They are prolific. They are gifted, and they have the tenacity of a cockroach. In their short career, they have created multi-platinum selling beats and music for dozens of artists including Britney Spears, Nelly and Jay-Z. They have formed their own successful group N.E.R.D., and have even created their own music label, Star Trak Entertainment.
Chances are they need no introduction either.
They are the Neptunes – the wildly successful Virginia-based music production team of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo.
They are responsible for Mystikal’s “Shake Ya Ass,” Busta Rhymes’ “Pass the Courvoisier,” Britney Spears’ “I’m a Slave 4 U,” Nelly’s “Hot in Herre” Jay-Z’s “I Just Wanna Love U (Give it to Me)” and more recently Snoop Dogg’s “Beautiful.”
On Aug. 19 the Neptunes dropped their first CD, “The Neptunes Present … Clones” – a compilation disc sampler of Star Trak artists like Clipse and Kelis. It also features a laundry list of guest appearances that include Ludacris, Nelly and even a solo Williams singing his hit “Frontin'” with Jay-Z.
Rolling Stone Magazine is hailing the Neptunes produced “Clones” CD as possibly “the best hip-hop compilation of the year – if not all time.”
“The purpose of this record is we don’t want people to have to go buy 15 different million albums when they want to hear our sound,” Williams said in a press release. “They could just go and buy one album.”
To define their sound is another story. Of course, there is the trademark sublime song-writing, with the token falsetto hooks and the signature drum loops that remain crisp and dirty simultaneously. But everything they produce is different.
“It’s just eclectic,” Williams said. “It’s coming from all different directions. It’s not what you use, it’s how you use it.”
Hugo and Williams have been making soundtrack to American pop-music culture for years – seemingly under the radar with hit after hit climbing the charts since 1999.
That was the year the Neptunes broke through the monotony of the late nineties teen-pop wasteland dominated by the likes of the Backstreet Boys and Ricky Martin.
Hugo and Williams struck a nerve producing one of Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s best songs to date with “Got Your Money.” A few months later they blew up MTV and radio with Kelis by means of the crossover hit, “Caught Out There,” where she repeatedly screams, “I hate you so much right now!”
By 2001, the Neptunes had crossed over to the mainstream, creating hits for Britney Spears and ‘N Sync.
Consequently, the Neptunes established themselves as producers who could appeal to an urban audience as well as the pop humdrum.
Chhay Chhun knows about the importance of street credibility. As a curator for the Hip Hop Archive at Harvard University, he assists in collecting all forms of media for archiving to document the history of hip-hop music. The archive’s mission is to facilitate and encourage the pursuit of knowledge, art, culture and responsible leadership through hip-hop.
One essential aspect of hip-hop through its history is retaining street cred, and he recognizes that the duo walks a fine line between pop and hip-hop and even when appealing to men and women.
“The Neptunes have skills,” Chhun said. “They know how to make beats. They know how to make hard beats for the gentlemen and they know how to make the sexy, soulful beats for the ladies. They produce for a variety of people, but what one could never say is that the Neptunes don’t have street credibility, because they do.”
Their influence in hip-hop has been their most visible and viable venture thus far, literally saving artists’ careers and giving them a new sound and attitude with their infectious beats.
Most recently the Neptunes worked with Snoop Dogg on his most recent album, “Paid Tha Cost to be Da Boss.”
Williams and Hugo produced his two biggest hits in the last couple of years – the hard hitting “From Tha Chuuuch to Da Palace” and the sultry “Beautiful.” The album sold over 500,000 copies in under six weeks, according to Snoop Dogg’s Web Site.
They did it again with veteran rapper LL Cool J on the rap ballad, “Love U Better.” Until he worked with the Neptunes, LL had not had a hit in years.
“Artists are always looking for good beats, because most times, it’s the beats that sell the albums,” Chhun said. “It’s the beats that keep listeners from fast forwarding or skipping tracks. So if you’re a good producer with good beats, you’re going to get paid, and you’re going to achieve longevity. And that’s what we’re seeing with the Neptunes.”
Even with the Neptunes own alternative hip-hop/rock group N.E.R.D., they have been ground breaking.
In 2002 the group won the Shortlist Award for their album “In Search of…” This is an honor designed to spotlight the year’s latest and greatest artists with albums that have sold less than 500,000 copies in the United States.
According to news reports, their second album will be out by the end of the year.
Some people have questioned if the duo is creating a monopoly.
But business management sophomore Jonathan Johnson thinks the Neptunes are just doing what they do best.
“They’re not overdoing it,” Johnson said. “Everything they are putting out is different and catchy. They’re not stepping on anybody’s toes in the process. It’s just that these guys are good at what they do.”
There are other talented producers such as Dr. Dre, Swizz Beats and Timbaland. But some people like Chhun do not think those producers had the talent the Neptunes possess now.
“Dre’s beats dominated the G-funk era,” Chhun said. “But, his time has passed. He was never as eclectic as the Neptunes. Timbaland faltered because his beats all sounded the same. And I don’t think Swizz Beats is that great of a producer. So I guess the Neptunes are charting their own path and changing the game.”