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“Happy” in Za’atari: Difference and Global Belonging in the Refugee Camp Imaginary
This article analyzes two video remakes of Pharrell Williams’s hit song “Happy” portraying Za’atari refugeechildren. I discuss the role that the “Happy” tribute video trend had in developing a global imaginary that lends itself to current conversations around humanitarian happiness and “deexceptionalizing” migration and humanitarian space. I look at the videos in relationship to this trend and to the media construction of Za’atari camp as “city.” In the context of this debate and reading the videos through the paradigm of global urbanness such as we also see in the “Happy” craze, I argue that in fact the videos show the limits of the ideology of global belonging when it comes to the refugee camp and of the incommensurability of contemporary humanitarian and global imaginaries, even in an age defined by the sway of new media.
Journal Article
Pharrell : a fish doesn't know it's wet
\"Following Rizzoli's best-selling \"Pharrell: Places and Spaces I've Been,\" this volume documents the continuing adventures in art and design of one of the most influential figures in contemporary music and popular culture. Lavishly illustrated with 250 photographs and illustrations, this book features Pharrell Williams's prolific and ever-expanding body of work in a graphic language all his own. Straddling art, design, and hip-hop, Pharrell's creative output is without peer or precedent. By playing off different disciplines--music, fashion, and contemporary art--Pharrell has redefined the role of the contemporary artist, blazing a trail for other musicians and cultural figures. Expanding on themes covered in \"Places and Spaces I've Been,\" this book gathers a new group of collaborators. Engaging Pharrell in conversation, talents as diverse as Karl Lagerfeld and Takashi Murakami position Pharrell's work within contemporary visual and material culture. The worldwide success of the song \"Happy\" to his soundtrack and production credit for the Oscar-nominated film Hidden Figures bookend a volume devoted to Pharrell's mastery of artistic collaboration. Featuring work with artists as diverse as JR, Alex Katz, Mr., and Daniel Arsham, the book highlights recent projects and designs for Chanel, Moncler, Moynat, and Adidas. But at the heart is the visual language that Pharrell has built around his Ice Cream/Billionaire Boys Club clothing line, which integrates streetwear into the design of apparel, accessories, limited-edition toys, and skate graphics\"--Provided by publisher.
Book
Entrepreneurs in Brown Skins? Performing Matter into Contemporary Black Lives
COVID-19 aside, the year 2020 was characterized by further challenges to the black identity. The gruesome murder of George Floyd and other low moments of racial discrimination triggered a wave of protests across the USA and beyond. The year saw the convictions of the proponents of the Black Lives Matter being tested to the limits. Whereas popular music has constituted a vehicle for conveying the concerns of the movement since its conception, I argue that the events of the year 2020 and the attendant looting and destruction in the guise of protests, have propelled an impetus in African American creatives to speak matter into black lives. Drawing from the texts (2019) and video (2020) of Beyoncé Knowles’s “Brown Skin Girl,” the article discusses artists’ attempt to deploy chromatism in debunking negative connotations associated with “black.” Further, the audio-visual constructs in Pharrell Williams’s “Entrepreneur” (2020) is assessed as a deliberate creation to sustain a positive narrative at a critical moment of African American history.
Journal Article
Finding your roots. Season 7, Episode 5, Write my name in the book of life
Henry Louis Gates, Jr. helps musician Pharrell Williams and filmmaker Kasi Lemmons understand the experiences of their enslaved ancestors, uncovering extraordinarily rare first-person accounts of their relatives who endured bondage.
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