The 25 Best Pharrell Hooks

Skateboard P has been killing choruses for over a decade. We sifted through his catalog and ranked the very best.

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Pharrell has been one of popular music's premier producers for the past decade, and in the latest act of his career, he's only become a bigger and bigger star as he's fine-tuned his unique, classicist brand of hitmaking. For a long time, Pharrell was the go-to producer in hip-hop if you need someone to pull double duty and give you a hook, too. Now his palette's expanded—he's the guy you go to for hooks, no matter who you are. From Jay Z to Daft Punk to himself, we tallied up best choruses ahead of his appearance at ComplexCon next month. 

29. Twista f/ Pharrell "Give It Up" (2007)

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28. The Alkaholiks f/ Pharrell Williams "Best U Can"

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27. N.E.R.D "Provider"

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26. T.I. f/ Pharrell Williams "Freak Though"

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25. Jay-Z f/ Pharrell Williams "So Ambitious"

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24. Busta Rhymes f/ Pharrell Williams "Light Yo Ass On Fire"

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23. Jay-Z f/ Pharrell Williams "Change Clothes"

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22. Calvin Harris f/ Pharrell Williams, Katy Perry, Big Sean "Feels"

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Calvin Harris proved this year that he knows his way around a collaboration. Which means that he and Pharrell—one of the greatest collaborators in modern music—should have got along well. If their collabs on Funk Wav Bounces, Vol. 1 are any indication, they worked extremely well together, and Pharrell's hook on "Feels" is so catchy it's almost annoying. 

21. N.O.R.E. f/ Pharrell Williams "Nothin'"

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20. Jay-Z f/ Pharrell Williams "I Know"

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19. Clipse "When The Last Time"

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18. N.E.R.D "She Wants To Move"

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17. Pharrell f/ Snoop Dogg "That Girl"

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16. Daft Punk f/ Pharrell Williams "Lose Yourself To Dance"

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The lesser of the two breakout collabs Pharrell made with Daft Punk for Random Access Memories that finds Pharrell in full crooning mode, "Lose Yourself To Dance" is still a towering a achievement. Pharrell's simple, insistent chorus is the model of a convincing argument. Deceptively to the point and close to lacking a melody, it almost feels like it isn't a hook at all, until you realize you've been humming it for days after hearing it just once. 

15. Jadakiss f/ Pharrell "Knock Yourself Out"

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14. Jay-Z f/ Pharrell "Excuse Me Miss"

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13. N.E.R.D. "Rock Star"

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12. Jay-Z f/ Pharrell "I Just Wanna Love You (Give It 2 Me)"

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11. Busta Rhymes f/ Diddy & Pharrell "Pass the Couvoiseur Pt. 2"

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It may be called “Pass The Courvoisier Pt. 2,” but it had little to with its predecessor. The original version that appeared on Busta’s Genesis also featured Diddy and the phrase “Pass The Courvoisier,” but it was produced by Nottz and was way too clunky for the clubs. Pharrell had just the remedy—understated verses, Busta’s high energy bridge, and of course, a catchy hook. That combination made the sequel a smash.

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9. Clipse f/ Ab-Liva & Rosco P. Coldchain "Cot Damn"

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Pusha T told us that “Cot Damn” was originally titled “God Damn” but changed due to anticipated issues in the Bible belt. Apparently, P also had reservations about the title because he didn't want to offend his highly religious grandmother. When the song was finally released as a single, the verses were remixed at the insentience of L.A. Reid. However, they didn’t touch this epic hook which had P screaming “Cot damn!” like he was fresh out of prison and ready for a new day.

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7. "Happy"

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24 hours. They made a 24-hour music video for this song. It's a silly idea, a stunt that no sane person could ever sit through and watch, an exercise in a stunt devised to drum up some virality for a song that needed no drumming up on its own behalf. I've never seen the video, I never will—however, if there's a song you must listen to for 24 hours, "Happy" might be the pick. That hook has been rattling around our heads for something like four years and counting, after all. 

6. Frontin'

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Skateboard P's first solo single peaked at No. 5 on the Billboard Hot 100. From the "Tear your ass up" quip to Hov's eight-bar cameo, "Frontin'" is a classic on multiple levels, but the hook binds all of the record's appeal into one succinct moment.

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4. Mystikal f/ Pharrell Williams "Shake Ya Ass"

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Mystikal has always been like hip-hop’s James Brown—wailing obscene phrases with a ferocious energy hard to contain. Enter Pharrell’s smooth singing. Here, he bodies the chorus and balances out a song that opened with the lyrics, “I came here with my dick in my hand!” After this, the Neptunes were officially on, and everybody wanted a hook from Pharrell.

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2. Daft Punk f/ Pharrell Williams "Get Lucky"

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When Daft Punk tapped Pharrell for their comeback effort back in 2013, the results hit like a bolt of lightning. The French dance duo were boasting a new, vintage sound—more bass grooves than sampled vocals—and Pharrell was their unlikely funk lothario. The man famous for making beats that sounded like nothing else joined forces with two DJs that dress like robots to make something that sounded like a song we'd grown up listening to. Since then, Pharrell's hit new heights mining a unique approach to throwback jams, but this is his best and, maybe, most iconic hook to date. 

1. Snoop Dogg f/ Pharrell Williams "Beautiful"

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Get those images of Brazilian supermodels out of your head for a second and think about why this hook is good. No gimmicks, just Falsetto P singing his heart out to a beautiful girl in between awkwardly infectious "Oh yeah, there's something about you" whispers. It's unorthodox, off-kilter, and the one that stands the test of time. It's simply timeless. 

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