Pharrell Williams was riding high as a producer in the mid 2000s, providing hit singles for the likes of Gwen Stefani, Ludacris, and Beyoncé. However, his debut solo album, a braggadocious rap record titled In My Mind, was a commercial disappointment. Reflecting back on this track during a 2014 interview with GQ magazine, Williams admitted his life at the time was without purpose. "That wasn't joy," he said. "That was just bragging. I wanted to be like Jay. I wanted to be like Puff. Those are their paths. I got my own path. But I didn't know what my path was. I knew that I was meant to do something different. I knew that I needed to inject purpose in my music. And I thought that was my path. I didn't realize that like, from '08 up until now was like, training. Like, keep putting purpose in everything you do. Don't worry about it; just put purpose in there."