Take a look at this fantastic article on The Neptunes during their rise to fame in the music industry, discussing their future projects. Credit to darrenlaking.
Out Of This World: The Neptunes
The Neptunes might have the most diverse résumé of any production team in history. Who else cranks out remixes and hits for R&B singers like Kelis, hip hop artists like Jay-Z, rockers like Limp Bizkit, and unclassifiable geniuses like Prince? Teddy Riley discovered The Neptunes in 1992 after they performed in a talent show at Princess Anne High School in Virginia Beach, VA. At the time, Pharrell Williams was playing drums and rapping while his partner, Chad ‘Chase’ Hugo, played keyboards. The two began producing tracks for Blackstreet’s debut album and haven’t had much downtime since. Upcoming projects include work on Jennifer Lopez’s next CD and a solo project for Zach De La Rocha of Rage Against The Machine. “We’re doing a lot more rock now,” says Williams. “Lenny [Krawitz] is interested, so that’s where my head is right now.”
The Neptunes Unforgetable Collaborations:
Ol’ Dirty Bastard – Got Your Money feat. Kelis (1999)
Hugo: “When he wrote the first verse, it took him a while to write. We had the beat rolling for a long time. The next thing you know, he was like ‘Okay! I wanna do vocals,’ And he rushed the engineer and the sound guy to get the tape ready. They rolled the tape and he said the first line, and that was it. The he said, ‘Stop the tape.’ He was revved up to get the track done, and then he just stopped. He ended up finishing it later, but it was cool because he vibes on his instinct. You always hear about him in the news, and that’s how he works too-spontaneously.”
Jay-Z – I Just Wanna Love U (Give It To Me) feat. Pharrell(2000)
Hugo: “Jay called and we flew out to New York and made the beat.”
Williams: “I wanted the track to reflect attention on old soul music and where it came from. I was thinking of Curtis Mayfield. Jay-Z liked it and laid the vocals right there. It happened real quick, and Jay laced it crazy. He’s one of those artists who just keeps on progressing.”
Mystikal – Shake Ya Ass feat. Pharrell (2000)
Hugo: “We met Mystikal in L.A. and did a song together for the Any Given Sunday soundtrack. He was feeling us and he wanted to work with us again.
Williams: “On this song, I was singing the chorus like Eddie Kendricks from The Temptations. If you like Mystikal, get some old Temptations records; hear what inspired me.”
Sade – By Your Side (The Neptunes Remix) (2000)
Hugo: “They gave us the original song for that and wanted us to do the music, but it was, like, 76 beats per minute, so we ended up speeding up the track a lot and gave it a whole different vibe. Originally, it sounded like some Aaron Neville country song, but when you hear it now it’s on some funky jazz vibe.”
Guru – All I Said feat. Pharrell & Macy Gray (2000)
Hugo: “Guru was doing Jazzmatazz record and wanted someone to sing on the track we presented. So we got Macy, with her trademark voice, and she came on and blessed it. She’s very talented. Some people judge her by her squeaked-out voice, but I think she’s real creative and vibed out. She really made that song crazy.”
Kelis – I Don’t Care Anymore feat. Pharrell (2001)
Williams: “She gets it . All we had to do was rearrange the original Phil Colins song, and she came in and did her thing, looking cute. She came prepared but didn’t even know what she was gonna hear. It was cool.”
504 Boyz – D-Game feat. Pharrell & Terrar (aka Pusha T.) (2000)
Williams: “We were out in L.A. doing a remix for Prince at the Record Plant, and originally had Q-Tip on the track. Master P was at the pool table talking shit to one of my boys. He was saying he was good, but we doubleteamed him and beat him that game. I said, “Why I never got a beat on you?” And he told me, “I got my boys to do my own shit.” Then he came in the room, listened to a beat I had, and he liked it. We just did it right then on the spot!”
Perry Farrell – Glory (2000)
Hugo: “Rock people are different. He’s clean now, but he told us stories about being in Jane’s Addiction when he was wacked out, standing in the middle of the street, tripping out with the guy who invented LSD. When we were in the studio, he brought in his little Roland Groovebox and he was freaking that thing! He’s from rock ‘n’ roll and there he was making techno tracks in the middle of our rock-hip hop session.”