Major Lazer Recruit Pharrell for Hypnotic ‘Aerosol Can’

With Pharrell’s production and falsetto skills dominating the past year with Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” and Daft Punk’s “Get Lucky”, respectively, the musician’s rapping skills have been largely hidden from view. “Aerosol Can,” Major Lazer’s hypnotic new jam, remedies that, finding Pharrell firing off bizarre non-sequiturs over a minimal, drum-heavy beat. 

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With all the Grammy-nominated hits on his resume, the large-hat-wearing superstar was in a slick, laid-back mode last year. But Pharrell’s rhymes on “Aerosol Can” are surprisingly aggressive, full of cocky brags and explicit asides. “All y’all ni**as wanna get like me,” he declares over Major Lazer’s spread of loopy percussion, spraypaint whooshes and gunshots. Elsewhere, in a rapid-fire spree, he throws out references to weed, big booties (ones big enough to eat a three-course meal on) and Mario Kart.

Late last year, Pharrell told Complex that his next solo album, his first since 2006, would be rap-free. “That’s the difference between 30 and 40. ‘Cause I was 30, now I’m 40 – and I’m not rapping,” he said. He later walked back that claim in an interview with Fuse, saying, “There was a misunderstanding. There’s just things that I just can’t talk about at the moment that won’t have any rap in it. But I will be rapping.”

Stream Major Lazer’s “Aerosol Can” below.