Props to the writer, Safy Hallan Farah,


http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/631-new-blackness-pharrell-kanye-and-jay-z-and-the-spectre-of-white-aspiration/

"During an interview with Oprah last Spring, producer and rapper Pharrell Williams dubbed himself "New Black". In his words: "The New Black doesn't blame other races for our issues. The New Black dreams and realizes that it's not a pigmentation; it's a mentality."...

... The house nigger/field nigger dichotomy, Pharrell’s complexion aside, works because it sounds like Pharrell is happy as hell at other black people’s expense; happy to be up there with Oprah and others, not toiling the proverbial fields. But Pharrell’s happiness and self-proclaimed new black status seems like more of a positive coping strategy than stepping stone to real enlightenment. As we learned from his "Blurred Lines" deposition last year, giving unearned authorial credit to white artists on songs he’s written is status quo; he is not immune from structural racism and white supremacy. ...