Biography | The Neptunes #1 fan site, all about Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo The Neptunes #1 fan site, all about Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo Biography The Neptunes are a record production duo consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who are credited with contributing the sound for many successful Hip Hop, R&B and Pop artists in the late-1990s and 2000s. In fact, it might be easier to list the hitmakers of the past couple of years who haven’t worked with them, practically everything they touch turns to gold. The twosome’s distinctive sound — syncopated, often synthesized rhythms hyped up by alternately terse and heavy beats. It’s currently a given that, if you want a hit, you’d best make a call to The Neptunes one of your top priorities. The Neptunes got their start a long way from hip-hop’s urban centers in Virginia Beach, VA. Pharrell and Chad met in seventh grade, in a school jazz band in which Pharrell was playing drums and Chad was a saxophonist. (Both play Live Instruments, Guitars & Keyboards).

The extroverted, African-American Pharrell Williams, perpetually in motion and busily single and the calmer, quieter, Filipino Chad Hugo, who has a wife and children. But both have voracious musical tastes. A top producer can command an advance of up to $150,000 per track, and The Neptunes are in demand everywhere. In Virginia Beach, they soaked up Hip-Hop, 1970’s Rock, Punk and everything else in their parents’ and neighbors’ record collections, and by the early 1990’s they were performing around town. Pharrell was a member of a Hip-Hop group called Surrounded By Idiots; it included one DJ Timmy Tim, aka Timothy Mosley, who would soon rename himself Timbaland and transform 1990’s hip-hop and R&B with his twitchy, fractured electronic beats. Pharrell and Chad also have a vocal group with Shae called N*E*R*D, that was discovered in a 1992 talent show by the producer Teddy Riley, whose pioneering new jack swing productions in the 1980’s had updated R&B crooning with terse Hip-Hop rhythm.

Pharrell and Chad became Mr. Riley’s protégés, working in the studio with groups including Blackstreet and S.W.V. Since 1998, when Mr. Williams and his partner, Chad Hugo, got their first major recognition by producing “Super Thug” for the rapper Noreaga, The Neptunes have been delivering hits in Hip-Hop “Jay-Z & Ludacris”, Blues “Eric Benet & Angie Stone”, “Electronica “Daft Punk & Basement Jaxx”, Jazz “Alana Davis & Ben Harper”, R&B “Babyface & Mariah Carey”, Pop “Britney Spears & Justin Timberlake”, Rock “No Doubt & The Hives” House “Bryan Zentz & Swedish House Mafia” Reggaeton “Pitbull & Daddy Yankee”, Reggae “Beenie Man & Sean Paul” among many others. Taking the name Neptunes, because Neptune rules water and water covers most of the Earth, they began producing their own songs. By the late 1990’s, The Neptunes style had crystallized as minimal, staccato electronic tracks.

They use the freeze-dried, uninflected tones of the digital era: the snap of drum samples, the blips and tweets of video games and cell-phone rings. But there’s also a touch of Mr. Riley’s smoothness when Mr. Williams sings airy hooks. In music that can be obsessed with booming bass, The Neptunes sometimes use no bass notes at all; pockets of silence drive the songs as much as the notes they play. ”We do skeleton songs,” Mr. Williams said. ”We always know when something is too much, we always know when something isn’t enough. And syncopation is essential.” Although Neptunes tracks revel in the mechanization of looped and programmed riffs pumped out by computerized sequencers, they often add an element that sounds winningly askew: the drooping, detuned notes in ”I’m a Slave for U” or a drum-machine accent that lands just behind the beat. ”That’s how music was in the beginning, because it was played by humans,” Mr. Williams said. ”A live band would take it all over the place. That’s what makes it hot.

Sequencers are perfect, humans are not, and that imperfection is perfection.” The Neptunes are determined not to turn their production into a formula. Mr. Hugo recently had a chameleon tattooed on his right shoulder as a symbol of mutability. ”Every artist has a signature sound, just like Van Gogh,” Mr. Hugo said. ”We did that in the beginning for people to notice us. It’s like tagging on a subway. But now it’s time to switch it up.” Mr. Williams continued: ”If you go back five years to the songs we were doing, they don’t sound like what we’re doing now at all. Gradually we introduce elements to you, and we may use that element in another song, but it’s passed on, it’s not the same thing. It’s like people thinking our house is made of bricks, and it’s not. It starts out brick, but graduates to stone, and it graduates to wood, and it graduates to stucco, and then it graduates to glass, and then it graduates to steel, but the thing is that it’s gradual.

Every so often we throw a curveball, and you won’t even know we did it.” Awards & Nominations Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical (2004) Best Pop Vocal Album, Justified By Justin Timberlake (2004) Best Rap Song, Money Maker By Ludacris (2007) Grammy Awards Nominations Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, Frontin’ By Pharrell (2004) Best Rap/Sung Collaboration, Beautiful By Snoop Dogg (2004) Best Rap Song, Beautiful By Snoop Dogg (2004) Best Rap Song, Excuse Me Miss By Jay-Z (2004) Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group, Drop It Like It’s Hot By Snoop Dogg (2005) Best Rap Song, Drop It Like It’s Hot By Snoop Dogg (2005) Producer Of The Year, Non-Classical (2006) Best Rap Album, In My Mind By Pharrell (2007) Billboard Wins Producer Of The Year (2003) Producer Of The Decade (2009) Billboard Nominations Songwriter Of The Year (2

002) Producer Of The Year (2002) Songwriter Of The Year (2003) Producer Of The Year (2004) Black Reel Award Nomination Best Song, Work It Out By Beyoncé (2003) Satellite Award Nomination Best Original Song, Work It Out By Beyoncé (2003) Charles Hugo aka Chad Hugo/Chase Chad Hugo was born in the South Hampton Roads city of Portsmouth, Virginia.

