In 2016, Pharrell Williams visited a NYU music production class to critique songs. After he listened to a song called “Alaska” by student Maggie Rogers, he explained why he had "zero, zero, zero notes for that”:
When i think of Quincy Jones, i think of sound in bloom. I think of dark, dissonant, beautiful clusters of brass and reeds. i imagine synths and string sections that glide and weep, drums and handclaps that crackle, shimmering airtight horn sections that pop across generations.
artists:
i know we feel a bit defeated right now, but trust — the world needs music *now* more than ever.
write. play. sing. arrange. produce.
do it ferociously. with your whole heart.
dive in. now is the time to work.