“There’s an imbalance in society, in my opinion,” Pharrell Williams said, regarding the theme of his new album G  I  R  L , “and it’s going to change.  A world where 75 percent of it is run by women – that’s a different world. That’s gonna happen, and I want to be on the right side of it when it does.”

Williams released G  I  R  L  on March 3rd, 2014, his first solo album since 2006’s In My Mind, with empowering women as his main goal. He wanted to counteract the negativity he received from working with Robin Thicke on “Blurred Lines,” a song making derogatory comments towards women in which it received a large amount of criticism for.

The public wasn’t made aware of the new album until a tweet written by Williams on February 19th, two weeks before G  I  R  L was supposed to come out. After the announcement, I got more and more ecstatic with every statement I read released by Williams. It’s important for ideas about gender equality to break into mainstream media, and any help provided to the cause is exciting to think about. Although Williams’ portrayal is somewhat problematic, with the cover providing no diversity whatsoever except for himself, it’s a start.

The main single off of the album is “Happy,” a feel-good, Oscar-nominated infectious song that’s been featured in many commercials, has topped the Billboard charts, and was part of the soundtrack for the movie Despicable Me 2. The title is very straightforward: it’s a light-hearted, energetic song about being happy. Although it doesn’t particularly have to do with females, it’s still a good addition to the record.

With high hopes in mind, Williams opens the record with “Marilyn Monroe,” an upbeat song that would’ve fit in with the early 2000s, that sounds like a mix between Destiny’s Child and funk. Funk plays a large role throughout the whole album, for a Pharrell without funk is like a fish out of water. “Brand New,” featuring Justin Timberlake, features Timberlake’s falsetto which pairs perfectly with Williams’ smooth vocals. It also matches up with Timberlake’s new sound; something that you imagine men in suits singing at a club in the 80s. “Hunter,” a track with a very 70s vibe reminiscent of KC and the Sunshine Band, provides another example of Williams’ versatility and ability to make his music more accessible. “Gust of Wind,” a track featuring Daft Punk, gave me high expectations, especially because the French duo worked so well with Williams in the past on their own album, Random Access Memories. The resulting sound wasn’t as catchy or memorable as I wanted it to be, and Daft Punk didn’t play a very large role in it like Justin Timberlake did in “Brand New,” but nonetheless, it’s still a good song that I have to appreciate.

Since a lot of the same sounds are present in the album, one of my fears was that every song would sound the same, but that’s not the case with G  I  R  L. The whole thing switches from ballads to funk to pop to catchy bridges, all blending together to create a great listening experience. Overall, I didn’t think Pharrell translated his attempted message of girl power very well- songs such as “Hunter” perpetuate stereotypes of a girl being chased, “hunted,” in order to be “caught.” Even though Williams said the song is meant to be from the perspective of an amorous girl, it’s obviously not very apparent throughout the song. The only thing I received some sort of feminist message from was a line from “Know Who You Are” featuring Alicia Keys, “I will do what I need ‘til every woman on the Earth is free.”

Although I admire Williams’ attempts, he shouldn’t brand his whole album as something that can redeem himself and bring forth more awareness for women’s rights. Does it include songs that are fun to dance to? Definitely. What about songs that can be praised for having feminist lyrics? Not at all. Although the songs talk about love, relationships, and the feeling of being smitten, so does every other song out there; it’s not something new and innovative that’s being thrown into our ever-changing society. To be honest, I expected more from Pharrell, especially since he runs in the same circles as Beyoncé, who has written articles on feminism, featured a Ted Talk about feminism in one of her new songs, and has a discography of songs about girl power.

In conclusion, Pharrell Williams is known for his larger-than-life hats that sparked a whole internet meme, catchy songs, heavy influence in the music industry, and his great collaborations, but he shouldn’t be mislabeled as someone who does a good job of raising awareness of the necessity of gender equality, especially because the U.S. only ranks in at 23 in gender equality out of every country in the world, lagging behind countries like Lesotho and Cuba. G  I  R  L is a very catchy, fun, feel-good album that can easily lift someone’s spirits, but it shouldn’t be labeled as something it’s not. I give this album 3 ½ out of 5 stars.