He grew up in Virginia Beach; his father is a retired Filipino-American Navy officer while his mother is Filipina. Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo met at the ages of 12 at a summer camp for musicians. The two began working together, mixing beats and playing in various live bands. In 1992, while the two were attending different high schools in Virginia Beach (Hugo at Kempsville High School), Williams was paid to write a verse to the 1992 single “Rump Shaker”, by Wreckx-n-Effect. After several years of occasional productions for artists often associated with founder Teddy Riley, such as BLACKstreet and SWV, they scored songwriting and production assignments with artists such as N.O.R.E. and Mystikal, which became hits, allowing them to produce with their own distinctive sound for megastars such as Jay-Z. Hugo has been described by The Source Magazine as the “Mr Spock” to Williams’ “Captain Kirk”, an analogy that does not sit well with Hugo, as he does not see himself as “stiff” like “Mr Spock”.

However, he does say Williams usually provides the beat (as the drummer of the duo) and most of the melodies to the Neptunes productions, whereas his role lies more in as a ‘one man band’ and sequencer. Born: 24th February, 1974 Occupation: Music Producer, Writer, Multi Instrumentalist Nationality: United States Spouse: Rachel Children: Rayna & Chase High School: Princess Anne High School, Virginia Beach, VA & Kempsville High School, Virginia Beach, VA (1992) Filmography: The Neptunes Present: Dude We’re Going To Rio! (2003) 90210: Women’s Intuition (2009) Pharrell Williams aka Skateboard P Pharrell was born on April 5, 1973 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the eldest of three sons to bless the union of Carolyn and Pharoah Williams, a schoolteacher and handyman, respectively. At the age of just 12, the aspiring musician started playing with Chad Hugo, a kid he met over summer vacation at band camp.

They formed a group called The Neptunes which was discovered while still in high school by the legendary Teddy Riley who signed the pair soon after graduation. Since then, Pharrell has embarked on an enviable career, both as a member of The Neptunes, Child Rebel Soldier and N*E*R*D and as a solo artist. Furthermore, the triple Grammy-winner’s singing, performing and/or producing services have been sought for recordings by everyone Beyonce’ to Jay-Z to Ludacris to Madonna to Mystikal to Lupe Fiasco to Snoop Dogg to Shakira to The Game to J-Lo to Britney Spears to Babyface to Usher to Busta Rhymes Gwen Stefani to Nelly to P. Diddy to N’ Sync to Fabolous. As busy as he’s been kept by the entertainment industry, Pharrell still found time to launch the Billionaire Boys Club, a luxury fashion line of clothes and accessories among other things such as composing music for movies and acting.

Born: 5th April, 1973 Pharrell Biography: Life and Career of the Rapper and Producer | WatchMojo.com Pharrell Biography: Life and Career of the Rapper and Producer in: biographies music biographies hosted by Rebecca Brayton Born April 5th, 1973 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, Pharrell Williams started playing in bands during high school. With The Neptunes, he produced successful tracks for many artists, most notably Britney Spears and Madonna. While continuing to produce, he formed a side project called N.E.R.D and released a few albums. Pharrell has also released solo material but has found the most success as a producer and featured performer. In this WatchMojo.com video, we take a look at the life and career of Pharrell.

Pharrell Williams - Hollywood Life Pharrell Williams Also Known As: Pharrell, Skateboard P, Sk8brd Bauer-Griffin Date of Birth: April 5, 1973 Height: 5'9" Hometown: Virginia Beach, Virginia, United States In a Relationship With: Best Quotes: “My style hero was' Batman.' Now it's Tony Stark.” “You treat the air as a canvas and the paint is the chords that come through your fingers, out of the keyboard.” “I can't say what I'm going to wear all the time. The minute that I say that, then there's something in me that tips off and then I need to break out of that.” Bio: Pharrell Williams (born Pharrell Williams in Virginia Beach, Virginia on April 5, 1973) is an American singer, songwriter, rapper, and producer. He started production duo The Neptunes with Chad Hugo in 1994. The Neptunes produced Britney Spears’ hit “I’m A Slave 4 U.” His group, N.E.R.D., for which he is the lead vocalist and drummer, released their first album in 2001.

The group’s albums include In Search Of …, Fly or Die, Seeing Sounds, and Nothing. Pharrell’s debut solo album In My Mind dropped in 2006. The Neptunes won a Grammy for Producer of the Year in 2004. In 2007, Pharrell’s song “Money Maker” featuring Ludacris won the Best Rap Song Grammy. Pharrell wrote a song about his son, Rocket Man Williams, which was featured in the film Despicable Me. Pharrell is featured on Daft Punk’s megahit song “Get Lucky.” Best Known For: Pharrell Williams is best known as a hip hop artist and member of N.E.R.D. Personal Life: Pharrell Williams got married to his designer/model wife Helen Lasichanh on Oct. 12, 2013. The pair dated for years, but were only publicly engaged for 3 months before getting married. The pair’s son, Rocket Man Williams, was born in November 2008.

