Every Pharrell Song Starts The Same Way: Discopop Says Pharell is "rubbish at writing song intros"

For all the classic songs Pharrell Williams has produced, it took until today for the world to notice that the intros to many of his songs use an identical trick. A quick four-count loop of the first beat occurs in songs from this year’s hit “Happy” to last year’s “Blurred Lines” all the way back to “Right Here (Human Nature Remix)” by SWV in ’93.










While Discopop presents this as a sign that Pharrell can’t write a good intro, there is another way of looking at it: Many artists use a sort of subtle “maker’s mark” on their work, and maybe this is just Pharrell’s. Here's what the site wrote about him

"As well as being the owner of a magnificent hat, Pharrell Williams is a brilliant and prolific songwriter. In fact, he's one of the most consistent producers/composers in the business, racking up hits for everyone from Beyonce to Britney to Justin to Jay-Z and, more recently, himself.

But here's the thing: He's rubbish at writing intros. Take a listen to his new album, GIRL, and seven of the 10 tracks start exactly the same way. He takes the first beat of the first bar, loops it four times, then goes straight into the song. 

It's not a bad technique - for one thing, you get to the melody quicker, and that is a sure-fire way of making your song memorable and radio friendly - but when it's used to such a ridiculous extent, it starts to lose its effect.

Looking back through Pharrell's production catalogue, both by himself and with the Neptunes, it turns out he's been employing the trick since his first hit in 1993 - SWV's Right Here."

The blog Discopop compiled an entire mix of just the producer’s song intros so you can hear for yourself.

The 13 songs in the mix are:

1) SWV - Right Here

2) Jay-Z - Frontin'

3) Kelis - Milkshake

4) Snoop Dogg - Drop It Like Its Hot

5) Robin Thicke - Blurred Lines

6) Shakira - Why Wait

7) Frank Ocean - Sweet Life (this one is especially lazy)

8) Pharrell Williams - Brand New

9) Paloma Faith - Can't Rely On You

10) Pharrell Williams - Happy

11) Pharrell Williams - Hunter

12) Jay-Z - I Wish

13) Pharrell Williams - Gust Of Wind

Source(s) :::::::::: Audiokorner Discopop

Personally, I think Pharell is an amazing producer and for the four-count loop trick, I'll just call that his signature sort of. I mean he is where he is today and which producer on earth wouldn't love to have the amount of success he has had and more. I think after "Happy", if I ever heard a new song on the radio that started with the four-count loop, I'd immediately assume it's Pharell and that a good thing right? What do you think?