Pharrell revealed the story of the first time he met Michael Jackson in a preview of OTHERtone, his Beats 1 show with Scott Vener — and it’s…interesting. Also, it includes Justin Timberlake.
“I met him two times,” Williams says. “He comes in, he’s tall, standing there, two beautiful women walk in, he kisses one. It’s a moment!” Williams explains. “It ain’t like no peck, it’s a situation. [The women] look Brazilian, and I’m like, ‘Wow!’ He’s the king of catching you off guard.”
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After that rather abrupt introduction to the King of Pop, Pharrell says Jackson turned down the songs that he had brought for him. “I don’t think he realized that I was going to give those songs to Justin [Timberlake],” Williams added, which eventually led to his second interaction with MJ.
“So I’m in the studio with Justin, and they say, ‘Got a call for you on line 1, it’s Michael Jackson,'” he says. “So I’m thinking it’s one of my friends trying to be funny. And I heard someone eating popcorn in my ear, that’s how I know that it’s him. He’s the king of control, I think he invented it! He’s like, ‘Hey, okay, you working with Justin? Ah that’s really nice, okay cool, well you guys have a great session, tell Justin I said hello. And Justin was like, ‘Who was that? Michael? Yeah he does that.'”
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Listen to Williams recount the memorable interactions below: