Pharrell Williams' Reaction to An NYU Students Song Is Golden
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Folk singer and NYU Clive Davis Institute student Maggie Rogers was in for a surprise when she gained a pretty big reaction from Pharrell Williams after he heard her song.
Rogers joined Pharrell and talked about growing up in a rural area in Maryland. She says she was a banjo player and always made folk music.
Rogers said she made banjo music but has also dabbled in the post-modern stuff.
Roger says she makes very straight ahead folk music but stopped making music after awhile. She stayed abroad in France and had a spiritual experience with dance music there.
It became natural to her Rogers (Soundcloud) said as she explained to Pharrell how she wants to fuse the energy of dance music with her folk music background. Pharrell seemed interested in Rogers story and then they broke into the track.
The song features layers of sounds and vocals and as they continued to grow Pharrell's reaction grew as well. He seemed especially impressed when Rogers began hitting the higher notes.
"Pharrell Williams hosts a masterclass for music students at The Clive Davis Institute of Recorded Music at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts as part of his 50TH ANNIVERSARY Artist-In-Residency," according to iamOTHER's official YouTube Channel.
"Joined by Dean Allyson Dean and Professors Bob Power and Jason King, Pharrell listens to students' projects, offers constructive criticism, and discusses the nature of the creative process.
Pharrell also invited high school kids from the Future Music Moguls, a free high school program at Clive Davis Institute, to observe the masterclass."
Rogers blend of folk music and electronic sounds along with her breathy vocals and falsettos makes for a pretty awesome song that Pharrell had zero critiques on.
You can watch Pharrell's reaction to Maggie Rogers' song in the video below at the 18:17 mark. For more of Rogers' music you can check out her BandCamp page.