{"id":1822,"date":"2014-03-24T12:45:37","date_gmt":"2014-03-24T16:45:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/~reviewing\/?page_id=1822"},"modified":"2014-03-24T12:45:37","modified_gmt":"2014-03-24T16:45:37","slug":"williams-goes-solo-again-with-g-i-r-l","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/students.com.miami.edu\/reviewing\/?page_id=1822","title":{"rendered":"Williams goes solo again with G I R L"},"content":{"rendered":"

Posted March 24, 2014<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

By VALERIE LOPEZ<\/p>\n

The pop music industry is saturated with female artists, twerking and dirty sexual connotations. It gets exhausting to listen to lyrics that only say, \u201cshake that ass baby,\u201d repeatedly or \u2018\u2019or give it to me mama.\u2019\u2019 And, even though it\u2019s insulting, we still jam to their beat and play their songs over and over again.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>To our benefit, Pharrell Williams, the 40-year-old American songwriter \/ producer came along and revolutionized pop culture with his happy beats, \u201cuplifting\u201d lyrics and sexy rhythms.<\/p>\n

The 10 tracks on his new album, G I R L, released March 3, is the artist\u2019s first solo since his \u201cIn My Mind\u201d album in 2006.<\/p>\n

Pharrell has been in the music scene for the past two decades and, although he is not known as a solo artist, all of his collaborations have been a hit. I mean who can forget \u201cGet Lucky\u201d with Daft Punk or last year\u2019s \u201cBlurred Lines\u201d? Every time he is part of a song it becomes an anthem no one can resist to.<\/p>\n

So when G I R L was announced last month, I think more than a few had already preordered it on iTunes or was listening to it for free on Spotify preview.<\/p>\n

The artist stated that G I R L is an ode to women in a society with a gender imbalance where he wants to share the love for them instead of downsizing women as a sexual object. In a way it is contradicting his summer hit next to Robin Thicke in \u201cBlurred Lines,\u201d but at least he is trying and we have to give it to him.<\/p>\n

G I R L is a mix of rhythms. He takes us for a ride into funk, futuristic sounds to lush, groove with a touch of hip-hop background. He also features artists like Justin Timberlake, Alicia Keys, Daft Punk and even Miley Cyrus, big downside but sells because pop culture is about making stupid people famous, so why not right?<\/p>\n

The lyrics intend to be uplifting and there is a charm to them. I mean Pharrell itself is charming but what meaning can there be in lyrics like in his song \u201cHappy\u201d (\u201cClap along if you feel like a room without a roof \/ Because I\u2019m happy \/ Clap along if you feel like happiness is the truth \/ Because I\u2019m happy\u201d) I can\u2019t find much but Pharrell\u2019s music ability relies on the beat and his lyrics have never been his strongest side.<\/p>\n

So the only thing that rests is to sit back, enjoy and feel the rhythms he is delighting us with. At the end of the day, we are going to be listening to his songs on the radio over and over again.<\/p>\n