![]() And if you’re hearing it here for the first time, you might question its inclusion on this list. So this one was actually a minor hit in 2001, reaching #64 on the Billboard R&B/Hip Hop chart. But the arrangement is so busy that it doesn’t haven’t space to build. ” The beat here is clearly from the same Korg Triton clavichord setting that produced “Superthug” and “Lapdance,” which seems promising. The Kelis and Pharrell cover of “I Don’t Care Anymore” is actually one of the more interesting tracks-you suspect they both really like the original-but that’s grading on a curve that includes Lil’ Kim’s “In the Air Tonite,” Brandy and Ray J’s “Another Day in Paradise,” and Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s (much less interesting than it sounds) take on “ Sussudio. Urban Renewal is an absolute train wreck of a tribute album to Phil Collins. (Compare David Lee Roth’s isolated vocals from “Runnin’ With The Devil,” which are vibrant and lifegiving!) You can try to rationalize the Neptunes’ questionable rock remixes from this era (including “ Nookie ” and somehow “ Sympathy for the Devil ”) as favors to labels or A&R execs or the trucker hat industry, but the truth is that Pharrell just seemed to like this stuff. The few musical elements in the original song that “work” have been stripped clean and replaced with what sounds like a keyboard preset labeled “Egyptian.” Absent the full band arrangement, Rock’s vocals sound thin and impotent. No amount of beatsmithing was going to save “Cowboy,” but this is still a pretty lazy effort. Still, even at their absolute peak, the Neptunes were responsible for quite a few tracks that missed the mark. It’s honestly amazing, though, how often even their lower-profile collaborations (like “ Ola ” by Beenie Man featuring… umm… Steve Perry of the Cherry Poppin’ Daddies) turned out to be pretty solid. When you’re working at that pace - no matter how talented you are - you would expect the results to be uneven. And “production” here doesn’t mean Martin Hannett or Steve Albini twiddling knobs behind the soundboard, but the entire beat making and chorus-writing package. In 2001 alone, the duo served as producers or remixers on a staggering 100+ songs, including three albums (Kelis’s Wanderland, the bulk of Philly’s Most Wanted’s Get Down or Lay Down, and their own N.E.R.D. The secret of their success was, first and foremost, their ability to create sparsely arranged, instantly compelling grooves using a futuristic sonic palette-and then slap a monster hook on them.īut the Neptunes’ ubiquity also reflected the sheer volume of their production output. Pharrell and Chad’s impact over this stretch on the entire pop music landscape (“I’m a Slave 4 U,” “Hot in Herre,” “Rock Your Body,” and countless other Winamp “Party Mix” smashes) is well-documented. When you ask that question, nine times out of ten the response will be a track recorded during the duo’s golden era- a 10-year run that begins with Mase’s “Lookin’ at Me,” arguably climaxes with “Grindin” (or maybe “What Happened To That Boy”), and ends with every single banger on Hell Hath No Fury. ![]() Pete Hunt is outside of Popeyes eating chicken and fries. Please support Passion of the Weiss by subscribing to our Patreon. With help from some of the freshest new talent, The Jazz Café are set to celebrate the infectious, distinctive style of the duo whose countless hits have laid the foundations for many of the sounds we hear today.We keep the streets so numb, they call us Novocaine. Pharrell ‘Beautiful’, Justin Timberlake ‘Like I Love You’ and Kelis ‘Milkshake’ were just a few of the 24 Billboard topping tracks produced by the duo throughout their career together. A look through their discography is firm proof of the duo’s deep-rooted impact on music and their continued mark on the sounds of today. The producers behind some of the most successful records of the past two decades, The Neptunes’ influence on popular music is immeasurable. In a special celebration of their discography, The Jazz Café is bringing together some of music’s freshest faces, presenting new renditions of their classic tracks. Their distinctive sound helped to shape the careers of a great many artists and continues to have a major influence on contemporary music today. Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo - otherwise known as The Neptunes - were the minds behind some of the biggest hits of the late 1990s and 2000s.
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