"Five Stars", says Luke Bainbridge

In the 13 years since Pharrell was discovered at a talent show by revered producer/singer Teddy Riley, he's become a hitmaker extraordinaire, creating, along with Neptunes partner Chad Hugo, hits for everyone from Ol' Dirty Bastard to Britney Spears, not to mention essentially inventing Justin Timberlake's career. Everything they touched turned to platinum, and in 2003 a survey revealed they had a hand in one in five of all songs played on British radio. They've also released two albums themselves as N*E*R*D, but this is Pharrell's debut solo effort. It doesn't disappoint. One half R&B, one half hip hop, this, he says, is the first full representation of the music 'in his mind'.
To us mere mortals, it's just mindblowing. Lead (hip hop) single 'Can I Have it Like That' featuring Gwen Stefani, is a grinding instant smash already shaking dancefloors; second (or lead R&B) single 'Angel' showcases his soaring, sexy falsetto over an infectious bouncy piano loop. The trademark stripped-down percussion-heavy production is finessed throughout, and only a guest appearance by pal Jamie Cullum sits a little oddly.

This is the sound of the bar being raised, again. Effortlessly.

http://observer.guardian....69,00.html
[Edited 11/5/05 5:57am]

God help us if the rest of the CD sounds like Can I Have It Like That.

i can't wait for the release of this cd. i'm disspointed that it's coming out next month and not this month.

hope the album isn't a "sleeper"...

purplecam said:

dancerella said:

same here!

missfee said:

There's no chance of that even remotely happening. He couldn't sell w/ the NERD albums, and he won't sell now. Can I Have It Like That isn't exactly tearing up the airwaves. He had a window of opprotunity w/ that song Frontin' but backed it up w/ a horrible second single. He's just going to have to sit on the sidelines watch Kanye, and reminsence on what could have been.
[Edited 11/4/05 16:26pm]

Screw Pharrell, where's Robin Thicke's album??

Looks like his 15 minutes is nearly up.

roundables said:

this sounds so realistically harsh...

roundables said:

Forget the 2nd single, with the expection of "Frontin", the whole album was just wack.

Prospect said:

really? i have it, i didn't think it was the worst album i had, although i did skip quite a few tracks but there was some that i did like, or was it just the beats??? anyway, i hope this one is better.

roundables said:

N.E.R.D. did sell. What are u talking about?
First off, they may not have been multi-platinum each time out but they sold respectively for the type of alternative music that they do. Secondly, Frontin' was a monster breakout hit from Pharrell and it was on a Neptunes compilation disc called Neptunes Presents.. Clones.



Frontin' was the only Pharrell Williams song on the disc, so there was no second Pharrell Williams single from that release! Im not sure what youre talking about.
[Edited 11/5/05 6:33am]

jjam said:

If 13 years making monster hits is 15 minutes, then yup.

Prospect said:

It was NOT. Not only did Neptunes Presents.. Clones debut @ #1, It was full of edgy hip hop, R&b, and rock that no one else in the biz seems to have the ballz to do! Listen again.

I don't know how it can't be good, why would he give so much good shit to people and not keep some for hiself.

Pharrel is the best out there right now.
[Edited 11/5/05 5:58am]

lilgish said:

Thank u! Some people just like to piss on other people to make themselves seem smart. I bet the people who r hating don't even know enough to make an appropriate judgement call.

Can anyone dig that your "favorite neptunes songs" thread up I gotta add Lap Dance to my top ten list.

The best though is Baby's What Happened to that Boy birdcall
That song is fire.
[Edited 11/5/05 6:01am]

dreamfactory313 said:

Brilliant, Holmes.

Either that or, you know, we just don't like Pharrel's music

VoicesCarry said:

Hey, thats cool. If u dont like it, u dont like it, but some Orgers are typing some straight up ignorant bull$hit.

hey df313 (that's how I hypn your name when I calculate the football games) didn't you start your favorite neptunes tracks thread months and months ago.

lilgish said:

Yeah, I did. It got over 100 posts. Im not sure how to retrieve it though. I'll try Google.

I couldnt find the thread. Maybe we could start another one.

Drop it like it's hot is also dope

I'm a nice dude, with some nice dreams
See these ice cubes, see these Ice Creams?

it would be funny if Pharrel did the song he did for O.D.B - Recognize and did it with MJ instead.

MJ would come on

[MJ]
All y'all niggas talkin bout commercial song
This ain't no commercial song
Straight up, nigga, what?
Y'all niggas can't fuck with me
All y'all niggas lovin me

[Pharrel]
Mister courageous M.J.J
You need to recognize he's a P-I-M-P
You need to recognize
Niggas need to recognize

[MJ]
Yo, what's my name?
Shut the fuck up!

But Recognize is in my top ten and I was the only one who had Baby's What Happened To That Boy That's the jump off right there

lilgish said:

Only in my wildest dreams could I imagine MJ doing ODB's part on that joint. What Happened To That Boy was just sick. Nothing sounded like that on the radio. It was the kinda joint that just put u in a different place, just like alot of those Clipse joints like Hot Damn. The stuff that they created was hip hop genius.

dreamfactory313 said:

The Hot Damn video was also cool and also another good track from the clones album.

You like the N.E.R.D song lapdance?
[Edited 11/5/05 7:01am]

lilgish said:

Pharell needs a ghostwriter.

lilgish said:

Hell ya. I loved it so much that I bought about 10 copies of In Search Of... in '02 and just handed them out to freinds. It was such an awesome cd.

Lapdance was just a wicked song and video. It seemed forever before the album actually dropped after that single exploded. Im still waiting on that Lee Harvey cd. Chad and Pharrell are teling us that a new Clipse cd will be ready for a '06 release! I cant wait!

dreamfactory313 said:

We been waiting on that shit for about 2 or 3 years now, I gave up waiting on them...

ABeautifulOne said:

Ya, I know. Ive been waiting too. Its comming though.