Pharrell Williams & Jay-Z Drop Powerful 'Entrepreneur' Music Video

By Taylor Fields

August 21, 2020

Pharrell Williams and Jay-Z's new collaboration "Entrepreneur" has officially arrived, along with its powerful accompanying music video.

The new track, released in conjunction with Williams' TIME cover package, “The New American Revolution," highlights the difficulties of being an entrepreneur, particularly the systemic disadvantages people of color face before they can even get started in business.

In a statement to TIME, Williams explained of the song, "The intention for a song was all about how tough it is to be an entrepreneur in our country to begin with. Especially as someone of color, there’s a lot of systemic disadvantages and purposeful blockages. How can you get a fire started, or even the hope of an ember to start a fire, when you’re starting at disadvantages with regards to health care, education, and representation?"

And after the song's release, along with its music video featuring Black entrepreneurs and their stories across the country (including a moment of silence for Nipsey Hussle), Pharrell shared on social media, "Thank you to Jay, and to every Black queen, king and entrepreneur who made this all happen! This is for you…and your Black vision of the future."

Pharell's "The New American Revolution" in TIME features essays and conversations with Angela Davis, Tyler, the Creator, Naomi Osaka, Geoffrey Canada and more. Williams explained, "America was founded on a dream of a land where all men were created equal, that contained the promise of liberty and justice for all. But all has never meant Black people. Like most Black Americans, I understand that all exists only in the augmented-reality goggles available to shareholders, power brokers and those lucky enough to get in on the initial public offering. But the ongoing protests for equity and accountability that have overtaken cities across the nation have made me feel something new that I can only describe with one word: American."

Watch Pharrell Williams and Jay-Z's powerful "Entrepreneur" music video above.

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The New American Revolution is a special project by Pharrell Williams, featuring a curation of essays and conversations examining America's racist past—and the potential for a more equitable future. "America was founded on a dream of a land where all men were created equal, that contained the promise of liberty and justice for all. But all has never meant Black people," writes @pharrell. "Like most Black Americans, I understand that all exists only in the augmented-reality goggles available to shareholders, power brokers and those lucky enough to get in on the initial public offering. But the ongoing protests for equity and accountability that have overtaken cities across the nation have made me feel something new that I can only describe with one word: American." Read more at the link in bio. Artwork by Nneka Jones (@artyouhungry) for TIME

A post shared by TIME (@time) on Aug 20, 2020 at 5:05am PDT

Photo: Getty Images

TopicsPharrell Williams Jay-Z