Pharrell Defends His 'G I R L' Album Cover: "They Jumped The Gun"

With Pharrell releasing his first solo album in eight years, G  I  R  L, just two days ago, it seems as though – for certain fans – the album’s music content has been overshadowed by their dissatisfaction with the album artwork. Having drawn racial controversy regarding the ethnic origins of the girls on the album cover, certain fans argued that he did not equally represent ethnic minorities in his album cover, but today Pharrell took to The Breakfast Club to address the issue and claimed that critics may have “jumped the gun.”

What really disappointed me is they jumped the gun, because the one I’m standing closest to is black. She’s a black girl from Wisconsin that I used to date over 10 or 12 years ago. That just must suck, man, for people to look at something and to assume they know what’s going on. And if they just bothered to listen to my album, they would know that my album was an ode to women, period. And the one thing that I’m trying to kill and trying to aid in changing is the crazy statuesque standard of you gotta be white, waif, and thin for you to be beautiful.

Also using the air time to reveal his next single will be “Marilyn Monroe,” which will further push for his message towards respect of women, you can listen to his interview with The Breakfast Club above and share your thoughts in the comments below.