Pharrell Williams has announced that he’s linked up with Lil Wayne and Coi Leray for a new animated project that the production company called “groundbreaking.”
In a post made on X, formerly Twitter, on Thursday (April 4), the production company made an announcement about the project called Dullsville and the Doodleverse, which is set to be released in the summer, and will feature the voices of both the Young Money head honcho and Benzino‘s daughter.
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“a groundbreaking storytelling experience from Doodles x Pharrell Williams. coming summer 2024,” the company wrote in its tweet.
Doodles went on to explain that the project would be their first animated special, featuring voice acting by both Tunechi and Coi Leray. The two will also contribute to the three-song soundtrack of brand new music being created for the project.
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“Dullsville and the Doodleverse will bridge Doodles’ iconic style with an elevated and cinematic filter, pioneering an unprecedented format of animation and yes, OG’s are at the center of it all,” the Twitter announcement continued.
prepare for an adventure of immersive storytelling through film, music, live events, partnerships, exclusive merchandise and digital collecting experiences details on our collaborators, distribution, and more featured artists will be revealed [soon emoji].”
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The brand’s account concluded: “this campaign, dubbed “Project Gray” will begin to roll out early summer and will culminate in an immersive premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, followed by a global release.”
Check out the full thread below.
our first ever animated special will be accompanied by a Doodles Records original soundtrack with three music videos, featuring some of the world’s biggest artists…
…including @LilTunechi and @coi_leray, who will also be voicing characters in the film pic.twitter.com/8nzxbc4hDI
— doodles (@doodles) April 4, 2024
prepare for an adventure of immersive storytelling through film, music, live events, partnerships, exclusive merchandise and digital collecting experiences
details on our collaborators, distribution, and more featured artists will be revealed 🔜
— doodles (@doodles) April 4, 2024
this campaign, dubbed "Project Gray" will begin to roll out early summer and will culminate in an immersive premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, followed by a global release
up next: Doodles
• ᴗ •
— doodles (@doodles) April 4, 2024
This bit of good news is a reprieve from the recent controversy surrounding Pharrell, who is currently locked in a legal battle with fellow ex-Neptunes partner Chad Hugo over the rights to the name.
According to legal documents obtained by HipHopDX, Hugo and his team have made a filing with the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, accusing his longtime friend and co-producer of committing fraud by attempting to register trademarks for the Neptunes name without his name on it.
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“Throughout their over thirty year history, [Hugo] and Williams agreed to, and in fact, have divided all assets,” the documents read. “By ignoring and excluding [Hugo] from the any and all applications filed by applicant for the mark ‘The Neptunes,’ applicant has committed fraud in securing the trademarks and acted in bad faith.”
A representative for the “Happy” hitmaker made a statement to Billboard on Monday (April 1), saying: “Pharrell is surprised by this. We have reached out on multiple occasions to share in the ownership and administration of the trademark and will continue to make that offer. The goal here was to make sure a third party doesn’t get a hold of the trademark and to guarantee Chad and Pharrell share in ownership and administration.”
Hugo’s lawyer, on the other hand, felt that was a lie.
“If Pharell’s intent was to include Chad in the filing, he should have registered it in the name of their jointly owned company Neptunes, LLC and not in his own name,” he said. “This was a land grab in a long-simmering dispute that has yet to be resolved.”
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There are currently three separate applications over the name that Hugo is disputing: one for streaming music, the second for music videos and other content, and a third covering live performances. According to the legal paperwork, Pharrell filed for ownership in 2022 under his PW IP Holdings LLC.
Elsewhere in the case, Hugo’s attorneys said they’ve “repeatedly” contacted Pharrell’s team about the problem. They also noted that the Louis Vuitton designer’s company has insisted on “onerous business terms” that would deprive Hugo of proper control and compensation without specifying the exact terms.
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Chad Hugo’s team is proposing that the three aforementioned trademarks be amended to make him 50% co-owner or to name the General Partnership as owner in place of Pharrell.
