If You Don’t Take Pharrell’s Piece By Piece Too Seriously, It’s So Much Fun

Pharrell Williams’ impact on music, fashion and culture at large can’t be overstated. For over 30 years, he’s worked with your favorite artists’ favorite artists, earning a name for his out-of-the-box production sense with credits spanning across distinct genres of music. The 13-time Grammy winner is also known as a pioneer of modern streetwear fashion, starting with the founding of his seminal streetwear brand, Billionaire Boys Club over 20 years ago and numerous collaborations with iconic brands like Adidas, Chanel, Bape and Moncler since. Early last year, Williams was named as the new creative director of Menswear at Louis Vuitton, taking over from late icon, Virgil Abloh. And let’s not forget the vampire allegations he’s received for years due to looking so youthful. This may or may not have inspired the launch of his skincare brand, Humanrace four years ago. It’s been a legendary run for the multi-hyphenate and he’s looking back on it all in a new LEGO biopic, Piece by Piece. 

The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival to mostly positive reviews (and one disgruntled PETA protester), but it has been criticized for its sanitized take on the superstar’s life. Overall, music fans will appreciate the funny tidbits about the creative risks he took early in his career and his multitude of famous collaborations but whether he’s a new man is still up for debate. The past ten years have helmed his comeback after a rocky end to The Neptunes and a sputtering start to a solo career. In an unexpected twist, Piece by Piece chronicles Williams’ resurgence and whimsical path to enlightenment through LEGO animation.

Directed by acclaimed documentarian, Morgan Neville (20 Feet from Stardom, Taylor Swift: Miss Americana), the vibrant documentary tenderly captures the romance, momentum and dedication of young Williams’ early life, musical exploration and the countless creative risks that primed him for his current career. Born and raised in Virginia Beach, Williams always felt different but jumped head first into the feeling, letting his curiosity run wild to tap into the unexpected: from rap to pop to being behind and in front of the mic. Even though Williams is regarded so highly for his collaborations, the biopic shows that his creative community didn’t come easily. He constantly had to push for his ideas to be taken seriously, once even jumping on an executive’s desk during a pitch meeting to get his attention. That summarizes Williams’ early career: jumping up in the middle of an incredulous music industry and waving till he was seen. This naive bravery combined with an obsession with craft and reinvention opened doors for him to work with musical heavyweights like Snoop Dog Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Gwen Stefani and Pusha T, in addition to forming popular duo, The Neptunes, with childhood best friend, Chad Hugo (all appear in the biopic, though Pharrell recently admitted that he and Hugo are no longer on speaking terms). 

“(Pharrell) was like the younger brother we all wanted to protect because we knew he had talent that could open up doors for all of us,” LEGO Jay-Z reminisces. There was a time when you couldn’t turn on the radio without hearing a song involving him and/or The Neptunes but when the time came for Williams to release solo work, the pressure proved to be too much. 

“Relevance is a drug,” says LEGO Pharrell. The third act of Piece by Piece sees Williams floundering in his music career, treating his songs and brands as strategic advertisements rather than natural creative expressions in an effort to hold onto a dwindling audience. What’s the line between a unique personal brand and a branded existence made up of curated digestible pieces? It’s a conundrum that every creative faces as they advance in their career, now more than ever in the age of social media. It’s so easy to get swept up in the trends and the attention while the art suffers. You could argue that Piece by Piece is a clear money grab, and falls into the same trap Pharrell cautions against in the film: pursuing projects for the sake of relevance and revenue, not creative purity. But that doesn’t matter when you’re in the theater bobbing along to “Grindin’” and “Drop It Like It’s Hot.” What Piece by Piece lacks in substance, it makes up for in style and nostalgia. Plus, Pharrell (and director Neville) seems to understand the contradictions on display and leans into them. 

In a 2014 interview with GQ, Pharrell echoed the disconnect that the biopic tastefully touches on: “The money was too loud. The success was too much. The girls were too beautiful. The jewelry was too shiny. The cars were too fast. The houses were too big. It’s like not knowing how to swim and being thrown in the ocean for the first time.” Williams loses himself trying to keep up with the fame and the expectations, not just in his solo career but also in his personal life. He pulls away from then girlfriend, now wife, Helen Williams, leaves The Neptunes and retreats from the public. It isn’t until he realizes his purpose that he finds the courage to try again and surround himself with those he loves. “How do I serve this thing called life?” says LEGO Pharrell about this realization. It’s then that ultra viral hit, “Happy” from the Despicable Me 2 soundtrack, spawned even though it took almost ten tries to get it right. With a billion streams on both YouTube and Spotify since its release in 2014, “Happy” clearly lit a fire under Williams. The film also briefly touches on his work on Kendrick Lamar’s “Alright” which became the soundtrack of the Black Lives Matter movement in 2015. Through a renewed sense of self and mission, Pharrell slowly but surely gets his groove back.

Piece by Piece is not your typical biopic. On one hand, the LEGO animation creates a universe bursting with personality that I truly believe little Williams resides in, complete with talking animals and music that reflects light. At the TIFF Q&A, Pharell defended the decision to use LEGO. “In LEGO, it gives you a texture and context where you see the humanity in me as a Black man.” But on the other hand, it offers a safe distance between Williams and the audience, creating a manicured retelling that doesn’t dig too far beyond the surface. His reasoning behind using LEGO shows that he’s still trying to be as palatable as possible to the widest audience possible. The humanity he seeks to convey could just as easily be conveyed by real Black skin and real depictions of the surroundings and emotions that made up his life so far. That said, LEGO is fun! 

While it was refreshing to hear from so many big stars who’ve known Pharrell for so long —  many of whom are busy with their own explosive careers — they all had positive things to say, including Chad Hugo, and we know their journey has been tumultuous. Like most celebrity documentaries where the artist is heavily involved, Piece by Piece comes off, at times, as a hollow vanity project. But it’s also so much fun. And while it doesn’t dig into the more controversial aspects of Pharrell’s story, it is introspective. It’s clear that Williams is on a constant journey of creative reinvention and hopefully, we can expect even more depth from him in the future. In true Pharrell fashion, it’ll definitely be in the most unexpected way possible.