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Pharrell Williams
Pharrell Williams
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Pharrell Williams didn't only help change the face of pop music during the late '90s and early 2000s. He also was one of the faces of pop music -- as a charismatic star who often stole the show when producing and/or guesting on other artists' hit singles. His presence was unfading, whether he was in front of a music video or behind a beat. To trace the beginning of his ascent, you have to go back to 1992, when Teddy Riley tapped him to write a verse for Wreckx-n-Effect's "Rump Shaker." Since the late '90s, Williams and longtime friend Chad Hugo -- known together as the Neptunes -- began scoring songwriting and production assignments that slowly but steadily infiltrated mainstream music, whether it was via dance-pop (Britney Spears' "I'm a Slave 4 U"), hardcore rap (Clipse's "Grindin'"), or contemporary R&B (Babyface's "There She Goes"). Williams and Hugo were relatively obscure during the mid-'90s, doing spare work for the likes of SWV, Total, and Mase, but they would eventually develop a style that would become as recognized and as mimicked as that of fellow Virginia Beach native Timbaland. (Prior to stardom, all three producers were in a band together called Surrounded by Idiots.)

As the duo took on more work, Williams' voice became increasingly familiar. He was now more likely to provide the chorus and the background vocals of the same song, in addition to appearing in the video. (Hear/see Jay-Z's "Excuse Me Miss" and Snoop Dogg's "Beautiful" for two examples.) It wasn't until the summer of 2003 that he truly stepped out on his own. He released his first solo single, "Frontin'." Produced with Hugo and featuring a guest verse from Jay-Z, the song built anticipation for The Neptunes Present... Clones, a compilation of all-new tracks from artists produced by the duo. "Frontin'" was a ubiquitous summer hit and kept Williams' momentum running up to the release of Hugo and Williams' second funk/rock-oriented N.E.R.D. album, released in March 2004. Williams' first solo album, In My Mind, survived a number of delays and was finally issued in July 2006. ~ Andy Kellman, All Music GuideMore

Fan Comments

Oct 31st, 12:09am
Hi. My name is Elite. I'm a Singer/Rapper/Dancer/Producer from Greensboro, NC but I currently live in Houston, TX. Please visit my website at Myspace.com/elitefromnc or Reverbnation.com/elitefromnc to hear the new recently released demo including hit song, "North Cackalack" (The hip-hop/R and B song shouting out North Carolina and it's black college drumlines) and "Mommie, Can I.."(The R and B song talking about romance and foreplay), plus other hip-hop and R and B songs which you'll find in my widget below. The music is high-energy hip-hop and R and B at it's finest and is the next wave of futuristic music. Enjoy!!




May 18th, 1:28am
hay naku...

kakatuwa...

hahahahahaha...

i love you're song so so much...

much respect..to pharrell..

you're the man...
Apr 9th, 5:49am
nice playlist...
Mar 29th, 6:29am
I started "spinnin" records cause of you. It all started with that Jay-Z track on the BluePrint 2. The rest is history.
Feb 6th, 9:21pm
YOUR THE FINEST , NO ONE IS FINER THEN YOU!
Feb 2nd, 12:44pm
i juz lyk ur dresin..
bt fuck wit ur songs..
Oct 30th, 2:36am
Im lovin the music and the new NERD album.
It's my therapy........ ^__^
keep rockin!
Oct 25th, 4:17pm
i love yuh pharrell
yuhr soo effn hawtt....
Oct 9th, 1:43am
pharrell you are soooooooooooo fine. just thought i would put that out there