Pharrell Williams | American musician and producer | Britannica.com American musician and producer Pharrell Williams, (born April 5, 1973, Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S.), American musician who was involved in a number of pop hits as part of the producing team Neptunes, as a songwriter, and as a solo performer. Pharrell Williams, 2014. Ricky Fitchett—ZUMA Press/Alamy Williams was a percussionist in his school band when he was a child, and he found a kindred spirit in saxophonist Chad Hugo. Williams and Hugo devoted themselves to music and beat production and in high school began calling themselves the Neptunes. A scout for music producer Teddy Riley, who had recently opened a recording studio near the high school that Williams attended, heard the Neptunes perform at a school talent show and brought them to Riley’s attention.

In 1992 Williams wrote a verse for hip-hop group Wreckx-n-Effect’s most-popular single, “ Rump Shaker, ” and the Neptunes produced the track “ Tonight’s the Night ” on the eponymous debut album (1994) of Riley’s vocal group Blackstreet. The Neptunes were soon in demand as hip-hop producers and writers, with a signature style that mixed influences from soul , rock , and other musical genres. Neptunes-produced hits include Noreaga’s “ Superthug ” (2003), and Snoop Dogg ’s “ Drop It like It’s Hot ” (2004). Williams, often assisted by Hugo, penned the lyrics for many of those songs as well. In 2004 Timberlake’s Neptunes-produced album Justified won the Grammy Award for best pop vocal album, and the Neptunes were named producer of the year (nonclassical). The Neptunes were also among the producers contributing to Mariah Carey ’s 2005 album The Emancipation of MiMi, which won a Grammy for best contemporary R&B album.

In 2001 Williams and Hugo joined with rap artist Shay to form the band N.E.R.D. The collaboration resulted in four eclectic albums of rhythm and blues, rap, pop, and rock music: In Search of… (2002), Fly or Die (2004), Seeing Sounds (2008), and Nothing (2010). Williams also struck out on his own with the 2003 single “ Frontin’ ” and the 2006 album In My Mind. He branched out into soundtrack composition as well, scoring the animated film Despicable Me (2010). Noted composer Hans Zimmer produced the score, and the two collaborated again on the music that was played at the 2012 Academy Awards ceremony. Britannica Stories In 2013 Williams cowrote and produced “ Blurred Lines, ” which was sung by Robin Thicke and featured T.I. and Williams. The song was a huge hit, but in 2015 a federal jury held that Thicke and Williams had committed copyright infringement, using parts of Marvin Gaye ’s “ Got to Give It Up.

” Williams also cowrote and was featured on “ Get Lucky ” (2013) by Daft Punk , which won Grammys for best pop duo/group performance and record of the year in 2014. At that year’s Grammy ceremony Williams was named producer of the year (nonclassical). He had further success with “ Happy, ” an effervescent and infectious song that he had written for the animated film Despicable Me 2 (2013). It received an Academy Award nomination for best original song, and Williams performed it at the Oscar ceremony in 2014. His second solo album, G I R L, was released the following day. Later in 2014 Williams again teamed with Zimmer, among others, on the soundtrack for the film The Amazing Spider-Man 2, and he became a coach on the popular TV show The Voice; he left the program in 2016. Williams’s other projects included the premium street-wear clothing lines Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream (with Japanese music producer Nigo). He also collaborated on a unisex fragrance with the perfume division of the fashion house Comme des Garƈons.

Pharrell Williams Bio | Pharrell Williams Career | MTV Pop A Grammy-winning producer, songwriter, and artist behind a staggering quantity of R&B, rap, and pop hits, Pharrell Williams not only helped change the face of pop beginning in the late '90s. He also was one of the faces of pop music -- as a charismatic star who often stole the show when producing and/or guesting on other artists' hit singles. His presence was unfading, whether he was the one billed at the top or the one behind a beat. To trace the beginning of his ascent, you have to go back to 1992, when Teddy Riley tapped him to write a verse for Wreckx-n-Effect's "Rump Shaker." Since the late '90s, Williams and longtime friend Chad Hugo -- known together as the Neptunes -- began scoring songwriting and production assignments that slowly but steadily infiltrated mainstream music, whether it was via dance-pop (Britney Spears' "I'm a Slave 4 U"), hardcore rap (Clipse's "Grindin'"), or contemporary R&B (Babyface's "There She Goes").

