Image via Marc Baptiste
Before he was a superstar, Pharrell was Skateboard P, a nickname given to him by his peers in high school for his love and obsession with all things skating, including building a halfpipe in his backyard as a teen. So, when Pharrell began to make waves in the culture, the last thing he would do was abandon his passion for skateboarding. P would help change the future of hip-hop and Pharrell's path forever if he pursued this passion.
Image via Image Therapy Tumblr
The Skateboard P chain is an enormous part of Pharrell's story that is a symbol of the success, game-changing, and genre-bending that P seemed to do so frequently. The piece represents Pharrell's childhood love of skating as a true example for the next generation of young entrepreneurs to believe in his iconic song "You Can Do It Too." Skateboard P chose not to be concerned with fitting in with the game of hip hop, but rather with how he could change the world and open up the game of hip hop itself, beginning with his love for skateboarding.
In true Pharrell fashion, one of his first major jewelry pieces would commemorate this love and the success of his career. Pharrell created the one-of-a-kind grail with the help of Jacob The Jeweler, cementing Skateboard P's legacy in history. Between the symbolic aspects of the Jesus piece in hip hop and the diamond-encrusted skateboards themselves, this piece demonstrates Pharrell's personality and taste more than anything else. This piece appears to be what the teenage Pharrell Williams would have wanted on a chain rather than the Pharrell who has now traveled the world and performed in front of millions. The charms themselves have a distinct childlike playfulness to them, and I'm almost certain P has used them as a finger deck at least a few times. A truly unique piece of history, combining passion and personality with elegance and style. Something that Pharrell has seemed to embody throughout his career.