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

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

Archives for "October 2009" :

Champain Era, A Virginia Beach-Bred Rapper On The Road To Stardom

Posted by Mika on Oct 28, 2009 • (5 comments)

Champain EraPopular rap music has, for too long, been mired in a place where vulgarity is accompanied by a challenge to guzzle liquor by the caseload. But a new day has dawned; a move toward refinement, polish and gentility as expressed by artists including Jay-Z and Common offers the promise of a new era. Enter Champain Era, a Virginia Beach-bred rapper emerging as a model for hip-hop stars in the Obama age. Champain Era is careful to not curse in his music. You won’t hear that racial slur that some black youth have claimed is a term of endearment. He holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Morehouse College in Atlanta, joining graduates such as Spike Lee and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Until this spring, Champain worked in the marketing department at Bank of America under his given name of Alan McLeod. By summer, he had chucked corporate life to pursue the creative life he’d watched from the sidelines for so long.

“I met (producer) Pharrell (Williams) when I was about 13 through my cousin,” says the 28-year-old, whose family runs the McLeod Masonry construction business. “I was always at the studio, hearing him play records.” In between meetings and shows this summer, Champain Era was laying bricks. He grew up in a pretty normal, two-parent home, where the sounds of Earth, Wind & Fire and Anita Baker kept the only child entertained when he would sit in his room and draw. He was a standout running back and defensive back for Green Run High School, going All-Beach in 1997 and earning a football scholarship to Morehouse.

By around 1999, Williams and his partner, Chad Hugo, aka The Neptunes, had begun making music for some of hip-hop’s biggest names.Over time, young Alan watched from the sidelines as they worked on the debut albums from indie R&B ingenue Kelis; Clipse, now big rap stars; and even the groundbreaking album from NERD., the group consisting of Williams, Hugo and their friend Shay Haley. “The more I sat in on sessions,” he says, “I was finding myself and my art.” Sitting in as The Neptunes created LL Cool J’s song “Love You Better,” he muscled up the nerve to spit out a few bars. “LL was like, ‘Wow, you got a flow!’,” he says. He gained confidence as an artist. When he’d come home between breaks from school, where he set up a small enterprise throwing parties and developing an affinity for the bubbly, he’d watch more sessions and develop his craft. Now, we’re soon to see the fruits of his long labor. Check out his  Hoola Hoop tune featuring Scoopy on his myspace page, it’s pretty nice.

*myspace.com/champainera
*hamptonroads.com

 
 

Leighton Meester’s ‘Somebody To Love’ Music Video Preview

Posted by Mika on Oct 28, 2009 • (No comment)

Check out these new stills of Leighton Meester in her new music video for her single ‘Somebody To Love’. The vid was shot in New York City and will feature Grammy Award singer Robin Thicke. This was the same video that Leighton sported some fierce eyebrows for a couple weeks ago. The video was directed by Zoe Cassavetes and also features Laker Girl Vanessa Curry and one of Leighton’s producers, Shahine Ezell.
Leighton MeesterLeighton Meester 2
Leighton Meester 3Leighton Meester 4

Click here For More Photos

 
 

Clipse ‘Me N’ My’ Article On XXL Mag

Posted by Mika on Oct 28, 2009 • (No comment)

Clipse XXL
It’s a cool evening in downtown Norfolk, Virginia, and the Clipse have just arrived at MacArthur Center Mall. After a long day filled with photo shoots and driving around town, the sibling duo of Malice and Pusha T cuts into Kincaid’s Fish, Chop & Steakhouse for a few drinks—none of the alcoholic variety. Malice, who’s nursing a migraine, orders a cup of Earl Grey tea with honey and lemon, while younger brother Pusha opts for his favorite Kincaid’s beverage, strawberry lemonade. Their divergent drink selections are representative of the group’s career. Hot and cold. Bittersweet. Over the course of the past 11 years, the Clipse have had the distinct displeasure of calling several labels home. They were originally signed to Elektra Records, in 1998, but got dropped after their debut single, “The Funeral,” failed to catch on commercially.

Four years later, the duo inked a deal with Arista Records, which then got absorbed by Jive Records in 2004. After an extended and public battle with whom Pusha T describes as “them crackas” that weren’t playing fair at Jive, the brothers were finally released to join the Columbia Records roster in 2007. By the time all the label logistics were settled and they had found a new home, the Clipse had released only two official albums. Talent certainly wasn’t the issue. In addition to being praised by hip-hop purists and critics alike for their crisp lyricism, undiluted crack rap and classic mixtapes, Malice and Pusha earned a platinum plaque for their 2002 debut, Lord Willin’, and a classic, XXL rating from this magazine for their 2006 opus, Hell Hath No Fury. Despite the critically acclaimed LPs, the Clipse always seem to find themselves in the midst of label drama, but somehow they’ve managed to keep a positive outlook.

“Anybody else that went through the red tape that we went through, they would of fell out to the wayside,” says Malice, 36. “I say this because I see it and believe it. It’s about having the product. You can’t always control what happens within the label, but if you—and this should serve as a lesson to anybody that does this—if you keep your craft right and do what it is that you’re supposed to do, fans will keep you around. It don’t matter what’s going on. We was gone for four years, and fans was still asking about us, and it’s because we have that integrity with our music every time.” Finally aligned with a label that they can see eye to eye with, the Clipse have spent the past two years crafting their latest offering, Til The Casket Drops.

Set for release this November via their Columbia-distributed Re-Up Gang Records, the album is a potent mix of raw street records (“Kinda Like A Big Deal,” featuring Kanye West), cocksure cuts (“Back by Popular Demand,” featuring Cam’ron), inspirational darts (“Champion”), radio-ready singles (“I’m Good,” featuring Pharrell Williams) and 100 percent reality raps (“Doorman”). “The energy around this album feels more like Lord Willin’ than Hell Hath No Fury,” explains Pusha, 31. “Hell Hath No Fury was a real dark, linear album. [It was] awesome, amazing, classic, but, at the same time, it was really angry… It was just handcuffs on that Hell Hath No Fury album. Lyrically, I think it was a beast. Beats, we feel it was a beast. But it was like it honed into a certain individual. We went directly for the purists’ neck with that album, and we got that, period. But Til The Casket Drops let us expand creatively.” For more of the Me ‘N’ My article, make sure to pick up XXL’s November issue on newsstands now.

*xxlmag.com

 
 

Clipse ~ Bong Boy Interview

Posted by Mika on Oct 28, 2009 • (No comment)

 
 

Sandman – Certainly A Big Deal (Freestyle)

Posted by Mika on Oct 28, 2009 • (No comment)

 
 

Clipse On KUBE 93’s Sound Session

Posted by Mika on Oct 28, 2009 • (No comment)

The Clipse on KUBE 93’s Sound Session from DJ Hyphen on Vimeo.

 
 

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