Williams and Hugo were relatively obscure during the mid-'90s, doing spare work for the likes of SWV, Total, and Mase, but they would eventually develop a style that would become as recognized and as mimicked as that of fellow Virginia Beach native Timbaland. (Prior to stardom, all three producers were in a band together called Surrounded by Idiots.) As the duo took on more work, Williams' voice became increasingly familiar. He was now more likely to provide the chorus and the background vocals of the same song, in addition to appearing in the video. (Check out Jay-Z's "Excuse Me Miss" and Snoop Dogg's "Beautiful" for two examples.) It wasn't until the summer of 2003 that he truly stepped out on his own. He released his first solo single, "Frontin'." Produced with Hugo and featuring a guest verse from Jay-Z, the song built anticipation for The Neptunes Present... Clones, a compilation of all-new tracks from artists produced by the duo. "Frontin'" was a ubiquitous summer hit and kept Williams' momentum running up to the release of Hugo and Williams' second funk/rock-oriented N.E.R.D.

album, released in March 2004. Williams' first solo album, In My Mind, survived a number of delays and was finally issued in July 2006. The set, produced by Williams alone, debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart. Although Williams didn't release another solo album for eight years, his name, as well as that of the Neptunes, continued to carry much weight. The remainder of the 2000s was filled with commercially successful collaborations with the likes of Clipse, Britney Spears, Jay-Z, Solange, and Madonna. There was a handful of Grammy nominations, as well as a surprising 2007 win for Ludacris' "Money Maker" in the Best Rap Song category. N.E.R.D., who released their third album, Seeing Sounds, in 2008, remained an an occasional diversion. The following decade began with a steady stream of activity. Williams was responsible for much of the music for the animated comedy Despicable Me. Along with outside production and songwriting work, Williams and Hugo put together Nothing, the fourth N.E.R.D. album.

During 2011 and 2012, Williams produced most of Gloria Estefan's Miss Little Havana, dozens of cuts for R&B, rap, and pop artists, and tracks for two of the most praised albums of the early 2010s: Kendrick Lamar's Good Kid, M.A.A.D. City and Frank Ocean's Channel Orange. (Williams won a Grammy for his role in the latter.) The roll continued through 2013. "Blurred Lines," a Hot 100 chart-topper from Robin Thicke, featured Williams as producer, co-songwriter, and featured artist. He co-wrote and fronted "Get Lucky" and "Lose Yourself to Dance," two songs from Daft Punk's number one Billboard 200 album Random Access Memories. The soundtrack for Despicable Me 2 contained several Williams songs, led by the worldwide smash hit "Happy," for which he conceived a 24-hour music video. When the nominees for the 2014 Grammy Awards were announced, Williams' name appeared in seven categories.

"Get Lucky" won Record of the Year, Random Access Memories won Album of the Year, and, most notably, Williams won the award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. Williams signed to Columbia, home of Daft Punk, and released his second album, G I R L, in March 2014. It reached number two on the pop charts, by which time "Happy" had achieved yet more success, becoming one of the top-selling digital singles of all time with sales of more than five million. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi The Evolution of The Neptunes - Noisey The Evolution of The Neptunes In the next in our hip hop retrospectives, we look at The Neptunes who spearheaded the most revolutionary change in the sound of pop since Motown. Illustration by Dan Evans Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams have transformed the careers of so many artists that it’s impossible to know what pop music would sound like today if they hadn’t been born. Without their production sorcery, there would have been no “Like I Love You” or “Hot In Herre” and the musical evolution of Jay Z and Britney would have been severely stunted.

They have turned just about every modern genre inside out, spearheading the most revolutionary change in the sound of pop since Motown. At one point they could command as much as $150,000 per song. Almost twenty years since their journey began, Pharrell and Chad are continuing to make some of the best music around, with the latter working on both Earl Sweatshirt and The Internet’s latest releases, and the former guesting on the two biggest songs of the year. With that in mind, here’s the latest in our retrospective series. The Embryo of The Neptunes (1991) Although not collaborative, the careers of both Pharrell Williams and Timbaland have been heavily intertwined. But long before both were behind the boards of iconic artists, they were cutting tracks together as part of a collective known as Surrounded By Idiots. Encompassing Pharrell Williams, Timbaland, Magoo, the teenage crew had long been a point of mythology of beatsmith fans until 2011, when three tracks from their session leaked on to the internet. Looking back on the sessions now is like delving into a time warp.

The above track samples one of the best tracks from the 80s – Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature”, made by some of the most influential producers of the 00s, in one of their first tracks from the 90s. The Birthing of The Neptunes (1992 - 1994) The Neptunes got their break when New Jack Swing producer Teddy Riley opened a recording studio adjacent to the school where Pharrell and Chad were studying. Riley, who had worked with Michael Jackson, spotted the duo at a high school talent show and picked up on that talent. Within that same year, Pharrell penned Riley’s verse on Wreckx-n-Effects’ “Rumpshaker”. This partnership with Teddy Riley continued, when the duo jumped on a remix of SWV’s “Right Here”. The track, which also samples Michael Jackson’s “Human Nature” peaked at number two on the Billboard chart and number three in the UK. If you listen close, you can hear the dulcet tones of a young Pharrell Williams chanting “S… The double… The U… The V”.

Seemingly working through Teddy Riley’s connections, The Neptunes earned production credits on Blackstreet’s debut album with the track “Tonight’s The Night”, which also featured SWV. The Foundations of The Neptunes (Late 90s) Although The Neptunes had assisted Teddy Riley with production, it wasn’t until the late 90s that they started to formulate their own sound. The fashionable melange of psychedelic pop, classic rock and new wave that The Neptunes have become known for first found its foothold in two tracks released at the latter end of the 90s. The first, Ma$e’s “Lookin’ At Me” , which featured Puff Daddy, peaked at number eight on the Billboard chart and the second, Noreaga’s “Super Thug”, featured backing vocals from Kelis. Both were distinct in their sound and along with their higher profile features, started to pave the foundations of The Neptunes, slowly starting to paste their position as credible hip-hop producers. In fact, Kanye West must have been listening, because he borrowed Ma$e’s first verse for last years “Cold” .

