USA TODAY International Edition
Pharrell moves his festival to Washington
Pharrell Williams is rebirthing his Something in the Water festival for 2022 and moving it to Washington, D. C., for Juneteenth weekend.
The multihyphenate artist, producer, fashion designer and social justice warrior decided to relocate his music event after clashing with city management in his Virginia Beach hometown following the shooting death of his cousin last year.
With a lineup zigzagging from Usher to Dave Matthews Band to Lil Baby to Calvin Harris, Williams, who will also perform as Pharrell & Phriends, says the guiding force of his festival is “unity and togetherness – not genres, but humans getting together.”
Something in the Water will commandeer three stages along Independence Avenue and adjacent streets June 17- 19 – aka Juneteenth weekend. In 2020, Williams was a prominent advocate for making Juneteenth, which celebrates emancipation, a state holiday in Virginia. In 2021, President Joe Biden signed legislation making June 19 a federal holiday.
“Why not take this Black solution to a systemic issue to a higher platform? Why not take Virginia with me to D. C. so we can take our message of unity, diversity and equity to our nation’s capital?” Pharrell, 49, tells USA TODAY about repositioning his festival.
The relocation is a pointed rebuke of his city of birth, where the “Happy” star staged a successful Something in the Water event in 2019 with Jay- Z, Snoop Dogg, Missy Elliott and Usher among the marquee performers. The festival had an economic impact of more than $ 24 million for the region.
A planned 2020 edition was postponed by the pandemic and rescheduled for 2021. But the shooting death of Williams’ cousin, Donovon Lynch, by a Virginia Beach police officer in March 2021 stirred the musician to confront what he called the “toxic energy” driving the city. A month later, Williams called for a federal investigation into his cousin’s death.
Upon hearing last fall that Williams planned to cancel Something in the Water or move it from Virginia Beach, city management asked him to reconsider. In response, Williams noted his disappointment with the “changing narrative” around his cousin’s death: “I am tired of kindly and politely being shown the door.”
In November, a special grand jury concluded there was no probable cause to charge the officer who shot Lynch.
Williams says he’s tired of hearing words but seeing little action from city leaders, and urges those who want the festival to eventually return to Virginia Beach to “tell ( leadership) to listen to the kids and get rid of those old ideas and listen to people who are really living it right now.”
Williams is eager to reinstate his festival with a positive backdrop and a starry lineup that also includes Tyler, the Creator, Jon Batiste, T. I., Run the
Jewels, Roddy Ricch, Chloe x Halle, Ozuna, Pusha T, Ashanti and Ja Rule, Lil Uzi Vert and dozens of other artists.
The lineup also pays homage to Washington’s musical foundation – the rhythmically specific go- go music.
Backyard Band, Rare Essence and Sounds of the City are part of the Something in the Water lineup, and their music, Williams says, is “a pillar in rap history.”
Even though Something in the Water will be staged a few hours north of Virginia Beach, Williams is adamant that he’ll never “leave behind the 757,” a nod to the city’s area code. He’s enlisted corporate sponsors for the festival to participate in “give- backs” to his hometown and emphasizes his commitment to his roots.
“I’m bringing a lot of Virginia with me,” he says. “It’s love, love, love. We just want to continue to be solution-based. Where our solutions are not necessarily wanted, we respect that and will take it to a higher platform. We are all human beings, after all.”
Three- day passes go on sale Saturday at somethinginthewater.com. Fans who purchased festival tickets in previous years have access to a presale.