The Neptunes #1 fan site, all about Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo

“…I started recording when I was 13, I was just doing demos because I was too young to know what kind of sound I wanted. I did a lot of demos. Years later, I went out to New York and met an A&R guy who really liked one of my demos. It just so happened that he knew Pharrell Williams. He played Pharrell the demo and he loved it. The thing that really got me though was, Pharrell listened to my demo while working with Justin Timberlake who is one of my favorite artists ever. In high school I always told people, one day I am going to sing a song with him and it happened. After hearing my demo, Justin told Pharrell he wanted to have me on one of his songs. Not long after that I got signed to Arista as a joint venture with Star Trak which is Pharrell and Chad Hugo, The Neptunes’ label…”

“…Then I underwent my album, I did backup vocals with Bow Wow, Brian McKnight, Kanye West, Nelly, Omarion, Robin Thicke, Usher and of course Justin. I sang on “Rock Your Body” and “I’m Lovin’ It” (the McDonald’s campaign). I was with Star Trak for about four years. In my last year, Pharrell had this big idea to start a Latin Girl Group singing R&B and crossing over in Spanish Language. I thought it was a great idea but it just didn’t work out. When my contract was up, I had the option of staying on with Star Trak but I chose to leave. And now I am here. I get to do whatever I want. I’ve got some songs lining up here and I’m doing me. I’m writing everything, producing myself as well…”

“…Getting signed by two great and well known producers like The Neptunes that I think are amazing felt really good. I can still call them up, I can say I need a beat. But right now, I don’t think I am at that stage where I need that. Right now, I am just still trying to find out who I am as an artist on my own. Chad and I still talk a lot. Chad’s my homie! I want to work with a label who gets my vision, who sees my talent and sees what I can bring to the world with my music. That’s the ideal place for me, someone who sees what I am looking to do and gives me that release date for my album. I have been signed so I know how it works. I was signed and they thought they knew what they wanted to do with me but years went by and it didn’t happen. Music changes quickly so does the business…”

*Full Interview

Child Rebel Soldiers – Us Placers (Video) By Vashtie

Please Note this is not a Official Video

Pharrell is in the XXL Magazine for #2 most hated collabo for Twista’s “Give It Up”

Robin Thicke Show’s Up on 2007’s top songs listed by Billboard.
Top R&B/Hiphop Song “Billboard 200 & Hot 100
1. Beyonce 11 charted titles
2. Robin Thicke 3 charted titles
3. Jay Z 12 charted titles

Eve’s rwdmag.com Interview !

“…I honestly feel like this is the best album I have ever done. I got the chance to take a long break away from doing music and coming back into it excites me. If my album was a man, I’d marry it. It’s perfect (laughs). I have Sean Paul and Sizzla on the album to mix in a little bit of reggae because I’ve been influenced by reggae since I was 11. Producer-wise I have Timbaland, Scott Storch and Swizz Beatz, who’s my brother. The album also features T. I., Robin Thicke and Mary J. Blige…”

Talking About Robin Thicke !

“…I’ve actually known Robin for a long time. The track that he’s on is called Fantasy. It’s a very sexy track. The guy that did the track, Rich Skillz, is one of Robin’s best friends. When we went in the studio, I told him I needed a male singer on the record. He suggested Robin and I was like, ‘Hell yeah.’ It’s a very grown-up record…”
*rwdmag.com

-> Eve – Fantasy feat. Robin Thicke (Live @ MTV) (Video)

Talking About “Dat Missle” !

“…There were songs that people were still asking about, so I kept a few from the old album. Some of them we couldn’t get rid of. Like “No Time 4 No’s“, was on the first album. I run into a lot of people on the streets like yo whatever happened to “Ambulance?” There were certain records like that that I just couldn’t get rid of. And if I felt like that about them then I kept them for this album to really make it complete. For production I got The Neptunes of course. DJ Toomp. We got Shorty Red. One of the features I’m most excited about is the one with Jadakiss, “Mr. Treat Your Nose.” I got B.G. on a song and David Banner on a song called “Ten Toes Down” and Three Six Mafia…”

Talking About Meeting Pharrell & Star Trak Camp !

“…Pharrell’s brother and I used to stay in the same neighborhood. So it wasn’t like someone introduced me to him. Pharrell used to come out there to see his family, me and him used to hang out. He was talking about music back then. He was the only one who really talked about music. Like I said if you told people you want to rap they’d be like ‘Are you crazy man?’ You can spend the money on the keyboard; I’m going to get the Jordans. But now trying to rap makes a lot more sense…”

Talking About “Da Beeper Record” !

