Pharrell Won’t Compete With Jay Z

In a recent interview Pharrell made one thing clear, that he will not compete with Jay Z. Speaking of a time earlier in his career where he sought out rappers to compete against, the super producer now says that those days are behind him and are a bad representation of the man he is today.

"[I was] this competitive guy in the music industry, who admired my peers and felt he needed to compete with the races that they designed. But in life you're meant to race against yourself,” explained Pharrell in an interview with The Guardian. Continuing, “Jay was never going to race with any of us. That was just my delusion. Because his career runs laps round people. And he runs laps round people, lyrically. He's a philosopher and a poet."

Later referencing his earlier music catalog and his debut LP he added, "I didn't know who I was. I thought I knew who I was. It was in my mind, but not in my heart. It was this caricature that I'd built in my mind, that fitted in with what Snoop and Jay were doing. Some of the things I said on that record, all the bragging, it's not necessary. It doesn't say anything about you, apart from how shallow you are."