Pharrell Williams hears the spirit in Future.
Pharrell, who's collaborated with Future on "Move That Dope" and the N.E.R.D. cut "1000" brought up the Atlanta rapper during a new sit-down interview with Rick Rubin on his podcast Tetragrammaton, which was posted on Wednesday (December 4).
Around the 27:00-mark of the video below, the rapper, producer and Louis Vuitton designer reflected on his upbringing in Baptist and Pentecostal churches and how it shaped his musical perspective. Pharrell described the atmosphere of his father’s Pentecostal church, which was led by Minister Barnett Karl Thoroughgood until his passing in 2012.
"It was a lot of music, and it would begin with something very powerful that the pastor would say," Williams told Rubin. "Bishop Thurgoo—he would say something that would just connect with all of the congregation. But then the organist, which most of the time was my Uncle Ezekiel, he would play along as this guy's preaching in a note."
That "note" reminded Williams of the "Type Shit" rapper.
"Think Future with autotune," Williams said. "And as he moves—when Future is rhyming, he's rhyming, and he's picking a note and he's having these pockets that correspond with whatever the chords are in the beat. That's what they would do in church."
Williams emphasized the melodious preaching, which matched the organist's modulation and the "welling feeling" that would "explode" within the congregation. The "Happy" artist also references the church experience in his LEGO-animated biopic, Piece by Piece, now available to stream.
Williams chatted with Complex's Jordan Rose in September about Future's 2024 album Mixtape Pluto being "inspiring" to him, naming "Aye Say Gang," "Ski" and "Plutoski" as his top tracks. "[Future] is just, he’s “other.” It’s just great," he added.
Williams also name-dropped the rapper in his latest GQ cover story, also mentioning the same tracks. "Can you tell Future that I’m obsessed with Mixtape Pluto?" he asked journalist Will Welch.