“…I was flying to L.A. to record with Three Six Mafia and my album was done. That was the last record we recorded. And nobody heard the finished version but me. Pharrell hadn’t heard it. So Pharrell’s assistant played it in the studio while I was gone and everybody went crazy. And you gotta go with what the bosses want. But I like the record I didn’t think of it as the first single but I like the record. Hype Williams did it. It came out great. The first one we shot in Virginia and it didn’t really come out right. It just didn’t feel right. It’s wild how things work out because we worked with Hype on the second joint in Miami. Three full days of shooting and the last day Hype was like let’s get some shots in Virginia so we came back home and got the last ones. So I got Hype Williams to do the video and we got to film back home in Virginia…”
*allhiphop.com

*sixshot.com

Pharrell Williams & Pharrell Rohff In The Studio (2003) !

-> Pharrell Rohff – Where’s Yours At feat. Pharrell (03′) (MP3)

The Hives have announced details of their next single We Rule The World (T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S) (Produced By Pharrell) which comes out February 25 2008. The track will come backed by remixes by Matt Helder from Arctic Monkeys and Nick Zinner of Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Swedish rockers The Hives are also inviting fans to get involved and have a go at designing the single’s artwork. Entries must be submitted by 21st January. Keep it (mostly) Black and White. Submissions Should Work To A Square Format, Be Delivered At 300DPI, To thehivescoverart@googlemail.com

-> The Hives – We Rule The World (T.H.E.H.I.V.E.S.) (MP3)

Here is some Info about the new Star Trak Artist Teyana Taylor

Teyana Taylor (17), was born and raised in Harlem NYC. At the age 4, was the 1st time she picked up a microphone in front of a crowd and performed. Due to the crowd’s reaction she realized she wanted to be a singer/entertainer. Soon Teyana was enrolled in many different talent competitions such as the world famous Apollo Theater, National All-Stars Talent Search. This musical seed was planted by strong influences such as Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson, and Lauryn Hill. As years go pass Teyana has learned to cultivate her talents to form her own original style. Her focus is to be the next young lady since Lauryn Hill to shift the game in a whole new direction for others to follow.

With The Movement that she has created with her Skater Crew “Team Nerd”, they have broadened the horizons of young teens in Harlem USA. They made it cool to skateboard in the ‘hood’, to be an outcast, to be different, and to be confident in being yourself. Within this past summer Teyana has innovated the “Chicken Noodle Soup” dance, assisted with the choreography for Beyonce’s Ring The Alarm Video and VMA 2006 performance, appeared on BET’s Black Carpet. She then performed for Pharell Williams, Doug Morris (president of Universal Music Group), and Jimmy Iovine (Interscope) where she landed a recording deal with Star Trak/Interscope.
*myspace.com/teyanataylorfansite
*myspace.com/rockstarteyana

-> Teyana Taylor – Google Me (JazzePha) (MP3)

-> Teyana Taylor – Traffic Stop (MP3)

Old Timbaland/Neptunes Interview From 2004 !

“…In the early 90’s, Williams and Hugo started a hip-hop group with Magoo & DJ Timmy Tim, later known as Timbaland, but they disbanded before recording anything. Tim was sick back then, He was doing Anita Baker and Michael Jackson loops…”

“…The Neptunes were a band then, have you seen that movie ‘School of Rock’? That was us, except we played jazz standards like Herbie Hancock’s ‘Watermelon Man. Chad was the DJ, the keyboard player and the saxophone player all at once. It was like R&B meets Techno/New Wave/Hip-Hop. It sounds the way they sound now. Pharrell went in Studio with Riley and freestyled for him for like an hour, and then he wrote Teddy’s verse on ‘Rump Shaker…”

“…They tried their hand at making ”Spacey, Psychedelic R&B” but soon gravitated to Hip-Hop, where there was more popular interest. We were trying to blend Hip-Hop with Rock, but we didn’t know how to play guitars, so we made that sound on the keyboard, I want my live records to sound like they’re programmed and my programmed records to sound like they’re live…”

“…The Neptunes & Timbaland are not the answer to everything at all. Some people treat us like that, and that’s wrong. They’re just going off of the charts, not the music. We’re not Michael Jordan, and we don’t think we are. We still look at ourselves as rookies trying to get drafted. I love everything Pharrell does. Timbaland’s Philosophy. “…My thing is Who sold the most records? That’s my friendly competition…” “No way” Says Pharrell “That’s cancerous to my spirit. Knowing how many times a song got played on the radio? No. I’d much rather be in the studio, listening to a Burt Bacharach record, listening to chord progressions, studying them and teaching myself to go somewhere else…”

“…I want to pull energy from other worlds into my music. Life, love, science, religion, history, that’s what I want to pull into my music. I don’t know how Tim thinks about sales and then goes and makes a beat. That ain’t my world. Tim’s a genius, though. Pharrell and Tim were talking about these people in the Top 10. Pharrell would say, ‘No, that record is whack,’ and Tim would say: ‘Yeah, but it’s selling. They did it…”
-> Full Interview !

