For all the classic songs Pharrell Williams has produced, it took until today for the world to notice that the intros to many of his songs use an identical trick. A quick four-count loop of the first beat occurs in songs from this year’s hit “Happy” to last year’s “Blurred Lines” all the way back to “Right Here (Human Nature Remix)” by SWV in ’93. The blog Discopop compiled an entire mix of just the producer’s song intros so you can hear for yourself. While Discopop presents this as a sign that Pharrell can’t write a good intro, there is another way of looking at it: Many artists use a sort of subtle “maker’s mark” on their work, and maybe this is just Pharrell’s. Listen to the mix below and hear for yourself.

The songs:

01. SWV – “Right Here (Human Nature Remix)”

02. Pharrell – “Frontin'”

03. Kelis – “Milkshake”

04. Snoop Dogg – “Drop It Like It’s Hot”

05. Robin Thicke – “Blurred Lines”

06. Shakira – “Why Wait”

07. Frank Ocean – “Sweet Life”

08. Pharrell – “Brand New”

09. Paloma Faith – “Can’t Rely On You”

10. Pharrell – “Happy”

11. Pharrell – “Hunter”

12. Jay-Z – “I Know”

13. Pharrell – “Gust of Wind”