This tract continued in 1999 when The Neptunes produced both Clipse and Kelis’ debut albums. Although the debut record from Clipse ultimately failed to generate a commercial impact, resulting in the group being dropped from their label, both records were the beginning of two healthy working relationships. This year, Complex magazine awarded The Neptunes and Clipse’s “Grindin’” as the best Neptunes beat of all time. The track is a clinical definition of the quintessential Neptunes sound – sparse and subtle – and put Clipse on the map. Its beat, which would be tapped out on hallway lockers across the world, inspired a whole range of copycat tracks, like J-Kwon’s one time hit, “Tipsy” .

The Concreting of The Neptunes Legacy (2000+) By the dawn of the millennium, Pharrell and Chad had pretty much cemented their reputation within the hip-hop world, having produced tracks not just for Diddy, Ma$e, Kelis and Clipse, but also for Ol’ Dirty Bastard and a Q-Tip featuring remix of Prince’s " The Greatest Romance It’s Ever Been Sold” (which is so rare it isn't even on YouTube). However, it was their work in the 00s that concreted their legacy as not just hip-hop beatsmiths, but maestros of the modern day pop song. The turning point for this transition came when Jay Z, perhaps the biggest household rap name, enlisted Chad and Pharrell to twiddle some knobs on “I Just Wanna Love You”. Punctuated by Pharrell’s falsetto outcries of “I just wanna laaaaaaav ya!” and held up by The Neptunes alternately terse and heavy beats, the track scored Jigga his first number one on the hip hop/R&B Billboard chart.

The track caught the attention of Britney Spears, who, keen to break from the constraints of her bubblegum pop past, saw the appeal of The Neptunes crossover aesthetic and wanted the group to produce her next single. Speaking to Time magazine, Pharrell explained that “taking somebody from A to B is cool, but when we produce we want to take people from A to D, to challenge their artistic natures, their image, everything.” This happened with Britney Spears. The release of “I’m A Slave 4U” transformed Britney from pop princess into a lock-up-your-sons adult artist. It also showcased The Neptunes unique milkshake of irresistible flavours from the past and future to a much larger audience, helping them to garner production work with Usher, No Doubt, Mary J Blige, Busta Rhymes, Garbage, more songs with both Jay and Britney in the following year, and lesser known gems like Janet Jackson & Beenie Man’s “Feel It Boy” , LL Cool J’s “Luv U Better” and pre-“Losing You” Solange track “Crush” .

Over the next few years the group produced commercial and creative bangers in the form of Nelly’s “Hot In Herre”, Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot” , Kelis’ “Milkshake” and Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl”, three of which reached the number one spot on the Billboard chart. In fact, “Drop It Like It’s Hot”, a track that pared The Neptunes already minimal sound down to only its most necessary elements – mouth clicks and light drums – marked a new beginning for Snoop. The track, which featured a synth lifted from Danish electro group Laid Back’s 1983 single “White Horse” manipulated to sound like it’s saying Snoop’s name, awarded the rapper with his first number one on the Billboard Chart after twelve years in the game. The above four songs had a quality that implanted their hook into your brain. Try buying a milkshake with friends and not having someone dip into Kelis’ “Milkshake”. But it was the The Neptunes assistance in helping Justin Timberlake vault over the canyon into adulthood, with Justified, that took the scaffolding down and declared The Neptunes hit-making factory built.

Reportedly using offcuts from Michael Jackson’s 2001 stalled-comeback album Invincible, the record showcased The Neptunes dexterity at being able to meld their unique strand of production work to worldwide pop artists and coke-selling Pusha T’s alike. Justified earned The Neptunes a Grammy award for Best Pop Vocal Album. Alongside, they also won a Grammy for Producer Of The Year, assumedly for producing pretty much everything good that came out in 2004. In 2002, they were also named producer of the year at both The Source and Billboard Music Awards. The Neptunes Own Work (2001-Present?) Alongside creating tracks that have made other people famous, The Neptunes have released their own music under N*E*R*D. The trio, which comprises both Chad and Pharrell, and Shay Hayley, released their debut In Search Of in 2001. The original release, which tells the story of Shay meeting two high school groupies in a locker room ( “Things Are Getting Better” ), calling in an escort ( “Stay Together” ) and filming a porno ( “Tape You” ) is sought after.

This is because the group re-recorded the record, sans skits, with Spymob. Speaking on the group in VIBE , Pharrell stated: “The Neptunes are what we do, me and Chad producing, being the Technicolor to people’s ideas and thoughts. N*E*R*D is who we are, our lives and experiences. We just want to be more creative and pull some shit out from the left and create a whole new era”, hence the reason to move away from The Neptunes sounding original and re-record with a rock infused edge. The introduction of a live band built upon The Neptunes production technique, in which Chad usually works on the melodic core, and Pharrell takes over vocal duties. In Search Of remains a cult classic, winning the Shortlist Prize for Artistic Achievement in Music upon its release, and the group have since released three more records. Alongside this, in 2006, three years after releasing one time single “Frontin’” , Pharrell Williams released his solo record, In My Mind.

