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Pharrell Williams

Pharrell Williams, Vulture interview (June 6, 2013)

Justin Timberlake’s first album — all those songs, with the exception of “Like I Love You,” were songs I made for Michael Jackson. His manager didn’t like them. Somehow I think Michael didn’t like them either, though. Because when I finally met him, he sang all those songs back to me, and said, “Those songs should have been for me.” And he just laughed. He fell out, just like I have all my life — when something is super funny my knees literally give out, and no matter where it is, I’m on the ground. He just fell on the couch, and he was really tall — six-foot-something. Filled up the whole couch. And he fell, rolled on the floor, kicking like a kid, laughing. But he sang those songs to me and he sang them just like Justin. And then he sang “You Don’t Have to Call” to me, and what was so interesting was all of them had Michael bridges. Like on the bridge of “You Don’t Have to Call,” the way I’d written it, I was trying to capture what Michael had already done with Quincy Jones and Rod Temperton, in the late seventies, early eighties. He sang those songs to me. So he kinda knew, but at the time they just weren’t good enough. But they were songs for him.

“The Huffington Post” (November 16, 2011) (archived)

The "Rump Shaker" producer opened up on trying to convince Michael Jackson's manager to use a selection of beats tailored specifically for the "King of Pop." According to Williams, the late singer preferred a sound similar to the producer's 1998 hit Noreaga song, "Superthug."

"I have been telling him, 'Yo, I got these Michael records [that I did for Michael].' And I'll never forget Michael's manager saying, 'Yo, Michael wants some "Superthug!"' And I was like, 'What?'" the producer-singer recalled. "I remember being so baffled and so crushed, 'cause he still is my idol."

When the initial tracks produced for Jackson were scrapped, Williams sought out Justin Timberlake, who was working with the Neptunes on his debut album, Justified. The songs went on to commercial success, not to mention eliciting a phone call from Jackson.

"Funny story is, when we were working on it, Michael called ... he just called me and he was eating popcorn in my ear [over the phone] and he was like, 'Oh, so you're working with Justin, how's it going?' And you know, it was Michael's voice...it wasn't the high pitched [voice] that everyone else knew. And he's just eating the popcorn or whatever. And I remember just thinking to myself, 'Man, I wish Michael could hear these songs,'" he said.

"And later on, after those songs came out and they were really huge thanks to Justin's talent and what he had to offer, I'll never forget the day that me and Michael met up. And he sang me those songs, sounding like Justin. And he said, 'You should've gave those songs to me.'"

Chris Cadman’s “Michael Jackson the Maestro”

“Meeting Michael Jackson has been the best moment of all this,’ said Williams. ‘He said that song I made for him, ’What’s A Guy Gotta Do’, was alright. He said he liked it, but in the end it wasn’t right for him.”