Clipse has entered the fashion industry with the recent launch of their own clothing brand, Play Cloths, after years of promoting apparel from other popular designers. Pusha T. and Malice have teamed up with designer Doug Life to develop a signature line of denim jeans, jackets, hoodies, and other street-themed wear. “…It’s based around the idea of when clothes were collectables which fuses urban and rock-influenced styles. It represents youth and influence…”

Clipse, who have become the unofficial poster-boys for the Japanese-based clothing brand A Bathing Ape (BAPE), will be joining Pharrell in the fashion world. Play Cloths will be featured at the annual MAGIC Trade Show Expo in February, hosted in Las Vegas. Clipse are also working on their third studio album, expected to drop in the summer.
*myspace.com/officialplaycloths

-> Eve – Fantasy feat. Robin Thicke (Live @ MTV) (MP3) (Thx To Molly)

-> Pleasure P. – Party All Night feat. Slim Thug & B. Mac (MP3)

Solange Knowles & Amerie Are Working With Neptunes !

Solange Knowles, Beyonce’s younger sister, recently signed to Geffen Records and plans to release her sophomore album, “Hadley Street Dreams,” in the second quarter of 2008. Knowles is currently in the studio in Los Angeles, recording the follow-up to 2003’s “Solo Star,” via Columbia.
“…It’s a touch of retro with beautiful R&B songs and influences of early Natalie Cole and Carole King, I’m crazy about the Pharrell Williams’ record that we recently finished, called ‘I Decided.’ We’re finishing the album now…”

Although Amerie’s “Because I Love” It was released months ago overseas, she is going to release “Crush” as a single and is also going back into the studio with The Neptunes to create some new music for the US released of the album.
*concreteloop.com
*billboard.com

Robin Thicke Article !

“…Championing blue-eyed R&B/soul alongside Timberlake were two new ambassadors: Amy Winehouse and Robin Thicke. Thicke by far leaves the deepest impression among R&B/hip-hop fans, netting nods as Top R&B/Hip-Hop Artists-Male, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Airplay for “Lost Without You.” Thicke also left his soulful imprint on adult R&B listeners, topping the Hot Adult R&B Artists rankings and Hot Adult R&B Songs…”
*reuters.com

Natasha Ramos Talking About New Album !

The Hives Talking About Working With Pharrell !

“…I couldn’t imagine it being easier than it was. When they record it, he just plays on his synthesizer and comes up with something, then you just play the same octave. You have it in your headphones and you can pretty much play the same stuff…figure out if it’s doable. He has the keyboard so he has more keys you can go down. It was interesting. Pharrell did totally different stuff. It’s more like the beat, or the idea what the beat was, that he was doing something bass-oriented for the swing of the song.

What happened, he had one song idea done already when we came in.
And then we recorded that. And then, he’s a jazz musician, he used totally different chords and notes than I would have played. It turned out great, and really quick. He just did the song on the keyboard and just played it once and recorded it like, “Oh, this is how we should go.” Then you just had a couple of minutes to check it out for yourself. How did you play that? I have to think of something else, then we just re-do it…”
*httsynthesis.net

According To Matty from the Forum, who bought a copy of Bow Wow’s & Omarions CD in Australia, the record “Baby Girl” isn’t produced by The Neptunes (THANK GOD), it’s by L.T Hutton !

There is a new Lookbook of BBC Season 6 out.

*BBC Season 6 Lookbook

Mary J. Blige’s “Till The Morning” Review !

“…The Neptunes-produced “Till The Morning,” for example, sounds like a parody of ’70s soul-style bedroom anthems, its pillow talk a touch too heavy on the saccharine…”
*buffalonews.com

Mario – Go Review !
“…Opening up both albums is the title track, “Go” which was a terrible choice to be honest. The beat is very redundant and since provided by The Neptunes, it has a very typical feel of what they usually put out. The song itself features some profanity and it feels out of place and forced, ultimately coming off as an uninspired and poor song. Added to this is the fact that the song is about wanting to f*** a girl without strings attached and we’re off to a great start…”
*411mania.com

Mary is preparing to release her eighth studio CD, “Growing Pains” Geffen Records has announced. The album, which includes Blige’s Top 10 single “Just Fine” is set to drop Dec. 18. “Growing Pains” also features guest appearances by Ludacris and Usher, and production by The Neptunes, Johnta Austin, Ne-Yo, Stargate, Bryan-Michael Cox, Dre and Vidal, Tricky, The Dream and Sean Garrett.

