But whereas N*E*R*D never really took off on the pop charts-the Neptunes-by-numbers of Clones already has. It’s an especially disappointing album given that the Neptunes are responsible for one of the most outré major-label projects ever, N*E*R*D. But Clones seems less like a single-minded pursuit of a vision than like a trudge over well-covered ground. Coldchain’s “Hot” mimic the beats the Neptunes created for the Clipse’s “Grindin.”īusy producers like the Neptunes, of course, often repeat themselves, and monomania can be thrilling (Phil Spector made a kick drumbeat work with one group after another). The rest of Clones testifies to how familiar (and hollow) the Neptunes’ studio tricks have become: The staticky electro of Busta Rhymes’s “Light Your Ass on Fire” could be any number of tracks the pair made for Kelis or Busta Rhymes, while the industrial-sounding slams and whirs of Rosco P. ![]() And the springy, looped guitar line accompanying Williams is too familiar: The Neptunes used a similar sound for Snoop Dogg’s recent hit “Beautiful.” On “Frontin’,” the album’s first single, Williams’s voice is a falsetto without a body, a singing-in-the-shower version of Curtis Mayfield (it’s a voice that Justin Timberlake affected for his Neptunes-produced solo debut, a voice that left me feeling like Timberlake was Williams’s ventriloquist’s dummy). 1 track on Billboard’s singles chart this week, Clones represents the Neptunes’ nadir. Then again, if you guessed The Neptunes for at least one out of any five songs you hear on the radio, odds are that you’d be right. And with a kind of Night of 1,000 Hip-Hop Stars lineup (Busta Rhymes, Ludacris, Snoop Dogg), Clones should be the pair’s peak, a showcase for the most adventurous productions from a duo raised on rap and rave.īut despite its No. At least this much is sure you won’t have to guess who produced any of the tracks on this album. The title of their debut- The Neptunes Presents … Clones-smartly plays on their viruslike takeover of pop culture (it also references an album from a similarly chameleonlike music genius: Parliament’s classic The Clones of Dr. I banged this beat on many a high school desks on 2003. In find the simpler beats are the ones that make the longest impact. They have earned cultural omnipresence not through repetition or novelty, though, but through truly radical pop-music-making for everyone from Britney Spears to Jay-Z. This is one of my favorite beats ever, not just ones made by the Neptunes. For the title of Foxy’s record to be called “The Original,” (be sure and listen to that one, too-the patois-slangin’ Foxy deserves a big honorebel mention for it), it’s almost as if the universe intended it for the original don dada-Super Cat.The Neptunes-Virginia Beach–based producers Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo-are as inescapable as reruns of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Like the Neptunes and their label woes, Foxy Brown also didn’t get to see the fruits of her labor because Def Jam didn’t release the album. Maybe around that time, if Jada and Super Cat had crossed paths, they shared stories about B.I.G.Īs the story to “Don of All Dons” goes, the beat was originally given to Foxy Brown for her album, Ill Nana 2: The Fever. Unfortunately, like with most CDs filed under Various Artists, The Neptunes newest woofer-friendly venture, Clones, is an exercise in failing to be everything to everyone. “The Don of All Dons” was a proper re-introduction for Cat to declare himself as a veteran to the dancehall community and even hip-hop-he namechecks the Notorious B.I.G., who got one of his earliest looks on Super Cat’s “Dolly My Baby” remix. ![]() As their parent label Arista closed up shop, Star Trak suffered, and so did the potential for Super Cat to potentially write a new chapter in his legendary career. Not only did it serve as the appetizer for Pharrell’s solo career after its lead single, “Frontin,” was an instant smash, it offered an introduction to their then-new label, Star Trak Entertainment. The Neptunes Present… Clones was a pivotal moment for Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams. Super Cat and Jadakiss – “The Don of All Dons (Put De Ting Pon Dem)” (2003)
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