Pharrell uses brown skin beauty for 'Marilyn Monroe' artwork

theGRIO REPORT - One of the standout songs from Pharrell's album G I R L is 'Marilyn Monroe' and like the majority of his latest LP, its music video is an homage to women....

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

One of the standout songs from Pharrell’s album G I R L is “Marilyn Monroe” and like the majority of his latest LP, its music video is an homage to women.

Taking place in an all-girls dance theater company, Pharrell plays the instructor and leads women of all different shades and cultural backgrounds in an impromptu performance.

While Hollywood legend Marilyn Monroe was a white woman with blond hair, Pharrell used brown skinned model and dancer Khadija Nicolas as the face of his single.

Recently, Pharrell was criticized by some of his fans in February over the G I R L cover art because it did not include a darker skinned woman.

He cleared the air with the gossip site YBF, citing black women are a part of all the important aspects of his life.

“My business is run by a black woman. My mom partially looks after my business and she’s a black woman. I’m married to a black woman. I’m confused. I guess once you get the album you will look inside and see she’s a black woman. I’m sorry that from that vantage point you can’t look at her hair and tell that she’s black.” said Pharrell.

You can check out Kyle’s musical coverage on theGrio music page, and follow Kyle on Twitter at@HarveyWins.