-Pharrell, great to see you, buddy.
Thank you so much for doing this.
I really, really appreciate it.
A lot of stuff has changed since I last saw you.
I had a mustache, and you had triplets.
Um... -That's true.
-How are you doing? How are you holding up?
-I'm very grateful, you know? -Yeah.
-But it's hard to be complacent with that, you know?
Just because you're okay, you know what I mean?
Or the people that you know and love are okay.
It's, like, man, it's tough because people are
having a very tough time.
Families are having a tough time.
Companies are having a tough time, if not folding.
And also, you know, there's a lot of loss of life, you know?
And a lot of misinformation out there, too.
-Yeah. -It's tough.
-It is tough. I know that you just --
You had a Virginia music festival,
Something in the Water.
You had to postpone that. -Yes, sir.
-What's the message behind that, and how did you get
involved with doing that show?
-Well, Something in the Water started because
the chief of police wanted to sit down
and talk about, like, some solutions
because there were some problems,
some alleged problems.
You know, kids would come
and have their spring break there,
and they happened to be HBCU students.
So when they told us that there was a problem,
I'm like, "What problem?"
These are kids that are not on the street.
They're like, you know, not necessarily
causing problems as much as they're just like,
trying to celebrate getting ready to take their next exams.
And then we found out it wasn't necessarily them.
It was just, like, people that were showing up
to take part in the festivities
that weren't necessarily the students.
I just thought, man, why don't we just have ourselves
a community festival
that does more than just bring people together
to listen to music, but actually charge
some of our sponsors to go out
and do some of the things just to show that, like,
man, while these people contribute to your bottom line
every quarter, like, you care about them, too.
You know, it's crazy, we raised like $14 million directly,
and another $7 million indirectly
that went on to, like, just show that
we could be a beehive, you know, in the 757.
That's where I'm from, "the 757,"
Virginia Beach. -Yeah.
-So then when this thing started happening,
we decided, well, while we're not going to entertain,
we're going to get out there in the thick of it all
and, like, continue to look after the 757,
continue to bring people together,
continue to try to be a catalyst for change.
And so we hooked up with the World Central Kitchen, and --
-Who are amazing.
I mean, José Andrés -- that World Central Kitchen,
they're amazing. -Unbelievable.
Unbelievable. -Yeah.
-I mean, this past month, they fed 1.3 million people.
I'm so glad you asked about
Something in the Water because...
-It led to this. -Yeah, man.
We want to continue to do the same thing.
So we're going to do it in a huge way in the 757,
to try to ensure food for people who are
food insecure at the moment.
And it's also awesome because we get to, like,
have our local restaurants with amazing, you know,
food in the 757, they get to stay afloat.
You know, their restaurants are able to stay open,
and they're able to cook for these people as well.
-Yeah.
-I'm particularly excited about that.
This is starting now.
-You were saying earlier about there's some
misconceptions about some of the people
that have been affected by COVID-19.
What did you mean by that?
-Well, I just think that, like, there's this narrative
that, you know, people who look like me --
darker or lighter, you know,
brown and black folks,
that we don't know how to take care of ourselves.
You know, we're twice as likely to get asthma
and all these other crazy things that's been going around.
And it's not that.
It's just that the health care is disproportionate,
and you're seeing the effects of that right now,
which, in the way that this thing is spreading
and who's getting the help and how are they getting the help.
There's access.
You know, there's historical injustices
with health care, with people of color.
And those things systemically contribute
to the disproportionate access.
But this is definitely affecting people of color
in a different kind of way,
and I appreciate you asking me this question
so that we can use your platform,
so, you know, we can get it out there.
We're human beings, you know? -Yeah.
-If we were to be treated like that
from the very beginning, we wouldn't have
disproportionate problems, but we do.
-Yeah.
But hopefully we can start that conversation
and have a happy ending.
-Yes, sir.
-You know, I always said that you were kind of
ahead of the curve always,
with fashion and everything, really.
But I mean, I want to say,
you were wearing masks before we were told
to wear masks. -Yeah.
-That was -- that was your thing for a while.
And I was, like, I thought of you --
when they started with the masks, I go,
"Oh, my gosh, Pharrell, once again,
he's done -- He's been doing this forever."
When did you start wearing masks?
-You know what? I've been going to Japan
for, like, over 20 years.
And when I first got out there, I saw people in masks.
And I'm like, "Oh, man, what are they covering up for?"
And that's when Nigo, a very good friend of mine,
my business partner told me, "Oh, they're not --
That person is sick.
They're trying to protect you from them."
-Wow. -And I was, like, "Whoa."
That, like, I just didn't even think about it like that, right?
That's what the mask is for me and that is, like,
what putting my hands together and bowing before somebody
is all about. Asia taught me that.
-While you're at home, are you --
Everyone keeps saying, "Are you working on stuff?
Are you doing stuff?"
I find that the day is just packed with home schooling
and doing this.
I haven't really had that much time to --
I guess I'm creating with this, but are you having any time
to create and make music or anything?
-Yes.
You know, it's always here.
-Ahh!
-Always working. -Nice!
-But more importantly is
the work that needs to be done in education.
Because, as we talk about home schooling,
something you and I know about,
there's other families out there
and lots more families out there that are,
again, disproportionately affected.
And right now it's estimated that,
like, I think it's 91% of the world's children
are going to be out of school.
And obviously the most marginalized kids,
you know, are going to -- you know,
in the most poverty-stricken areas are the ones
that are going to be affected the most.
So working with Global Citizens on that front as well.
-Yeah, you're part of the show on Saturday.
-Yes, sir.
-I'm co-hosting with Kimmel and Colbert,
and I like the idea of us all just --
we really are coming together
to do whatever we can, and this special this Saturday,
there is no donating money.
There's no raising money.
They are making money from --
they've already made like over $40 million
from sponsors and philanthropists,
so really all they're asking is for you to just --
Can we give back to you guys as a fan and as a viewer?
We're going to put a show on for you
so that you can just sit back with your family
and watch two hours of just entertainment.
And I think that's a great idea,
and I think it's great that you're involved with that,
and so I thank you for doing that.
-Oh, thank you. -And I also thank you
for getting involved with, dude --
World Central Kitchen, WCK,
my youngest daughter drew that dinosaur,
and my older daughter drew this.
If you could give even a dollar would be amazing.
Anything you can give, it really helps families,
helps kids, that like Pharrell was saying --
they're out of school.
Sometimes they get their food from school.
-Yes. -And they don't have school,
so now what are they going to do?
How do they eat? It's like, oof.
They need your help. -Yes, man.
We all have to do our part. -Pharrell Williams, everybody.
Pharrell, thank you so much. Stay safe, buddy.
I miss you. I hope to see you in person real soon.
-My brother. Love, love to you,
love to the family and love to The Roots.
-Thank you, buddy. Love right back.