- 6 minutes ago
Director: Rob MarkmanDirector of Photography: Kevin C. SpenceEditor: Michael SuyedaSenior Producer: Bety DerejeCamera Operator: Paola Esquivel-OliverosGaffer: Réal GillAudio: Tyson DaiProduction Assistant: Quinton JohnsonProduction Coordinator: Tanía JonesProduction Manager: Kristen HelmickLine Producer: Jen SantosAssistant Editor: Justin SymondsPost Production Coordinator: Holly FrewSupervising Editor: Kameron KeyPost Production Supervisor: Alexa DeutschGlobal Entertainment Director: Sergio KletnoyExecutive Producer: Rahel GebreyesSenior Director, Video: Romy van den BroekeInterim Director, Creative Development, Video: Ella MielniczenkoSenior Director, Programming: Linda GittlesonVP, Video Programming: Thespena GuatieriFilmed on Location: Ludlow House, Soho House
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PeopleTranscript
00:00By the time I got there, you made me rewrite it three times.
00:03Right.
00:03You've never made me rewrite a verse.
00:05Yeah.
00:05Ever.
00:06That's true.
00:07Ever.
00:08That's true.
00:08Not before or since.
00:10Never.
00:13Hi, Vogue. I'm Pharrell Williams.
00:15And I'm Pusha T.
00:16And today we're going to talk about growing up in Virginia and having our dreams come true.
00:20When you think about our friendship, what's your earliest memory?
00:23My earliest memory was rapping with your brother, going over to Ghanu's house,
00:29you know, we would have sessions over at Chad house.
00:31And a lot of times when your brother and I be like making music with Chad,
00:37you'd be like falling asleep on Chad's couch.
00:40Probably the breadth of our friendship was based on music.
00:44I mean, we wake up every morning watching MTV and watching BET early in the morning.
00:49Did you see that video?
00:50And whether it was Pearl Jam or it was Juvenile, when they first came out,
00:55whatever it was that moved us, that was the subject of conversation every morning before school.
01:02My earliest memory of our friendship was acting like we went to school that day.
01:09Like, because we skipped school every day.
01:12My actual report card spelled Eddie one time.
01:15E-D-D-I-E.
01:17The I's were for incompletes, the E's were for failing,
01:21and the D's were for below average.
01:23What do you remember about this image and where did we get these suits from?
01:28I remember the image.
01:29I do not remember what suits these were.
01:31I have absolutely no idea where we got the suits from.
01:35But this picture is of the first Clips video that we ever shot.
01:39It was called The Funeral from the exclusive audio footage album.
01:42And the rest of the music never came out.
01:44I think they're selling it now, though.
01:45They are.
01:46They're selling it on vinyl, I believe, now.
01:47We were so into the whole ha energy that we went and got Mark Classfield to shoot this video.
01:53But at the same time, it was a lot of death surrounding us and our friends.
01:58So the idea for the song, The Funeral, was just us eulogizing ourselves.
02:02We were watching, like, we probably had about two or three deaths at that time.
02:05How has your personal style evolved over time?
02:08I'm an Aries, so I did a lot of impulsive things for years and years and years.
02:13And I think when I got to a place in myself where I was like, oh, I'm not competing with
02:19him, Jay, or even my dad, Q-Tip, you know?
02:24Yeah.
02:24When I realized I wasn't competing with them and that I had carved up my own lane for myself,
02:30that's when, like, my style started to settle in.
02:32Like, okay, I need to do me.
02:34Describe your perfect outfit.
02:35I'd have to say my perfect outfit is anything that makes me as comfortable as feeling like
02:41I'm in pajamas.
02:42I'm a luxury sweat, tracksuit type of guy.
02:46Yeah, yeah, yeah.
02:46$1,000 sweats.
02:47Yeah, yeah, yeah.
02:48$1,000 tracksuit pants.
02:49Okay, that's the...
02:50You know.
02:51That's how he shows up.
02:51By the way, that's how he shows up six in the morning.
02:54Just being comfortable, man.
02:56Tell me about your most memorable recording session in Louis Vuitton headquarters.
02:59My brain goes to Chains and Whips, right there on the Sin River in the Louis Vuitton headquarters.
03:07Then, right outside the window of the headquarters, we have the fashion show.
03:12You and your brother walk that show.
03:14Yeah.
03:14Two Chains and Whips.
03:15Yeah.
03:16With Bernard Arnault and Helen Arnault sitting there and the Arnault family sitting there
03:20and Jay-Z and Beyonce head bopping.
03:22Then two years later, they walk away and get that trophy with Kendrick.
