Growing up, what was playing around the house?

Music's always been a part of my life. My grandmother used to play a lot of gospel, like the Mighty Clouds of Joy. My mom and dad played all that old R&B shit: Earth, Wind and Fire, Teddy Pendergrass, Michael Jackson, Stevie Wonder and Donny Hathaway. I used to stare into the radio and visualize the music.

When did you realize you wanted to make music?

I'd go over to my homeboy Gerald's house, and one day he played me "Bonita Applebum," from A Tribe Called Quest's People's Instinctive Travels album. That was the turning point. A Tribe Called Quest made me see that music was art. That's the first record I bought, at Birdland, in Kempsville, Virginia.

Where were you when you coined yourselves the Neptunes?

We were in Teddy Riley's studio, in our late teens. He was like, "Yo, you need a name!" I'd seen a cartoon called The Neptoons. Also, the body is made up of eighty-five percent water, and the king of the biggest body of water, the ocean, is Neptune.

Your first royalty check was probably for writing "Rumpshaker" for Wreckx-N-Effect.

Yeah.

For how much? And what'd you blow it on?

It was for about ten or fifteen grand. Polo. I was a Ralph Lauren fan.

As far as the people you've recorded with, who works the hardest in the studio?

The ones who are really successful work really hard. Beyonce works hard. I appreciate that. Justin, Usher and Jay-Z work hard. They're not in the studio to fuck around. We all have fun, but when it's time for us to put our Jedi hats on, we put our Jedi hats on and battle it out with the creativity that exists in oblivion. We reach in and snatch it out and carve away until it's right.

You've been to so many parties: Which one have you had the most fun at?


I'm done with parties. I do more reading and things like that. I like getting all the information I can get. I'm a Discovery Channel junkie! When you're at a party, you're giving away a lot of energy. I'd rather be consuming great energy.

What's your all-time favorite hip-hop rhyme?

I couldn't say, but Rakim had some verses: "I was a fiend before I became a teen/I melted microphones instead of cones with ice cream" [from Eric B. and Rakim's "Microphone Fiend"]. I can keep going. Rakim is a lyrical genius. I bow before him.

Literally?

Yeah. I bow to Q-Tip and Ali Shaheed Muhammad, from A Tribe Called Quest. Melle Mel, Pete Rock, Large Professor and DJ Premier. If you say to Premier, "Yo, Pharrell says every time he sees you he bows," Premier will say, "Yes." They're the knights at the table. And I bow before Michael and Stevie -- it just lets them know that I'm a student. I bow to my fans, too. They pay my bills.

Who is your favorite drummer of all time?

Oof -- there's So many styles . . . The illest rhythm section in the world has gotta be Clyde Stubblefield, with James Brown. And Tommy Lee is nice. He's willing to get it down. You know who's sick? Ahmir, from the Roots. And Stevie Wonder is an ill drummer. Look up "Reasons," off of Minnie Riperton's Perfect Angel. He fucking murders that.

What is the "Most Played Song" on your iPod?

"Holding You, Loving You," by Don Blackman. I can't even describe it. Look for it, it's gonna fuck you up. Q-Tip sends me a new iPod all the time because he wants me to know. I don't know tons and tons about music; there's so many people I've never heard of.

Whose record have you listened to the most this year?

I like My Chemical Romance and Green Day, in terms of rock. I'm looking forward to the new Puddle of Mudd and the new Strokes albums. And people need to show more love to Ben Folds. Hell, yeah!

You don't smoke, but you said once that after eating weed brownies, you could "see music like nothing I ever saw before." Explain, please.

I'd made a beat in the studio, and all of a sudden all these vivid colors started coming outta the speakers. It was crazy! When I hear music I can imagine a virtual picture, but this time I could see it. It was weird. I wouldn't advise it to anybody.

That's a good brownie.

Y'know what it was? I had six of 'em -- I didn't think they were working. I was like, "Man, this shit don't work, but they good!" It was a huge fucking mistake. All of a sudden, everything was like whoooaaah. Shit was turning into flowers and shit!

By AUSTIN SCAGGS

http://www.rollingstone.c....0.12.1212

Big ups to Pharrell, he knows his music history!

I want summa those brownies!

dreamfactory313 said:

me too! i wanna see the music and flowers!! lol

Moonwalkbjrain said:

[Edited 12/4/05 14:52pm]

@ Pharrell liking Puddle of Mudd.