starts at 3min40 mark when Howard tells Pharrell Prince needs him to get another hit

[Edited 5/1/14 3:26am]

Thanks for posting this..what a nice, pleasant and informative interview. Pharell comes across as a very humble and genuine person in this interview...which is remarkable considering how successful he´s been so far. The info regarding Michael Jackson and the songs he wrote for him and with him in mind is interesting. I wish Michael would´ve sung those songs that ended up on Timberlake´s album.

I still hate that song he did with Robin Thicke though....boring song, stupid video, stupid collabo.

I liked what he said about Prince.

Didn´t know that Pharell believed in astrology though...the thing about geminis is something I wouldn´t have expected to hear from him.

I would love a Pharrel/Neptunes produced Prince album! They understand where Prince is coming from musically and could guide him to use more interesting production techniques. I am sure Prince would have a smash hit album if he would decide to try this. He is probably too proud to do that though...

It might be cool for a one off.

But let's recall, Pharrell already did an official remix of "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold".

Was it better than the original? No.

I like Pharrell's response when Howard said Prince needed Pharell to get him a hit. Howard is so annoying in his obsession with Prince, he's like a jilted girlfriend. Pharrell has an understanding and level of respect for Prince as an artist, was humble in his answer and didn't take Howard's stale bait.

Militant said:

It might be cool for a one off.

But let's recall, Pharrell already did an official remix of "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold".

Was it better than the original? No.

Yeah I wasnt impressed with it either.

MJ007 said:

I like Pharrell's response when Howard said Prince needed Pharell to get him a hit. Howard is so annoying in his obsession with Prince, he's like a jilted girlfriend. Pharrell has an understanding and level of respect for Prince as an artist, was humble in his answer and didn't take Howard's stale bait.

Props to Pharrell for giving a measured answer. Howard Stern is really no different than many fans on this website who harbor petty slights against Prince and takes small digs at Prince for whatever reason. I think The Neptunes producing Prince is much more likely than Questlove. Pharrell's music aesthetic and production style is close to the minimalist recording and musical techniques of Prince's past and current musical ideas. Questlove is a self-professed music snob and I can just picture P getting annoyed with Questlove in the studio, if Ahmir acted like he knows more about Prince's music than Prince. Lastly, there's more to getting a hit than having a good song. Even if Prince had the best song today since SOTT, this notion that a hit producer could give P a hit is presumptious.

Militant said:

It might be cool for a one off.

But let's recall, Pharrell already did an official remix of "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold".

Was it better than the original? No.

lezama said:

Militant said:

It might be cool for a one off.

But let's recall, Pharrell already did an official remix of "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold".

Was it better than the original? No.

Yeah I wasnt impressed with it either.

I agree that that remix wasn't an improvement over the original. But still I would like to hear what would happen if they would actually work together in the same studio on some Prince penned tunes!

funkaholic1972 said:

lezama said:

Yeah I wasnt impressed with it either.

I agree that that remix wasn't an improvement over the original. But still I would like to hear what would happen if they would actually work together in the same studio on some Prince penned tunes!

It'd be interesting, no doubt, Im a little biased with this question though because I look at Pharrell as being overexposed as a producer.. He's on everyones albums and his "sound" is just kind of everywhere. I think I'd rather see what he and Nile Rodgers or even someone a little more unconventional could do in the studio together. I have all of Pharrell's and NERDs albums and never play any of them. If his tracks are on the radio I'll listen to it, but not in my private time. I like things that are unique. Pharrell is good for producing what the mainstream wants, but Im not really a Prince fan for mainstream sounds. And I dont really care for him having another "hit", I just want music thats good and listenable.

MJ007 said:

I like Pharrell's response when Howard said Prince needed Pharell to get him a hit. Howard is so annoying in his obsession with Prince, he's like a jilted girlfriend. Pharrell has an understanding and level of respect for Prince as an artist, was humble in his answer and didn't take Howard's stale bait.

EXACTLY, its quite ODD actually, not that free press is a bad thing, but its quite the obsession. I'd totally pay to see him and ?uestlove in a Celebrity boxing pay per view match LOL

[Edited 5/1/14 14:09pm]

lezama said:

funkaholic1972 said:

I would love a Pharrel/Neptunes produced Prince album! They understand where Prince is coming from musically and could guide him to use more interesting production techniques. I am sure Prince would have a smash hit album if he would decide to try this. He is probably too proud to do that though...

