ZANE LOWE'S
REBEL YELL

In a recent interview with U.K.'s The Guardian—themed around the Apple Music Festival in London, which concludes tonight—Zane Lowe artist partners including Pharrell Williams, Q-Tip, Jaden Smith and Haim talked about the culture they're trying to create through the music selection and programming of Beats 1.

Describing the station as "the common room for future pop rebels," Lowe characterized the guiding principals as being closely aligned with pirate radio, despite the fact that the station actually sprang from a corporate tech giant with unlimited financial resources.

“There’s a scrappiness to Beats 1 at the moment—sometimes things don’t work and sometimes they do, but there’s no consistency,” Lowe admitted.

But through all this trial and error, he and his fellow jocks have been consistent in one area—their adherence to a mandate that came straight from Jimmy Iovine: Don't be boring.

Pharrell said his reason for joining the team was to share music he's discovered, because "my mind has exploded into rainbow colors multiple times from the music I’ve heard that’s out there."

Eric Prydz, Major Lazer and Chance the Rapper are said to be joining the roster next, with new shows debuting soon. Check out the story here.