This built upon the almost nihilistic rhythm that Pharrell crafted for “Drop It Like It’s Hot”, with first single “Can I Have It Like That” forging a soundscape of hard-hitting, but hollow, pulsing minimalism. Pharrell and his then band, The Yessirs, released a remixed version of the record titled Out Of My Mind, which featured interpolated instrumentals by Questlove and James Poyser of The Roots. The Modern Day (2010+) The Neptunes took a dip in the late 00s. Alongside the usual culprits – Nelly, Snoop, Clipse and Jigga – The Neptunes produced Madonna’s eleventh studio album Hard Candy, Pharrell lent hands to records by both Fall Out Boy and The Hives , and Chad produced Ashlee Simpson’s album. Yet, there was something off. The introduction of auto-tune, and with it, the popularity of artists like Drake, Wayne and - in mainstream terms at least -Jason Derulo, seemed to lay rest to The Neptunes legacy as permanent residents in the upper echelons of daytime radio. Regardless, the pair continued.

Chad co-wrote “I Care” , from Beyonce’s 4, and as a pair, they produced Pusha T and Tyler, The Creator’s 2011 collaboration “Trouble on My Mind”, and records by The Throne (“Gotta Have It”), The Cool Kids and Pac Div. Their output was still derivatively Neptunes, but they weren’t topping the charts like in the past. This all changed in the past two years. While Chad started a DJ team called Missile Command , and signed a contract with Fools Gold, Pharrell had seemingly drilled a borehole into an untapped creative well. In the past year, he’s dominated music. He’s appeared on the two biggest songs of the summer – “Get Lucky” and “Blurred Lines” – has five songs on Miley Cyrus Bangerz and three on Nelly’s new one. Alongside, he’s still firmly rooted in hip-hop, having produced Tyler, The Creator’s “IFHY”, Frank Ocean’s “Sweet Life”, and tracks on both Mac Miller and JAY Z’s latest albums. He’s also got a joint EP with Mac Miller, Pink Slime , which is partially completed.

That’s not to say that Chad hasn’t been busy. While the monolith of Pharrell is reclaiming his throne, Chad has been quietly tinkering with some leftfield greats. In the past year, he’s produced “Dontcha”, the lead single from The Internet’s sophomore release, and alongside Christian Rich, crafted Earl Sweatshirt’s comeback track, “Chum”. The Neptunes still work together, too. The duo produced Earl Sweatshirt’s “Burgundy”, while Kendrick Lamar’s ‘good kid’ is widely regarded as an offcut from N*E*R*D’s fourth studio album Nothing, having featured vocals from both Chad and Pharrell, and production work from the latter. Hopefully there's still plenty more to come from The Neptunes. Listen to a soundcloud playlist of highlights from The Neptunes discography Follow Ryan on Twitter @RyanBassil Read more like this: Pharrell Williams — Listen for free on Spotify Pharrell Williams Play on Spotify A Grammy-winning producer, songwriter, and artist behind a staggering quantity of R&B, rap, and pop hits, Pharrell Williams not only helped change the face of pop beginning in the late '90s.

He also was one of the faces of pop music -- as a charismatic star who often stole the show when producing and/or guesting on other artists' hit singles. His presence was unfading, whether he was the one billed at the top or the one behind a beat. To trace the beginning of his ascent, you have to go back to 1992, when Teddy Riley tapped him to write a verse for Wreckx-n-Effect 's "Rump Shaker." Since the late '90s, Williams and longtime friend Chad Hugo -- known together as the Neptunes -- began scoring songwriting and production assignments that slowly but steadily infiltrated mainstream music, whether it was via dance-pop ( Britney Spears ' "I'm a Slave 4 U"), hardcore rap ( Clipse 's "Grindin'"), or contemporary R&B ( Babyface 's "There She Goes"). Williams and Hugo were relatively obscure during the mid-'90s, doing spare work for the likes of SWV , Total , and Mase , but they would eventually develop a style that would become as recognized and as mimicked as that of fellow Virginia Beach native Timbaland .

(Prior to stardom, all three producers were in a band together called Surrounded by Idiots.) As the duo took on more work, Williams' voice became increasingly familiar. He was now more likely to provide the chorus and the background vocals of the same song, in addition to appearing in the video. (Check out Jay-Z 's "Excuse Me Miss" and Snoop Dogg 's "Beautiful" for two examples.) It wasn't until the summer of 2003 that he truly stepped out on his own. He released his first solo single, "Frontin'." Produced with Hugo and featuring a guest verse from Jay-Z , the song built anticipation for The Neptunes Present... Clones, a compilation of all-new tracks from artists produced by the duo. "Frontin'" was a ubiquitous summer hit and kept Williams' momentum running up to the release of Hugo and Williams' second funk/rock-oriented N.E.R.D. album, released in March 2004. Williams' first solo album, In My Mind, survived a number of delays and was finally issued in July 2006. The set, produced by Williams alone, debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 chart.

