Multi-award-winning musician, record and film producer and multimedia owner Pharrell Williams journeyed to Shanghai for the performance of a song he had written. Unlike his normal work, this was commissioned for a one-off performance by the French cognac house Louis XIII to highlight the dangers of climate change. Referencing the fact that Louis XIII is an intricate alchemy of up to 1,200 eaux-de-vie, the cognac makers decided to ask Williams to create a work that would be played to an audience of 100 select guests, once only. Recorded onto a "vinyl" disc made from the clay of the Cognac region, this track was then placed in a safe, to be opened and played again in a century's time, but only if global warming has not caused the waters to rise so much that the safe and the record are destroyed. Here, we talk to Williams to find out more:
Why did you want to do this project?
We only have one planet, and I know that as human beings we often get so caught up in the everyday and the things we have to do – go to work, look after our families, our plans – that we forget that we live on the third rock from the sun. As far as I know, you can't just walk around on Mars right now. So, this is the one home that we have and the greenhouse gas issue is a real one, and we're not doing what we should be doing as a species that appreciates its one and only home. So, when this opportunity was presented to me I was like "Man, this makes sense." Louis XIII is an amazing brand, and this cause… it just relates to my own personal sentiment, how I feel about this planet.
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It's super sarcastic, because I just wanted to do something that was a bit different. I feel like call-to-action songs are usually very boring, it's like you hear it and then it's like, OK you listen to it one time. And here I thought, let me just troll all the pseudoscientists that don't care about the environment. I mean, say something to those guys. Why not? Fight fire with fire, right?
What is your message for the new generation?
I don't even know that the new generation needs a message because these kids today, they care about others. They are, in a sense, a different type of socialist. Let me explain what that means before anyone goes "socialist!" They believe in sharing for the greater good of the moment, and their group. They don't feel like they necessarily need to own a car. They don't feel like they have to have the big house on the hill – they will Airbnb. They don't have to be the only person who is the only author of the song. A group of them will band together and write a song together. But the older generation, they were sold things like the American Dream, which was like, OK you have to own a house, you have to own two cars, you have to have a picket fence; and that was a marketing scheme that was around from the 1940s. But these kids are like, "Those are your rules, we're not thinking like that". I'm not saying that they don't litter. But I'm saying that they have a different appreciation for things being recycled, things that can contribute to the ecosystem; having a positive carbon footprint, they think about these things in a very different way. So, I don't know if there is anything we need to say to them. Seems it's a lot of the older folks who are not necessarily enthusiasts of this planet, those are really the people we need to send a message to. I think the kids get it, that's the cool thing. You know, back in the States, if you think about the administration, it's not millennials that are in there. I think the world would be a different place place if millennials or women were to take positions of power.
(Image credit: stefania rosini)
How do you keep the 'If we care' message strong for the generations to come?
I feel like we're starting to see signs of the population starting to respond to a lot of the poor decisions that have been made over the past year. And I think that that there will be a domino effect that will filter down all the way to 2117 – we'll be in a much better place. So, I agreed to do this because I thought it was super admirable that Louis XIII and Remy Martin were interested in the preservation of this planet, and the idea that I got to air my grievances to the pessimists, that excited me because I got a chance to properly channel it. So often with societies these days there is a lot of displaced anger. It's not properly channelled. If you channel it in the right way there could be some education in there for you and you could become enlightened, it's a possibility.
You are renowned for your advocacy, and you use it very powerfully…
We're fighting the good fight in our music, in our apparel, in our shoes – in the design. Anything that I am making, you should know there is definitely some enlightening DNA in it. I don't want to do anything for pure aesthetics anymore.
A lot of tastemakers and designers are showing a lot more interest in environmental preservation. What are your thoughts on that?
I mean when you have elected officials and people in positions of power whose decisions could actually affect the next five, 10 or 20 years, you've got to pay attention to that, you can't just turn a blind eye and say, "Well that doesn't affect me." It's not about tax brackets, it's about the human species and what we will be subjected to in the future because of the decisions that are being made today. That's where it is. You don't have to be a role model, but you've got to do your part. You don't have to be the face of it, but you have to pitch in and whatever way you can educate people, you should, because if you look at my country, they really don't read the fine print. That's why I am so excited about the millennial generation.
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