“…My fans are going to get a sense of what my state of mind is and how I view the world, And, hopefully, most of all, they are going to hear just the sincere honesty and love that I have for them. ‘Growing Pains’ represents accepting that there’s pain that goes along with growing and change. No pain, no gain…”

-> Mary J. Blige – Till The Morning (Neptunes) (MP3)

Lupe Fiasco Plans To Quit After 3rd Album !

The rapper says two more albums “his forthcoming The Cool and his last one, L.U.P.End” and he’s done recording music. There might be a couple more projects after his “so-called final album.” According to the rapper, there may be “a couple concept records” and, “god-willing,” an album from the highly anticipated supergroup, Child Rebel Soldiers, a collaborative effort between Lupe, Kanye West and Pharrell Williams. But with CRS, it all comes down to scheduling, he admitted.

“…Everyone’s focused on something else at the moment. We’re trying to find two or three weeks to sit down and hammer it out. We’re all kindred spirits, let’s get together and unify that and see what happens…”
* ballerstatus.com

Pharrell’s Louis Vuitton Jewelry !

Pharrell has been working on his jewelry line with Louis Vuitton for almost 2 years now and it is finally going to be released this January.  There will be a launch event in Paris next month and Pharrell has started to work on the promotion according to bbcicecream.com
* bbcicecream.com

The BBC/IceCream Articles !

Next to the new Manhattan outlet of Billionaire Boys Club and Ice Cream is an antique store that is going out of business. “Lost our Lease!” and “Everything 60% Off!” is written in giant letters in almost every window “…I don’t want to grow too big, I’m a student in the game, and Nigo has shown me a lot, and I’ve learned a lot from Marc Jacobs. The two things that sort of ties those two characters together is that it’s quality first – quality over quantity…”
* nytimes.com
* nypost.com
* eurweb.com

Madonna’s Album Listening Party !

Madonna dictated what tracks would be played and specifically said they were not being played in any order. She said she had just finished mixing the album a few days ago. She played “Candyshop” then “4 Minutes To Save The World” first. She then had a vote on which one would be the first single. She said many times throughout the session that the first single has yet ot be decided. She is all about “Candy Shop” and looked upset and surprised there was a better reaction to “4 Minutes To Save The World”.

“4 Minutes To Save The World” is like a dancey “Hey You”. It goes something like “Hey girl, save the world…”. “The Beat Goes On” sounds NOTHING like the demo we heard. As we told you, it features Kanyes West. Madonna said it’s not a single. Madonna made the song out to seem like a joke. Finally, Madonna said there are thirteen tracks, but she only played 10 songs.

Madonna Denies Album Title “Licorice”

Madonna’s publicist has denied reports relating to her new album title and release date. Internet reports yesterday said that according to Sirius Satellite Radio, the singer’s eleventh album will be called ‘Licorice’ and that it will be released in April. But in an email to Reuters today, Madonna’s publicist Liz Rosenberg said “…Sirius does not know what they are talking about, Wrong title. Release date wrong etc…”
* nme.com
* drownedmadonna.com

There is a Video Response by Pusha T. to Lil’ Wayne’s Complex Article and a Preview of a We Got It 4 Cheap 3 Record.
* virb.com

Snoop Dogg has been nominated for a Grammy for Best Rap Collaboration for “I Wanna Love You” with Akon. Congrats !

 “…Me & Pharrell went into the studio last night, and we’re gonna start on this album called Ego Trippin’, I’mma do the whole record, me by myself. I don’t want no guest rappers, no singer, nothing. Just Snoop Dogg. I want you to feel me. When I think of all the greats before me … I bought Rakim’s album the other day for the hundredth time, no guest rappers. I bought one of KRS-One’s albums the other day for the hundredth time, no guest rappers…” 
 

“…You lose focus after awhile when you’re doing an album,‘Snoop, you got a new album coming out. Who’s on it?’ I’ll be like, ‘I got him on it, him on it, them on it.’ When it’s time to do the video, they’ll do the video with me, but when it’s time to do a show with them, ‘Oh, I got a show in Germany,’ or, ‘I got to be in Paris.’ You’re left one-legged. Now it’s time to show artists. Can you handle the whole weight? Do you got enough to do it on your own? Did you put yourself in a position where people love you for you or for being associated with people? This record, I’m seriously ego-tripping like, ‘I don’t want you on my album. Nah, I don’t need you…”
-> mtv.com

-> Snoop Dogg – Sensual Seduction (CDS) (2007)

-> Jay-Z’s Blue Magic & I Know (Acapellas)

Rick Ross’ Trilla Pushed Back To 2008 Feb. 19th !

