# Piece by Piece (soundtrack)

Piece by Piece (Music from the Motion Picture) is the soundtrack album to the 2024 animated film Piece by Piece, co-produced and directed by Morgan Neville. Based on the life of American musician Pharrell Williams, the album consisted of 21 tracks—five original songs written and performed by Williams while the remainder of it consisted of existing tracks performed by other artists; this also includes Williams' older songs as well. The titular single from the album was released on September 13, 2024, and the complete soundtrack was released on October 11, 2024, through Columbia Records and I Am Other.

## Development

Williams wrote five original songs for the project. Two songs, which he solely wrote, composed and produced, were made for specific scenes, the second one outlined the story which he described it as "like my thesis — [which is] that God is the greatest". The remaining three tracks were co-written with his longtime collaborative partner Chad Hugo who also produced the soundtrack. Neville noted that Williams had written "early tracks and other bits of score" during the production.
The film also incorporated other songs of Williams which were commercially released, in most of other tracks where Williams was the featuring artist such as Daft Punk's "Get Lucky" with Nile Rodgers (which was soundtracked in the first trailer), Snoop Dogg's "Drop It Like It's Hot" and "Beautiful" with Uncle Charlie Wilson, and other tracks were he was the sole artist, such as "Frontin'" featuring Jay-Z and "Happy" which featured in Despicable Me 2 (2013) and his second studio album Girl (2014). Other featured artists include N.E.R.D., Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Wreckx-n-Effect amongst others.
Michael Andrews composed the incidental underscore that complimented the songs featured in the film.

## Release

The titular track "Piece By Piece" was released as the lead single from the album on September 13, 2024. The song is performed by Williams featuring the Princess Anne High School's marching band the Fabulous Marching Cavaliers.
On October 2, 2024, Williams unveiled the track list of the album in his Instagram account featuring 21 tracks. The album was released day-and-date with the film on October 11, 2024, through Williams' I Am Other and Columbia Records label.

## Critical reception

Peter Debruge of Variety described the songs being "fresh, neatly reworked". Tony Maglio of IndieWire described the titular track as "banger" although "not quite as good or earworm-y" as Williams' "Happy". Lovia Gyarkye of The Hollywood Reporter wrote Williams' original songs "complement Michael Andrews’ fanciful score." Caleb Hammond of IndieWire also wrote "like so many other moments in "Piece by Piece," the music does the heavy lifting: Williams’ otherworldly production matched with Lamar’s rapping are powerfully rendered on screen, even if the LEGO framing here plays as a little ridiculous juxtaposed against the serious subject matter."
William Bibbiani of TheWrap wrote "There are so many songs. “Piece by Piece” doesn’t stop to play them all in their entirety because it’s not Bernardo Bertolucci’s director’s cut of “1900” and we don’t have all the time in the world. If you only know Pharrell Williams from his hit single “Happy” you will have your mind completely blown by how many classic songs he and his producing partner Chad Hugo have been directly responsible for, or at least guided to fruition. It’s such an incredible, high volume, high quality artistic output that it’s legitimately hard to process, but to hear Pharrell tell it, it was his day job."

## Additional Tracks

Songs that are in the film, but not included on the soundtrack are: I Wish by Stevie Wonder, Hollaback Girl by Gwen Stefani, Funky Town by Lipps Inc., Blurred Lines by Robin Thicke, Tubthumping by Chumbawamba, My Prerogative by Bobby Brown, Bonita Applebum by A Tribe Called Quest, Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing in the Line for the Bathroom) by N.E.R.D., Rump Shaker by Wreckx-N-Effect, Nothin' by N.O.R.E., Spaz by N.E.R.D.,, Lookin' At Me by Mase feat. Puff Daddy, I’m A Slave 4 U by Britney Spears, Knock Yourself Out by Jadakiss, Shake Ya Ass by Mystikal feat. Pharrell Williams, Hot in Herre by Nelly, Like I Love You by Justin Timberlake, Say Somethin' by Mariah Carey and Snoop Dogg, Pass the Courvoisier, Part II by Busta Rhymes feat. P. Diddy and Pharrell Williams, I’ve Seen The Light/Inside Of Clouds by N.E.R.D., and Pure Imagination from Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory performed by Gene Wilder.

## Credits

Credits adapted from Film Music Reporter:
* Original songs written and performed by Pharrell Williams
* Original score composed and produced by Michael Andrews
* Music producer: Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo
* Music mixer: Mike Larson
* Music editors: Todd Burke, Todd Kasow
* Score recorded at Elgin Park Recordings
* Score engineer: Alexander Thompson
* Score mixer: Todd Burke
* Musicians: Michael Andrews, Robert Walrer, Gabe Noel, Kenneth Crouch
* Choir: Phylicia Hill, Rick Charles Nelson, Lorie v. Moore, Pattie Howard, Ty Taylor, Diimond, Amber Sauer, Elle Skyes