It would be interesting,for sure.On Pharrell's new album,songs like "Hunter" and "Come Get It Bae" feature some cool minimalistic funk sounds,tailor-made for Prince.

Militant said:

It might be cool for a one off.

But let's recall, Pharrell already did an official remix of "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold".

Doesn't that have Q-tip on it?

[Edited 5/2/14 2:37am]

fbueller said:

Militant said:

It might be cool for a one off.

But let's recall, Pharrell already did an official remix of "The Greatest Romance Ever Sold".

Doesn't that have Q-tip on it?

[Edited 5/2/14 2:37am]

Indeed it does.

When it comes to Prince/Q-Tip collaborations, I much prefer "Chocolate Box".

bashraka said:

MJ007 said:

I like Pharrell's response when Howard said Prince needed Pharell to get him a hit. Howard is so annoying in his obsession with Prince, he's like a jilted girlfriend. Pharrell has an understanding and level of respect for Prince as an artist, was humble in his answer and didn't take Howard's stale bait.

Props to Pharrell for giving a measured answer. Howard Stern is really no different than many fans on this website who harbor petty slights against Prince and takes small digs at Prince for whatever reason. I think The Neptunes producing Prince is much more likely than Questlove. Pharrell's music aesthetic and production style is close to the minimalist recording and musical techniques of Prince's past and current musical ideas. Questlove is a self-professed music snob and I can just picture P getting annoyed with Questlove in the studio, if Ahmir acted like he knows more about Prince's music than Prince. Lastly, there's more to getting a hit than having a good song. Even if Prince had the best song today since SOTT, this notion that a hit producer could give P a hit is presumptious.

Questlove strength: ability to bring out the essence of what was good about the artist. Bringing out the authentic sound that the artist was known for in his/her heydays. He did it with Al Green.

Questlove weakness: perfecting that well known sounds comes with a backside. It doesn't sound as inspired and new as it did when the earlier classic was recorded. Recreating something old that was great, doesn't mean that the new copy will sound fresh and inspired.

Pharrell strength: ability to write mega hits. Has a great pop sensibility.

Pharrell weakness: Is usually a bit too agressive with his trademark sound, creating neptunes hits with different vocals. Pretty much like Prince did with Vanity 6, The Time, Appolonia 6, Jill Jones etc... They're very similar when it comes to making their clients sound like different versions of themselves.


They would probably be great for co-production. But if they were to actually own the entire production, I'm pretty sure it would have been not so fun.

Questlove could have had the responsibility of placing the mics correctly, helping out choosing band members, and just tell him in a humble way what he loves about Prince as a writer and performer.

Pharrell and Prince could go back and forth jamming with keys, bass and drum programming while improvising hooks etc. Still letting Prince decide everything.

This way they could have a cool "discussion" like pharrell put it in that interview, and Prince could have had the last word.

funkaholic1972 said:

I think Questlove would do a better job then Pharrell at producing a Prince album. My rationale? What he did with Al Green, giving me the impression that he really DOES know what he loves about an artist, and understands what really made them special to begin with.

KoolEaze said:

Didn´t know that Pharell believed in astrology though...the thing about geminis is something I wouldn´t have expected to hear from him.

Yeah, I thought he was smarter than that.

steakfinger said:

CynicKill said:

I think Questlove would do a better job then Pharrell at producing a Prince album. My rationale? What he did with Al Green, giving me the impression that he really DOES know what he loves about an artist, and understands what really made them special to begin with.

Questlove dosen't have the ability to make impactful music though. I think what a lot of fans on this site hope is to see Prince have hits again and Questlove ain't the guy for that. Pharrell on the other hand being the hottest guy in the industry and all has the ability to make something bigger.

And Prince is the kind of guy who always looks ahead unlike Quest who would try to emulate Prince's 80s sound and would end up making it sound like a poor version of it anyway. There's no point in trying to recreate magic that happened in the past imo. Seems like a very hard task specially for someone who wasn't a part of that process.

[Edited 5/4/14 8:34am]

funkaholic1972 said:

I would love a Pharrel/Neptunes produced Prince album! They understand where Prince is coming from musically and could guide him to use more interesting production techniques. I am sure Prince would have a smash hit album if he would decide to try this. He is probably too proud to do that though...

I've been saying this forever....a Pharrell collaboration would be fire!