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Pharrell Williams has spoken of his disappointment at criticism over the apparent lack of black women on the artwork for his new album, GIRL.
Click here to read our track by track review of Pharrell's GIRL album
The 'Happy' singer's album cover shows the star and three women wearing sunglasses and bathrobes. A seemingly unremarkable image, the album cover has drawn critism over the fact that none of his cover co-stars are obviously black. Pharrell claims these comments 'just suck'.
"What really disappointed me is that they jumped the gun, because the one I'm standing the closest to is black," Pharrell told US radio show Power 105.1. "She's a black girl from Wisconsin that I used to date over 10 years ago. And that just must suck man, for people to just look at something and to assume that they know what's going on."
"If they just bothered to listen to my album, they'd know that my album was an ode to women, period. The one thing I was trying to help and aid in changing is this crazy statuesque standard of — you've gotta be white and thin for you to be beautiful."
Below: listen to Pharrell's new Daft Punk collaboration, 'Gust Of Wind'
"No matter what color you are, what size you are, your sexual orientation, I respect you as a woman, because I know without you none of us would be here," he continued. "But, unfortunately, they looked at the cover, they didn't see what they felt like...I don't know what the definition is..."a light skinned" black woman? What is this conversation?"
GIRL is released on 3 March 2014 and includes the No.1 single 'Happy', as well as brilliant new Daft Punk collaboration, 'Gust Of Wind'.
Below: the 10 best Pharrell tracks since 'Get Lucky'
