The super producer rock star said he had gone numb while touring for the last N.E.R.D. album when inspiration struck him suddenly.
"I was on the road so much, day in and day out," he said. "And then all of a sudden it was like, 'Wait a minute. I wanna hear this,' or 'I wanna hear that. I need to go make that right now.
Adding to the period of creative inactivity, Skateboard P said, was an overall boredom with the direction music was going in general.
"For me, I was bored, I have to say. I was honestly bored by music," he said. "If you turn on the radio to the pop station it's just one long dance song. If you turn it to the hip hop station, it's just one long emo-hip hop, quasi-R&B song."
The Neptunes co-founder did mention a few artists who he felt were doing original, inspiring work, including Little Dragon, Yuna and A.S.A.P. Rocky.
"I'm not knocking the music of the last four or five years," Pharrell added. "I'm just saying I personally needed things to progress to a certain point before I felt like I missed me."
For more of the exclusive sit down go to qreamwithaq.com.
