Pharrell Williams Confesses His Massive Hit ‘Happy’ Was Actually Born Out of Sarcasm

The rapper/producer reveals he was “out of ideas” when the idea for the ‘Despicable Me 2’ song hit him

Pharrell Williams is opening up his own emotions about the creative process behind his hit 2013 track “Happy.”

In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music 1 ahead of the release of his biographical film Piece by Piece, the Neptunes co-founder discussed his approach to one of his biggest hits, “Happy.”

“When I was about 40, that’s when ‘Get Lucky,’ ‘Blurred Lines,’ ‘Happy,’ all of that was the same year,” the 51-year-old multihyphenate recalls regarding his collaborations with Daft Punk and Robin Thicke, respectively. “And these were all songs that were more commissions than they were just like, I woke up one day and decided I’m going to write about X, Y and Z.”