(AllHipHop News) Spike Lee is one of the most prolific filmmakers of all-time with numerous epochal films that have shaped generations. Pharrell, for the past 15 years has been on the shortlist of most influential and commercially viable Hip Hop producers. For Pharrell’s i am Other’s ARTST TLK series, the Star Trek producer sits down with Lee to discuss everything from the serendipity that helped him become a director to New York City in the deslote years of the late 70’s and more.
One poignant moment in the interview is where Lee brings back up an old gripe he had with the Academy of Motion Pictures after his film Bruce Beresford’s 1989 film Driving Miss Daisy was crowned Best Picture at the 1990 Oscar’s:
Driving Miss Daisy was not the best film of 1989. It’s not. Not one around the world is watching Driving Miss m#########*n Daisy. That film is not being taught in schools and universities around the world. Do The Right Thing was not even nominated for Best Picture.
He also revealed that he assumed the legendary role of Mars Blackman due financial constraints and derived the name from a combination of his grandmother Zimmie Shelton’s suggestion and the character’s infatuation with Michael Jordan and his Jumpman sneakers.
I see that the speech is over. I’m going to call a cut, but he keeps going. He kept going for another five minutes until finally the film ran out of the magazine. The stuff he was said was better than Malcolm’s words. I finally call cut and I go ‘Denzel, that was great, but where did that come from?’ You went on for five minutes longer than what was scripted.’ He said ‘Spike, I don’t know.’
Check out both parts of the 40 minute + interview as Spike and Pharrell discusses the shift in Hip Hop, generational differences in parenting and more below:
Part 1:
Part 2: