The Neptunes are an American songwriting and production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia in 1992. Williams and Hugo met at a summer camp for the school of the Gifted and Talented in Virginia Beach, where Williams played drums and Hugo played tenor saxophone. On entering a local talent contest in 1992 as the Neptunes, they were discovered by Teddy Riley, whose studio was close to Williams' school, and through working with Riley, the Neptunes wrote Wreckx-n-Effect's 1992 song 'Rump Shaker' while still in school. They also worked with Riley's group Blackstreet, co-writing the single 'Tonight's The Night' from their self-titled debut album. In 1998, they produced New York City-based rapper Noreaga's single 'Superthug', as well as Ol' Dirty Bastard's 1999 single 'Got Your Money' featuring singer Kelis, and this led to the duo producing the entirety of her debut studio album, 'Kaleidoscope', in 1999. In 2000, the Neptunes produced Jay-Z's single 'I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)' from his fifth studio album, 'The Dynasty: Roc La Familia', as well as Mystikal's 'Shake Ya Ass', from his fourth studio album, 'Let's Get Ready', and in 2001, N.E.R.D. released their debut studio album, 'In Search of...', featuring production from the Neptunes. In the same year they gained their first worldwide hit with Britney Spears' single, 'I'm a Slave 4 U', for her eponymous third studio album, 'Britney'. By this time they had also produced a number of tracks from a variety of lesser known artists, many of which remain unreleased, as the artists' record companies couldn't fit them into their release schedules, so in the first of three compilations, here are a dozen Neptunes productions from 1997 to 2001 which have yet to see an official release.
Track listing
01 The Funeral (Clipse aka Malice & Pusha T)
02 New Glasses (Alana Davis feat. Pharrell)
03 Make This Run (Royce da 5'9 feat. Pharrell, Le Femme Nikita & Kelis)
04 I Wish It Would Rain Down (Brian McKnight)
05 Hostage (Clipse feat. Tammy Lucas)
06 Seeing Things (Elan feat. Pharrell)
07 I Don’t Know What (Krayzie Bone feat. Kelis )
08 Love, Euphoria (N.E.R.D.)
09 Love Don't Love Me (Eric Benet feat. Clipse & Pharrell)
10 Here Inside (Alana Davis)
11 Got Caught Dealing (Part 1) (Clipse feat. Pharrell & Tammy Lucas)
12 Turn Out The Lights (Tammy Lucas)
