Pharrell Williams

Fascinating Photos of Famous Musicians in Their Studios

By Tom Hawking on Mar 5, 2013 12:45pm

We’re constantly fascinated with the creative process here at Flavorwire, and one of the most important components of that process is the space in which it takes place. For musicians, at least as far as the recording process goes, this place is the studio, and as such we thought we’d take a look at the studios of some of our favorite musicians. The contrasts on display are intriguing, from the endearingly chaotic to the pristine and very expensive, from analog to digital, from minimalist to decked out in all sorts of crazy-looking… Read More

Music

Ranking Rappers Turned Rockers from Best to Worst

By Tom Hawking on Sep 20, 2012 1:30pm

The latest twist in the, um, unusual career of Lil B is his unlikely metamorphosis into a based rock god. The rapper unveiled his new guitar-toting incarnation earlier this week with the video to a new song called “California Boy,” in which he wanders around Guitar Center in LA and confesses his love for a terrified-looking passing lady. We have to be honest here: the song’s pretty terrible, making it the latest in a long line of ill-advised rap/rock crossover ventures. Not every rapper deciding to make a rock song/album has met with disaster, but plenty of them have — so we thought we’d make a handy primer of which such ventures to investigate, and which to avoid like threatening rabid animals. … Read More

Design

The Ugliest Designs of the Past Decade

By Claire Cottrell on Jul 18, 2012 3:00pm

Jean Cocteau, author of Beauty and the Beast, among other things, and friend to Chanel, Picasso, Édith Piaf and Marlene Dietrich, said that “art produces ugly things which frequently become more beautiful with time. Fashion, on the other hand, produces beautiful things which always become ugly with time.” What about design? Thinking about what makes something ugly inevitably raises the question, what makes something beautiful?

The Oops Awards was founded in 2009 by three design professionals wanting to call out the ugliest, silliest, and most useless products on the design circuit. Tired of the cult of bad design dominating the fairs and magazines, they felt that honest, independent criticism would propel the industry away from ugly. Continuing to carry the torch, we’ve rounded up the very best of the bad and the ugly. Click through to check out what we think are the ugliest designs of the last decade, and then let us know in the comments if you agree. PS: If you want some judging criteria for the subjective topic, Metropolis published an entire issue devoted to answering the enigmatic question, “What is Good Design?” … Read More

Partner Buzz

Tune in to the Flavorpill Sessions featuring Yuna

By Doug Levy on Jun 21, 2012 11:00am

We’ve been on a roll lately with the Flavorpill Sessions, our new in-office concert series in partnership with Sonos. Following amazing performances from K’Naan, We Are Serenades, and the Dandy Warhols, we were beyond excited to have Malaysian superstar Yuna stop by Flavorpill HQ to perform tracks from her self-titled US debut album and answer questions from fans around the world. Click through to watch highlights from the performance, and then visit the Flavorpill Sessions Livestream page to catch the whole thing, plus behind-the-scenes photos and more. … Read More

News

The Morning's Top 5 Pop Culture Stories

By Caroline Stanley on Dec 9, 2011 10:02am

1. Slashfilm got an early look at Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises prologue, and discovered that the finished film will have a whopping 50 minutes of IMAX shot-and-projected footage. Here’s a spoiler-free recap.

2. This could be interesting: Spike Lee has signed on to direct Eddie Murphy in a new HBO biopic… Read More

Fashion

Trend Watch: Famous Male Musicians Wearing Furs

By Caroline Stanley on Jan 6, 2011 4:30pm

Earlier this week we read a fascinating account of the auctioning off of Edward Gorey’s fur collection over on the Paris Review. It seems that the author — who over the years acquired a whopping 21 fur coats — had a change of heart in the ’80s, and decided to lock them all up in a storage facility. When he died in 2000, he left his entire estate to the care and welfare of animals, which in turn, led to the aforementioned sale. The story got us thinking about other famous men who’ve incorporated fur into their wardrobes. After doing a little digging, we were surprised to find that the majority of celebrities who we came up with were either old school rock stars or modern-day rappers — and Justin Bieber. Click through to check out the photos, and be sure to let us know in the comments: Do you think it’s ever OK to wear real fur? … Read More

Art

Miami Twice: Remembering Miami Basel in Pictures

By Paul Laster on Dec 30, 2010 3:30pm

As we slopped through the slush and dirty snow in New York this morning, we longed for the days we spent just weeks ago at the art fairs and parties in Miami and Miami Beach. Looking back at our Miami Basel snapshots of art world players and celebs schmoozing on rooftops, at pool’s edge, and under palm trees, we shuffled through the selection to pull together a colorful mix. From Pharrell Williams and Craig Robins previewing Design Miami, Tilda Swinton sporting a Ryan McGinley-designed sweater at the Pringle of Scotland party and Isabella Rossellini receiving the “Key to the City” of Miami Beach to Nate Lowman and Jeffrey Deitch hanging out at the LCD Soundsystem concert and Paper’s Kim Hastreiter and David Hershkovits hosting Shepard Fairey at their Friends With You/Pharrell Williams party, the two cities pulsated with fun and culture. … Read More

Web

What’s On: The Links That Made the Rounds in Our Office

By Caroline Stanley on Dec 14, 2010 5:08pm

Today at Flavorpill, we got a sneak peek at SNL’s Fred Armisen and former Sleater-Kinney guitarist/vocalist Carrie Brownstein in IFC’s new comedy Portlandia. We wondered how @anncurry feels about having the most powerful tweet of the year. We learned that Jon Favreau will not be directing Iron Man 3.… Read More

Design

Design Miami Kicks Off Miami Basel Week

By Paul Laster on Dec 1, 2010 12:30pm

Design Miami, which runs through December 5, kick started Art Basel Miami Beach week last night with a dazzling display of modern and contemporary furniture, lighting, jewelry, and other stylish design objects. The fair, which is billed as “the global forum for design,” debuts this year in a new temporary structure, designed by the New York-based design team Moorhead & Moorhead, that’s conveniently located near to the Miami Beach Convention Center, home of ABMB. … Read More