Although Williams didn't release another solo album for eight years, his name, as well as that of the Neptunes , continued to carry much weight. The remainder of the 2000s was filled with commercially successful collaborations with the likes of Clipse , Britney Spears , Jay-Z , Solange , and Madonna . There was a handful of Grammy nominations, as well as a surprising 2007 win for Ludacris ' "Money Maker" in the Best Rap Song category. N.E.R.D. , who released their third album, Seeing Sounds, in 2008, remained an an occasional diversion. The following decade began with a steady stream of activity. Williams was responsible for much of the music for the animated comedy Despicable Me. Along with outside production and songwriting work, Williams and Hugo put together Nothing, the fourth N.E.R.D. album. During 2011 and 2012, Williams produced most of Gloria Estefan 's Miss Little Havana, dozens of cuts for R&B, rap, and pop artists, and tracks for two of the most praised albums of the early 2010s: Kendrick Lamar 's Good Kid, M.A.A.D.

City and Frank Ocean 's Channel Orange. (Williams won a Grammy for his role in the latter.) The roll continued through 2013. "Blurred Lines," a Hot 100 chart-topper from Robin Thicke , featured Williams as producer, co-songwriter, and featured artist. He co-wrote and fronted "Get Lucky" and "Lose Yourself to Dance," two songs from Daft Punk 's number one Billboard 200 album Random Access Memories. The soundtrack for Despicable Me 2 contained several Williams songs, led by the worldwide smash hit "Happy," for which he conceived a 24-hour music video. When the nominees for the 2014 Grammy Awards were announced, Williams' name appeared in seven categories. "Get Lucky" won Record of the Year, Random Access Memories won Album of the Year, and, most notably, Williams won the award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical. Williams signed to Columbia , home of Daft Punk , and released his second album, G I R L, in March 2014.

It reached number two on the pop charts, by which time "Happy" had achieved yet more success, becoming one of the top-selling digital singles of all time with sales of more than five million. ~ Andy Kellman, Rovi Read More Show less Pharrell Williams' Quiet Comeback Year, And Why We Need Him Now More Than Ever - Popdust Pharrell Williams' Quiet Comeback Year, And Why We Need Him Now More Than Ever Like PopDust on Facebook By Popdust Searching around the production credits for some of this year's biggest and best pop albums, you might find a familiar, but somewhat distant, common name: Pharrell Williams. Yes, the one-time superstar producer with The Neptunes (and for a brief moment, solo star as a lead artist in his own right) is just about everywhere in 2012, on big-ticket releases like Usher's Looking 4 Myself, Rick Ross' God Forgives, I Don't, Frank Ocean's Channel Orange, Tyga's Careless World, even Adam Lambert's Trespassing.

His productions in '12 have been uniformly excellent, and make you wonder a little bit why he fell off in popularity the way he did over the last half-decade—and if he can get back there again. You don't need to be all that old to remember a time when Pharrell Williams, as one-half of the superstar production duo The Neptunes, basically helped shape the sound of popular music. For most of the first half of the '00s, The Neptunes, and Pharrell especially, were on a level of pop saturation that no hip-hop producer had previously reached since at least Dr. Dre. There was a time when it seemed like you couldn't go three songs on the radio without hearing one of their funky, skeletal-but-maximalist beats in the background, or three videos on MTV without seeing Pharrell's smiling face peeking out from the background.

As the Max Martin, TRL-led era of boy band and teen female pop started to taper in popularity, and hip-hop was taking over as the dominant form of popular music, The Neptunes were at the forefront, with singles for artists like Mystikal ("Shake Ya Ass"), Jay-Z ("I Just Wanna Luv U") and Usher ("U Don't Have to Call") going massive, soundtracking summers and countless block parties and Hype Williams videos and the like. Before long, even Britney ("I'm a Slave 4 U") and Justin ("Like I Love You," "Rock Your Body") were calling on The Neptunes' assistance, as their red-hot beats helped Brit shed her good-girl image, and put as much distance between JT and his early days in N' Sync as he would ever need. It all peaked with Nelly's "Hot in Herre," still the Summer Jam to end all Summer Jams, one that even turned the heat of the season into a competitive advantage over anything else on the radio by turning it into a cause for disrobing in the club—always a welcome suggestion in pop music.

The song's "Bustin' Loose"-aping beat set a new standard for funkiness in 21st-century hip-hop, and made the types of chart-topping beats from the year before, from the likes of 7 Aurelius, Jermaine Dupri, and Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, sound hopelessly tame and outdated in comparison. "Hot in Herre" spent seven weeks at #1 in the summer of 2002, and established the Neptunes as the most important producers in popular music. Meanwhile, Pharrell was achieving a celebrity on his own that was relatively unheard of for a non-performing producer.

Good-looking in an nonthreatening, unassuming way, and shirtless nearly as often as Nelly, Pharrell had the look of a star in his own right, and like Puff Daddy and Timbaland had set the standard for doing in the late '90s, he began appearing in the videos for songs he produced, even singing on the hooks, as the sound of his falsetto'd croon—"I'M A HUSTLER, BAAABY!!," "I THOUGHT I TOLD Y'ALL DUDES BEFORE, Y'ALL DUDES CAN'T MESS WITH ME!," "BEAUUUUTIFULLLL...I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW...THAT YOU'RE MY FAVORITE GIRL!!!"—soon became just as omnipresent as the duo's clanging, shuffling beats. It was inevitable that Pharrell would go become a lead performer himself, and eventually he did—first as part of the band N.E.R.D.

with co-Neptune Chad Hugo, and then just straight up as a solo artist, scoring a huge hit as the artist on the left side of the "f/" symbol for the first time in his career in 2003 with "Frontin'." As The Neptunes' Do-No-Wrong period extended into the middle of the '00s, with production on chart-toppers like Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl" and Snoop Dogg's "Drop it Like It's Hot," Pharrell even decided to give rapping a try—first as a guest artist on the Snoop song, then on his own album In My Mind, under alias Skateboard P. The latter was his first real misstep since becoming a star, as In My Mind received middling reviews and failed to spawn a hit. The album was arguably the beginning of the end for Pharrell as both a celebrity and critical figure in popular music—the same year, The Neptunes would score their fourth #1 single with Ludacris' "Money Maker," but it was to be their last.