Rick Ross’ Trilla has been pushed and instead will be released on Feb. 19th. The project was originally scheduled to be part of an already crowded fourth quarter lineup, as Def Jam intended to release it on Dec. 18 but this may fare better for Ross. Trilla will feature production from the Runners, Mannie Fresh, The Neptunes and Cool and Dre and others. Lil’ Wayne, Akon, T-Pain and Marsha Abrosius all make appearances on the album, as does Jay-Z, who is featured on the song “Maybach Music.”
-> soundslam.com

Apparently there is no Neptunes work on Lupe Fiasco’s new album “The Cool” according to wmg.jp

-> Lupe Fiasco – The Cool (2007) (Snippets)

Clipse Launching Clothing Line !

Clipse is venturing into a new domain “Fashion” according to startrakmusic.com The sibling duo-Pusha T and Malice, aka Terrence and Gene Thornton has launched a line called Play Cloths. T-shirts will be the staple of the line initially, with denimns, jackets, sweatshirts and knits figuring in later. Clipse, which said it will promote the line at the fashion trade show Magic in Las Vegas in February, plans to sell the items exclusively at boutiques.

Lil’ Wayne Responds To Clipse !

Wayne owned ‘07 thanks to an insane amount of mixtape drops and a step-up in skills only we could predict. Back for take two, we reconnected with the Young Money millionaire, and like his previous Q&A (remember he said he was better than Hovie?) he held nothing back. On the Clipse:

“…I thought the whole ‘Mr. Me Too’ video was about me, to tell you the damn truth. They think I want to be like them. I’m on a million-dollar bus going around the world charging people from $50,000 to $150,000 for verses, and I got 77 songs in magazines and I got a billion more. Do the math; you think I’m trying to be like you? No sir…”
-> complex.com

Review Of Drama’s “Cheers feat. Pharrell & CLipse” On allmusic.com
“…Cheers with Pharrell & Clipse is up to their usual high standards, gets a trackpick…”
-> allmusic.com 

-> Drama – Cheers feat. Pharrell & Clipse (Proper) (MP3) 

Top 10 Albums Of 2007 (UK Edition) !

#4 CLIPSE Hell Hath No Fury (RCA)
“…This long-delayed second release from the Virginian brothers was a claustrophobically edgy account of drug-dealing and paranoia, whipped up by The Neptunes into a storm of sonic inventiveness no other hip-hop release in 2007 came close to matching…”
-> hollyscoop.com

Rihanna Wants Robin Thicke !

After collaborating with Ne-Yo and Jay-Z on her latest album Good Girl Gone Bad, Rihanna is looking forward to the day she hooks up with Robin Thicke and Andre 3000. “…I want to work with Robin Thicke. But I really want to work with Andre 3000. I love Andre 3000, I think he’s so funky and so different. His style is very weird, I like it. It’s weird but cool…” 
-> mtv.ca

Pop/R&B Singer Tynisha Keli Is Working With Thicke !

Pop/R&B sensation Tynisha Keli (signed to MCA Records) is working on her first solo LP selftitled “Tynisha Keli” with Producers such as Brian Michael Cox, Justice League, Tha Corna Boyz, Robin Thicke, Co- Stars among others.

-> eurweb.com

Here’s Another Robin Thicke Article !

“…In 2003 ”A Beautiful World” was a commercial flop, selling only 63,000 copies and reaching #152 on the Billboard 200 chart. A few months after the CD’s less-than-stellar debut, Thicke, himself, fell off the radar. In the fall of 2006, Robin Thicke’s “The Evolution Of Robin Thicke”, is released, and it becomes a certified success, spending two weeks at #1 on the R&B Albums Chart. Not only that, but the single “Lost Without U” becomes Robin Thicke’s first #1 hit on the R&B singles chart, and he becomes the first white male singer to top the R&B charts since George Michael back in 1988…”
-> playbackstl.com
 

Blake Lewis – Audio Day Dream (2007) leaked, but the Robin Thicke production didn’t make it on the album.

Robin Thicke opens up and inner-strength and self-doubt in those exclusive “GIANTmag.com“ videos.

-> Part 1: Inner-Strength, Determination & God (Video)

-> Part 2: Fans & Raw Emotion (Video)

-> Part 3: Music, Live Performances & Photoshoots (Video)

-> giantmag.com