03:25Yeah, I got to say that's probably one of the most momentous sessions ever, even though
03:30I've had a lot of great ones.
03:32Yeah.
03:33That one is just kind of like from A to Z, as they say.
03:36What was the moment that you realized our breakout single grinding would be a turning point?
03:40I knew it was going to be a breakout moment because you were just so adamant about it.
03:45You were so adamant about me getting to the studio.
03:49Yes.
03:49And you'd honestly never told me anything like that in your life.
03:55Get here or I'm giving it away and I'm telling you and there ain't no turning back.
03:59By the time I got there, you made me rewrite it three times.
04:02Right.
04:03You never made me rewrite a verse.
04:04Yeah.
04:05Ever.
04:06Yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:07That's true.
04:07Ever.
04:08That's true.
04:08That's true.
04:10Not before or since.
04:11Never.
04:12From there.
04:12We never turned back, though.
04:14We never turned back after.
04:16No.
04:16When the record was done, it was like, and the record didn't pop for like nine months.
04:20Straight up.
04:21So someone could have told us, hey, man, move on.
04:23Yep.
04:24And we didn't move on.
04:25Nah.
04:25Yeah.
04:26We believed.
04:27I'm honored that like that worked out.
04:29And then who knew that it had the legs and the wings that could fly us to this moment right
04:34here?
04:35I will say in that session, you were so excited because you kept saying, man, but it's only six sounds.
04:42Yeah.
04:42Yeah.
04:43Six.
04:43It's only six sounds.
04:45Yeah.
04:45It's only six sounds.
04:47Yeah.
04:47I didn't know what the hell, whether it was six, eight, ten or twelve.
04:51And I was just like, yo, why does that matter so much?
04:54Yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:54But you were so excited about it being only six sounds.
04:58Yeah.
04:58I was beginning, I was entering like a minimalist stage.
05:01And Chad was a part of that, by the way.
05:03Do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do, do.
05:04You know, he did that part.
05:05But the drums and the cadence of like everything that we were doing drum wise, like that was like my
05:09thing.
05:10Did you ever in your wildest dreams think that the song would inspire a coffee company?
05:15One thing you've taught, you've taught me, dream big.
05:19Yeah.
05:20So, um, I'm not surprised we have a coffee company.
05:24I'm not.
05:26I'm not.
05:27You know, there's a lot of, there's a lot of things that I've, uh, that I've second guessed early on.
05:34And, and you were like, no, like, no, we, we can do that.
05:37We can have it all.
05:38We can, we can have everything.
05:40So, no.
05:42Yeah, we're supposed to have everything we have.
05:44Tracks.
05:44Yeah, it tracks.
05:47What's an example of a time we disagree creatively and how do we resolve it and who was ultimately right?
05:53I've had my moments of like going about it the wrong way and making bigger, more accessible and more popular
06:02records.
06:03You always held tight to the core of purity.
06:06A lot of my novice attempts would fail and you'd say, I told you so.
06:12And that was something that I definitely learned from.
06:16And now I'm on the ass.
06:18Yeah, for sure.
06:20Because they talk about us.
06:22A lot.
06:23They love talking about us.
06:24A lot.
06:25Hell have no fury or let God sort them out.
06:27That's a tough one.
06:29I'm going to go with let God sort them out because let God sort them out.
06:34It's a tutorial on the maturation of a rap group and how a group is supposed to mature.
06:41I agree.
06:42I probably would add to that.
06:43Like, allegedly, you might have still had your hands a little dirty.
06:47Oh, I was.
06:48During Hell Hath.
06:49It goes out of my mind in Hell Hath.
06:51You know what?
06:52I've always said, I can never make Hell Hath No Fury again.
06:57Yeah.
06:57Things that I was saying in that album just came from a very, man, it was from a bitter place.
07:03It was from a very competitive place.
07:05I was proving points that I hope I never have to prove again in life.
07:09The key is we make fight or flight music.
07:11That is the standard that we make our music to.
07:15If it can't work in those environments, then it doesn't work.
07:19It is the way of the culture still to this day.
07:22Like, people want urgency.
07:23Where would you rather record?
07:25In a traditional studio or on a boat in Miami?
07:29On a boat.
07:30I'm talking about a boat.
07:32Oh, man.
07:33The fuck I never want to make music in a warehouse again?
07:36What the fuck?
07:37When you can look at the ocean and it's a testing ground.
07:40If I can make music in a Rolls Royce, I would do it because it's a testing ground.
07:44It's got to sound good in there, right?
07:45But we do it on a boat because that's what we know a lot of people are going to listen
07:48to it.
07:49Not everybody, but some people.