In fact, in the six years since, the Neptunes would not score a single other top 40 hit, and the duo were replaced as the hip-hop producers of the moment, first by Lil' Jon at the height of crunk's crossover popularity, and then by Timbaland and Danja as they had mega-success reinventing the careers of Nelly Furtado and (again) Justin Timberlake. Over this time, Pharrell faded out of popular consciousness. He stayed working, composing the score for animated 3-D flick Despicable Me and even collaborating with Hans Zimmer on the music for this year's Oscars, and released a couple more albums with N.E.R.D., none of which had much commercial impact. He also stayed producing, sometimes with Chad Hugo and sometimes solo—Hugo's level of involvement in the Neptunes always being something of a mystery to casual observers. More and more, though, the Neptunes-produced cuts were relegated to album tracks by the major artists they worked with, with the only singles they produced being released by old friends like Pusha T and Noreaga, artists who owed nearly all of their crossover success to the Neptunes' once-magic touch.

Little has changed about Pharrell's status in the year 2012, unfortunately—despite having his productions appearing on so many of the year's biggest releases (Rick Ross' God Forgives, I Don't will mark the third #1 album to boast a Pharrell production this year when it officially debuts on top of the charts this week), the only song of his to be released or promoted as a single in 2012 is Frank Ocean's "Sweet Life," whose greatest chart success to date has come in South Korea, where it has peaked at #124. We're still a very long away from the commercial heights Pharrell reached at the peak of the Neptunes' powers. Still, if nothing else, this year has proved that Pharrell not only still has an incredible ear for rhythm and melody, but that he's expanded his musical repertoire significantly since we last heard from him.

He's still more than capable of the funky clang-and-shuffle of classic Neptunes, as evidenced by Ross' "Presidential," Tyga's "Lil Homie" or Curren$y's "Chasing Paper," but now he can also do some impressive glam-disco, on display with Adam Lambert's 'Trespassing" and "Kickin' In" and the Scissor Sisters' "Inevitable," and Stevie Wonder-esque '70s soul on Ocean's "Sweet Life"—not to mention that in UK heartthrob Conor Maynard ("Lift Off," "Glass Girl") he might've find his best pop conduit since Justin Timberlake. For the first time in a while with Pharrell, the possibilities really seem limitless. Now it's just on us to start paying attention again. And the thing is—we could really, really use Pharrell in pop right now. Looking back on all those great hip-hop crossover smashes he was largely responsible for ten or so years ago, it's hard not to wonder where those songs are these days.

Looking at the Top 40 now, the biggest rap hits are songs like "Starships" and "Wild Ones," jams that stem more from the EDM world than the hip-hop one, with only four hits—Kanye and Company's "Mercy," 2 Chainz and Drake's "Mercy," Wiz Khalifa's "Work Hard Play Hard" and Ca$h Out's "Cashin' Out"—actually boasting hip-hop-based production, and none of them likely to make the top ten. We haven't even had a pure hip-hop #1—not counting rapping dance-pop acts like LMFAO and Pitbull—since Wiz Khalifa's "Black and Yellow" in February of 2011. While this trend is attributable to a number of factors—the rise in popularity of EDM and pop super-producers like Dr. Luke and RedOne, the failure of recent breakout rappers like Big Sean and J. Cole to really make a connection with pop audiences, the fact that Lil Wayne is too damn lazy and Drake is too damn emo to concentrate on making true summer jams, etc.—a key component is the lack of a go-to producer for sure-thing hits in hip-hop at the moment.

Hit-Boy has done great work for a number of major artists, but has still only scored one major crossover hit with "Niggas in Paris," Noah "40" Shehib helped make a star out of Drake but is generally too muted and meditative for true pop maximalism, and while Diplo might have a shot after "Climax" and "Look at Me Now" he seems to pick his projects too sparingly to reach that level of saturation. No, the man for the job might be the same guy who never really vacated the position in the first place. Pharrell clearly hasn't lost his touch for making pop-friendly hip-hop smashes that still manage to stay faithful to his base genre, and he could be the perfect figure to usher back in the days when songs like "Hot in Herre" and "Beautiful" represented the sound of pop music, the same way "I Want it that Way" and "Baby One More Time" did at the end of the '90s and "Call Me Maybe" and "Good Feeling" do now.

Even if not, the fine work Pharrell has been doing this year, whether in hip-hop, soul, dance or pop, deserves far more attention than its been getting. Take a listen to our playlist below if you don't believe us: Like PopDust on Facebook

Question: What Neptunes producer and N*E*R*D member became a popular solo artist?
Answer: Pharrell Williams