Love Quote by Matt Cameron

Coming from Matt Cameron, this isn’t casual fan chatter; it’s a drummer’s stamp of approval, and that’s what gives the line its bite. Cameron is a player’s player, someone whose career (Soundgarden, Pearl Jam) is built on muscular grooves and disciplined feel. When he calls out Pharrell for “laying down great drum tracks,” he’s not praising celebrity aura or “vibes.” He’s praising craft: time, pocket, restraint, the unglamorous work of making a song breathe.

The subtext is a small corrective to how pop stardom flattens musicianship. Pharrell is usually filed under producer, hitmaker, frontman, tastemaker - the guy in the hat, not the guy behind the kit. Cameron’s repetition (“great... great”) reads like emphasis with a purpose: don’t miss the point. In a music culture obsessed with front-facing identity, he’s redirecting attention to the backbeat, to the engine room.

It also quietly argues for a broader definition of “drummer.” Not a genre badge, not a chops Olympics, but someone who can serve the track. Cameron hears something in Pharrell’s drumming that drummers care about: confident minimalism, rhythmic placement, the ability to make simple patterns feel inevitable. The context is the ongoing erosion of rock’s gatekeeping as pop and hip-hop makers prove they can play, not just program. Cameron isn’t surrendering rock territory; he’s recognizing a shared language: groove over mythology.