Pharrell Williams Joins Spotify's 'Black History Is Happening Now' Campaign

Purturbed that black history is officially celebrated just one month out of the year, Spotity earlier this year launched "Black History Is Happening Now," a content campaign—with employment and development elements built in—that celebrates and amplifies the voices of black artists, creators and organizations all year round. 

Janelle Monáe kicked off the campaign in March, in partnership with Spotify and creative collective Saturday Morning. Now, Pharrell Williams is joining to launch volume two of the effort. 

Through the campaign, Williams, 45, will use videos, music curation and more to highlight topics that are important to black artists and creatives.  

Below are three original videos, which were directed by Paul Hunter, cofounder of Pretty Bird. They are live on Williams's "Black History Is Happening Now" hub. In them, he shares his perspective on "black culture, the power of black women, his beliefs on love, politics, the human condition and more," Spotify says. 

The hub also includes playlists curated by Williams. But the campaign extends well beyond video and audio content, including a new initiative to support up-and-coming black female creators. 

Spotify will identify three black female creatives in film, literature and visual arts who are breaking new ground—and will fund their creation of original content highlighting the message that "black women are a very serious force." That content will launch this fall. The initiative was planned in partnership with the women of BLK@Spotify. 

"Black History Is Happening Now" will be live in the U.S., U.K., Brazil, Mexico, Germany and Canada.