The Neptunes
The Neptunes
Pharrell Williams & Chad Hugo
The Neptunes are the Grammy-winning production duo consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. They were named Non-Classical Producer of the Year in 2004 at the Grammys, and with more than twenty Top 10 pop hits, they were also named by Billboard as the R&B/Hip-Hop Producer of the Decade in 2009.
They met at summer camp in their hometown of Virginia Beach, Virginia, and they also played together in the marching band—Pharrell on drums and Chad on the saxophone. They later started a group around their high school days with producer/rapper/DJ Timbaland and rapper Magoo called Surrounded By Idiots and produced a demo tape before deciding to go on their separate paths. The Neptunes started working with producer Teddy Riley in 1992 with some contributions on Blackstreet’s first album while Pharrell wrote Riley’s verse on the hit Wreckx-N-Effect song “Rump Shaker” and provided background vocals on SWV’s hit single “Right Here (Human Nature Remix)” produced by Riley.
One of their first hit productions was the song “Use Your Heart” by SWV, but the “Neptunes Sound” began to take off in 1998 with the release of the singles “Lookin' At Me” by Ma$e and “Superthug” by N.O.R.E. They went on to produce numerous hits for JAY-Z, Justin Timberlake, Snoop Dogg, Britney Spears, Gwen Stefani, and many others while also introducing Kelis and Clipse.