Pharrell Williams and his fellow Neptunes were discovered during their high school talent show, so it’s pretty fitting that the Grammy-award winning rapper, producer, designer, and enormous hat-wielder will soon be heading back to school. Not as a student, but as the 2015 artist in residence at NYU’s prestigious Tisch School of the Arts.
The University announced today that the first of Williams’ engagements will be an in-depth career retrospective discussion with Jason King — a professor at Tisch’s Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music and an NPR Music host — accompanied by a Q&A, scheduled for the evening of October 26.
“Pharrell has demonstrated a commitment to education in communities across the country,” Allyson Green, the Tisch School’s dean, said in a statement. He’s dedicated to raising awareness to climate change, and he has taken ‘happiness’ from the stage and screen to people around the world through his work with the United Nations.”
Although Tisch confirmed Pharrell’s residency will see future events, you’ll have to stay tuned to what else is in store for the happiest rapper around. Presently, next week’s retrospective discussion is only open to Tisch students, faculty and staff, but you can win your way in through NPR Music’s social media giveaway. More information here.
Credits
Text Emily Manning
Photography William Selden