Pharrell must have spent so much energy writing pop hits for other people he ran out of juice. The laid-back rhymes, falsetto singing and atonal beats might have revitalised the careers of Britney, Nelly and Snoop Dogg, but on his first solo album they don't push him out of hiscreative comfort zone.
Promising early tracks like the gripping Can I Have it Like That (with a sorely underused Gwen Stefani), How Does it Feel? and Raspy **** explore his hip-hop persona over club-friendly beats slung lower than his jeans. And though he isn't the most eloquent rapper, you can forgive him for amusing one-liners like, "Life's got a fat ass." But these are thwarted by shockers that explore his other persona: the big-headed, R&B Lothario. Young Girl sounds like something Prince would have discarded in the early 90s; Take it Off is a tragic, sleazy bedroom song that sounds like a brain-dead Stevie Wonder.
"I'm a master, baby with your bra," he sings as though drunk on his hormones.
Pharrell might be a big enough name to secure cameos from Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, Kanye West and Nelly but his album is the result of a studio genius who has become lazy, formulaic and egotistical.