07:52What's something unexpected about your morning routine?
07:54I think a lot of people don't expect that we start our morning so early.
07:59Yeah.
07:59I think, you know, people are always very surprised that we're 5 a.m.
08:08Yeah.
08:085 a.m. on the phone or 5 a.m.
08:10Hey, heading to the studio.
08:11You know, that's when a lot of the creative flow.
08:15Yeah.
08:15The creative flow for us.
08:17Yeah.
08:18Is early a.m.
08:19Yes.
08:19Early a.m.
08:20And we can go strong.
08:23We can go strong to about 2 o'clock.
08:25Yep.
08:26Then you got the rest of the day.
08:27And then the rest of the day is just, you know.
08:29Yeah.
08:29That early morning mental acuity.
08:32There's something that should be studied about that.
08:34That's the one thing I will say about, like, the school system.
08:37The sweetest spot is early in the morning.
08:40If you could have produced any song in history.
08:42Oh, Lord.
08:43What would it have been?
08:44Oh, Lord.
08:44I can't do that.
08:45It's just far too many.
08:47What rap song do you wish you produced?
08:49That's so fucking tough, man.
08:51Because it could be anything from Strafe, Set It Off, which is no rapping at all.
08:56That's a good question, though.
08:57I mean, it is.
08:58But then Niceeem Meyers, Queen Bitch.
09:00Oh, man.
09:01That bass line, I have been chasing that for 30 years.
09:05But then there's RZA.
09:07Yeah.
09:07RZA's hurt me and kept me up at nights and wake me up in the morning.
09:11Marley Mall.
09:12Oh, yeah.
09:12Eric B for President.
09:14Yeah.
09:14I mean, my life.
09:16We would buy coupes.
09:17We would buy, we would buy Bentleys and Rose Voices and 20 years later and still pop that
09:22shit in the deck because the way it made us feel.
09:25Yeah.
09:26If you could have had a verse on any song in history, which would it be?
09:31That's a good one.
09:31If I could have a verse on any song in history.
09:36Who shot you?
09:37It would be, it would be who shot you.
09:39Oh, fuck.
09:41I was going to say who shot you and my downfall.
09:44Yes.
09:44Both by big.
09:45Guy that was in his early 20s when he was killed.
09:49Yeah.
09:50How the fuck do you think that way when you're 21, 22, 23 years old?
09:53I have no clue.
09:54The fuck?
09:55Goat.
09:56Great.
09:56The greatest.
09:57Yes.
09:58When do you know that an album is done?
09:59There's a feeling that I get that I'm pretty sure, you know, sculptors get as well.
10:05A feeling of resolute.
10:07When you feel resolute in the track, it's a, it's a resolute space that I feel that sculptors
10:12feel when they look at their work.
10:14How many books of handwritten lyrics do you have?
10:17You might be one of the only few that still, you know, still do that.
10:21Probably 12 or more.
10:22I have old ones.
10:23I have things that I've left in the studio.
10:25I got one in Paris right now.
10:26For sure.
10:27I do.
10:27For sure.
10:28And his handwriting is in shop print.
10:30Is it really?
10:31Yeah.
10:31Yeah.
10:32I don't know.
10:32What is that?
10:33It's like very like square.
10:35All the letters look very equally square.
10:37What is the perfect hip hop song to you?
10:39I can't do that.
10:41It's just too much.
10:42Public Enemy Rebel Without Applause.
10:44I'll never forget when Flavor in Your Ear came out.
10:47Never.
10:47Yeah.
10:48You know, or Large Professor.
10:51Looking at the front door.
10:52Looking out the front door.
10:53That's mine.
10:53These are Letter to the Better.
10:56The Symphony.
10:58Yeah.
10:59Okay.
10:59What was the one beat I did for another artist that you had?
11:02Just recently, I put this on my Instagram.
11:04It was Oceans.
11:06Oh, Lord.
11:07I don't know.
11:07I was posting some and I just, I came across and I was like, oh, this was so perfect.
11:12You know what's crazy?
11:13What?
11:13That wasn't for me.
11:14Yes.
11:14No, it wasn't.
11:15Yes.
11:15No, I never heard that.
11:17I promise you.
11:18All the years of music that we made and now, like, we got a coffee together.
11:23It's great and it is our fuel.
11:25We want to offer that to you guys.
11:27But thank you, brother.
11:29Got to get back on our grind.
11:30Yes, sir.
11:30Yes, sir.
11:31Grinding coffee.
11:31Yes, sir.
11:32Thank you, Vogue.
11:33Thank you, Anna.
11:34Thank you, Vogue.