Piece By Piece is an animated biopic that tells the life journey of Pharrell Williams through LEGO animation. Brick by brick, we learn about the super-producer’s early life, introduction to music, and how he went from an outcast into a global icon.
One of the coolest elements of this film, outside of the LEGO animation, is the way music is used. Pharrell’s music is both the narrative and the navigator of the film. Instead of being used to set tones or stay in the background, his catalog boldly presented itself as the heartbeat of the documentary.
Williams attributes his love of music and its pursuit to his grandmother. He details a specific time in the past when she found him using her cooking utensils to make sounds. Immediately recognizing his passion, he was given a drum set, which eventually led to jam sessions with childhood friend Chad Hugo. Pharrell was initially turned off by the idea of a documentary, citing that, “If everyone else is doing it, I don’t wanna do it.” It was only after he was given free rein that he was onboard. So of course, he had control over all the music that would be featured and produced, including the addictive title track, “Piece By Piece”.
I always knew his discography was vast, but what I didn’t know, was how far back it started. Wreckx-N-Effect is a hip-hop group that’s widely known for their single, “Rumpshaker”. Before the single was released in 1992, producer and songwriter Teddy Riley needed help writing his lyrics to the track. It was none other than Pharrell Williams who wrote Riley’s rap. That was 32 years ago.
One thing that will sour a documentary in my books is bouncing around on the timeline. The biggest single issue with the Michael Jordan documentary, The Last Dance, is that it was all over the place. It was extremely difficult to keep track of. With Piece By Piece, you have an easy-to-follow, chronological masterpiece that’s packed with excitement and almost easter egg-level discoveries. Teddy Riley might’ve been his first major feature, but it surely wouldn’t be his last. As Williams’ trajectory continued to scale upwards, he found himself in spaces where hip-hop artists and producers had never been before. It was in 2005 that he would further expand his audience and catalog by producing the still–popular track, “Hollaback Girl“, by Gwen Stefani. Creating music that transcended genres was not only a calling card for Williams, but what made his art so desirable.
Teddy Riley and Gwen Stefani were just the beginning of the long list of artists who’d collaborate with Pharrell. N.O.R.E, Justin Timberlake, and Daft Punk are just a few of the music giants that would tap Pharrell to create music that the world would fall in love with.
In an interview with Roland Martin, Insecure creator Issa Rae spoke on the subject of horizontal networking; that is to not work so hard to reach up (Tyler Perry, Stephen Spielberg) but reach beside you to the person who’s in the trenches with you. With this thinking, you can work together towards a common goal and ascend together. In that same manner, Pharrell’s team consists of people who believed in him during his meteoric rise. Chad Hugo grew up alongside Pharrell in Virginia Beach, VA, and started making music in their early teens. Williams and Hugo would form The Neptunes, a superstar production tandem, while together with Shae Haley, the trio would eventually work together as N.E.R.D., a funk, hip-hop band. This type of grass-rooted comraderie is only magnified once you hear Missy Elliott and Timbaland quickly chime in the film, “Oh yeah, we know him from school.”
Credit: Courtesy of Focus Features / © 2024 FOCUS FEATURES LLC
The film is excellent and is a more than worthy opponent in the documentary space. Director Morgan Neville, the man behind documentaries like Won’t You Be My Neighbor and Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain, was tasked to steer the Piece By Piece ship. It’s an amazing story that’s centered around a restless kid from the projects of Virginia Beach. It warms the heart watching what was once a child who viewed himself as an outsider, mature in thought, and harness his individuality and turn it into a superpower.
Piece By Piece gets a 10 out of 10. It’s easily up there in my top five for the year. There’s a fun, easy-to-embrace aspect that comes across since the documentary is presented via LEGOS. As opposed to marijuana smoke, Snoop Dogg enters the fray after various LEGO figures fill the room with “PG Spray”. While the film’s PG rating is appealing, a handful of scenes with women replicating artists and music videos seemed a bit mature, and Pharrell randomly repeated “Sh**” when talking about his hit “Happy”. So parental guidance is definitely suggested for young children. Outside of that, one-of-a-kind film that needs to be experienced.
Piece By Piece will be released in theaters on October 11, 2024
-Jon Jones
Photos: Courtesy of Focus Features