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The Neptunes are an American production duo, composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who are credited with contributing the sound for many successful hip hop, R&B and pop artists in the late-1990s and 2000s. The Neptunes' sound is a distinctive brand of off-kilter, stripped-down electronic funk with sounds from Middle Eastern and Asian music including percussion and woodwind. Pharrell sings and (later) raps on records and appears in videos, unlike his production partner Chad, who tends to stay behind the scenes. Before gaining success and forming The Neptunes, Williams and Hugo along with local producer Timbaland and rapper Magoo formed a group "Surrounded by Idiots" in the late '90s, but disbanded before even recording together. Later, The Neptunes emerged and Timbaland & Magoo emerged as a hip hop duo, occasionally collaborating. The Neptunes are estimated to have a net worth of $155 million and are considered one of the most successful producers in music history, noted by twenty-four ''Billboard'' Hot 100 top 10 hits during the late 1990s and 2000s. In 2009 Billboard ranked The Neptunes No. 1 on their list of Top 10 producers of the decade. Readers of Vibe Magazine named The Neptunes as the 3rd greatest hip-hop producers of all time behind Dr. Dre and DJ Premier. == Biography == Pharrell and Chad met at a summer camp for the school of The Gifted and Talented in Virginia Beach, where Williams was a drummer and Hugo played tenor saxophone.〔"(Q&A with The Neptunes, Q&A with The Neptunes )〕 They were also both members of a marching band; Pharrell played kettle drum and Chad was a student conductor. In 1990 Chad and Pharrell formed a 4-piece "R&B type" group along with friends Shay and Mike Etheridge, which they named ''The Neptunes''. Upon entering a local talent contest, they were discovered by Teddy Riley, whose studio was close to Pharrell's school.〔"(Chad Hugo: Rock Star ), an interview with Yolk Magazine, 2002〕 After graduating from high school, they signed with Riley as a group.〔"(Neptunes production techniques; an interview with Chad Hugo )" on hiphopgame.com, from the December 2003 issue of 'Sound & Recording'〕 Through working with Riley, Pharrell went on to write a verse for Wreckx-N-Effect's 1992 #2 (billboard hot 100) hit "Rump Shaker". In 1994, Hugo and Williams had established themselves formally as a production duo under the previously used name "The Neptunes", and assistant-produced "Tonight's The Night" from Teddy Riley's group BLACKstreet's self-titled debut. Over the next three years they continued to produce occasionally. Some of the production, such as for SWV (1996) and Total (1996), had little resemblance to what would become their distinctive sound, while other songs such as Mase's 1998 No.8 (Billboard hot 100) hit "Lookin' At Me" (from the ''Harlem World'' album, 1997) showed clear signs the Neptunes sound was developing. Their first major production hit, and the most clear beginning of the distinctive Neptunes sound, came with N.O.R.E.'s "Superthug" in 1998, reaching #36 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and gaining them widespread attention for the first time. The duo then went on to work heavily with Kelis, producing her first album ''Kaleidoscope'' which was the duo's very first full album production and Ol' Dirty Bastard's record ''Got Your Money'', on which Kelis is featured. They achieved huge commercial success with tracks like Jay-Z's "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)", Mystikal's "Shake Ya Ass", and then-newly renamed Diddy's single "D.I.D.D.Y". Other notable hits during their commercial rise were Busta Rhymes' "Pass The Courvoisier pt. 2" and Usher's "U Don't Have to Call". Kelis was one of several artists whose careers Hugo and Williams have helped launch; artists such as the Clipse, Vanessa Marquez and Justin Timberlake's solo career were also closely tied to the Neptunes' involvement. They have also helped re-launch the careers of Snoop Dogg, Robin Thicke and Mystikal. In 2001, The Neptunes gained their first worldwide hit with Britney Spears' single, "I'm A Slave 4 U", which reached #1 in several countries in Europe and South America. The following year they reached #1 in the U.S. with Nelly's single, "Hot in Herre". In August of the same year, The Neptunes were named "Producers of the Year" at both The Source Awards and the Billboard Music Awards. In 2003, they released a self-credited album called ''The Neptunes Present... Clones'', featuring songs and remixes from various Star Trak artists. This album topped the US ''Billboard'' 200 Albums Chart. The Neptunes went home with two Grammy Awards in 2004, one for "Producer of the Year, Non-Classical", and another for "Best Pop Vocal Album" for their work on Justin Timberlake's No.2 Billboard hit ''Justified''. They also gained their first UK #1, again with Nelly, and ''Flap Your Wings''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Neptunes」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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