, an ode to her boyfriend at the time; they had a store together called World’s End. The guy who went on to sign the Sex Pistols, Malcolm McLaren.”
On being labeled:
“I’m not a renaissance man. What I am is a maverick, and I don’t want to be put in a box at all.”
Why Hillary Clinton will be our next president :
“Let me tell you why Hillary’s going to win. Everywhere you go in this country, you have red and blue. You got the Democrats; you got the Republicans. You got the Bloods; you got the Crips. You know what else is red and blue? Blood. Blood is blue in your body until air hits it, and then it turns red. That means there’s unity. There’s gonna be unity. So when you think about a night where there’s late-night talk-show hosts and it’s mostly women, that’s a different world. Right? A world where 75 percent of the prime ministers and the presidents were women: that’s a different world. That’s gonna happen, and it’s gonna happen when Hillary wins. Because you know what? No matter how staunch of a supporter you are of no-abortion, whatever you are: you’re a woman, and there’s no way in the world you’re going to vote for somebody that’s going to try to tell you what to do with your body. Hillary’s gonna win. Listen, I’m reaching out to her right now. She’s gonna win.”
Twerking in the Tea Party:
“The Tea Party guys? The guys with the n***er jokes in 2014? They’re all trying to learn how to do the Dougie. Please. While their daughters are all twerking. Trust me: Miley tells me all the time. Not saying that about Billy Ray, but I’m saying Miley tells me all the time: all those little girls, all those girls with their Republican daddies, they’re twerkin’ somewhere listening to Jay Z and Beyoncé and doin’ the ‘Happy’ dance. And that’s black.”
SOURCE: GQ | PHOTO CREDIT: Paola Kudacki/GQ
