The REAL Genius Of The Neptunes Lies In Their Bridges

[DJ Mart-Kos]

Yep. 9th Wonder for example. He's one of my favorite BEATMAKERS but he cant craft a bridge to save his life. Most of his beats are just str8 loops throughout the entire song. I dont consider him a "producer" so to speak. He's more of a beatmaker. In my opinion The Neptunes are up there with any producers of any genre that you can name as far as pure talent. Pharrell is one of the greatest musical geniuses in modern history.

Even though i love 9th's sound and he inspired me heavy on a lot of my beats.
I would never put him in my top 5 Producers cause he's not very technical or musical on his beats to me. IMO

 

[BrothaZay]

Why do nikkas assume Chad was the "real genuis" behind Neptunes?
Lmao I swear, nikkas who dont even know who neptunes is or how many members in it, you show them a picture of pharrel and chad hugo and be like "those the neptunes" nikkas who didnt know who Chad was a week ago, automatically start sayin shyt like "that asian niggga was the real brainds behind the group, fucc dat nikka pharrell

be blac brehs

 

[Dre Space Age]

Eh? Timbo is a monster.

Word.

It takes two people and a couple diff instruments (Neptunes) to do what Timbo does by himself just beatboxing on the toilet.

if y'all really wanna see his genius in action outside the studio, your gonna have to download that hangout app and follow him on there.

 

[Gaara]

The Neptunes

it aint the same without chad hugo

Chad and Kenna produced the Ashlee Simpson track.


And yeah people always say Pharrell but Chad is the genius behind most of these. When Chad took some time off, the neptunes sounds went away with him.
Now dont get me wrong P is a musical genius too and he can write some dope ass melodies and shyt.
But Chad man....

Well they need to do more music together for old time sake.

When i heard So many pros by Snoop i just KNEW that Chad was involved somehow. You can feel th3 difference.

Ive been a Neptunes stan since i heard oh no by NORE

I really don't know where people got this notion that Chad was the "Real Genius" of The Neptunes.

According to Chad himself Most of the music they produced was mainly composed by Pharrell. Before P got good at playing keys he used to loop samples and have Chad replay them or play broken melodies and have Chad fix them.

Chad was the One Man Band of the two. Chad did most of the synth work and programming while Pharrell handled most of the composing, live drumming, drum programming and lyric writing. But most of the bridges were done by Chad.

Now Pharrell plays well enough to not need Chad any more and if you haven't noticed the sound quality of Pharrell's solo work is way better than that of The Neptunes as a duo.

The "Neptunes Sound" is and always has been Pharrell's sound which is why the score for the first Despicable Me sounds like a long loss Neptunes beat tape and why every one praises The Neptunes as a duo for Hell Hath No Fury despite Chad not being involved in either of those.

 

[boskey]

Not to derail, but 50 Cent also used to have crazy bridges. He fell off when he stopped doing that well

"I just wanna chill and twist the la, catch stunts in my 745..."
"My show my flow brought me the doe, that bought me all my fancy things..." (same melody )
"I put a hole in a nikka for fukkin with me, my back on the wall now you gon see"

 

[Dre Space Age]

Bridges and Choruses are very important in achieving mainstream success.

*edited*

So no one's gonna tell me what a bridge is?

Is it the lead in to the chorus,or something?

Yeah. It's between the main beat/verse of the song and the chorus. It's part of what separates average songwriters and producers from really good ones. You either need to be naturally talented at music or study older music to learn and appreciate.

 

[WOAHMYGOODNESS]

That frontin bridge
Neptunes and usher
Gonna boogy

 

[Dre Space Age]

Why do nikkas assume Chad was the "real genuis" behind Neptunes?
Lmao I swear, nikkas who dont even know who neptunes is or how many members in it, you show them a picture of pharrel and chad hugo and be like "those the neptunes" nikkas who didnt know who Chad was a week ago, automatically start sayin shyt like "that asian niggga was the real brainds behind the group, fucc dat nikka pharrell :jawalrus"

be blac brehs

This started when Pharrell began his solo projects without Chad. There was a noticeable drop in quality compared to the classic Neptunes sound but over time, Pharrell overcame his shortcomings and became a more competent producer.

 

[Gaara]

This started when Pharrell began his solo projects without Chad. There was a noticeable drop in quality compared to the classic Neptunes sound but over time, Pharrell overcame his shortcomings and became a more competent producer.

In My Mind and Hell Hath No Fury were fuller and better sonically than most of the work P and Chad did together. Pharrell started churning out flops because he was splitting his time between being a artist, a producer, a spokesperson, and a designer plus he was doing it alone and two heads are better than one.

 

[O.Red]

Never thought about this but it makes perfect sense

 

[BrothaZay]

This started when Pharrell began his solo projects without Chad. There was a noticeable drop in quality compared to the classic Neptunes sound but over time, Pharrell overcame his shortcomings and became a more competent producer.

that doesnt mean he was the brains, everybody can fall off overtime

 

[TrebleMan]

I don't agree with Chad being the "real" genius, this is coming from a (mostly) Filipino person who wants to say otherwise. Chad is a major contributor though..

If you look at the sheer musical and creative ability Pharrell has, how he talks about music and his musical knowledge, it's clear he's something extraordinary. Dude can put together songs fast, usually open-minded, has perfect pitch as well as synesthesia, strives to be different, and a student of the craft meaning he's pretty much the perfect music making machine.

That said, both of them will always be better as a duo than individually, despite Pharrell's recent success. Even if your musical ability may not be on the same level, your chemistry and understanding of your colleague means your contributions are exactly what the other person needs at the right time. That's The Neptunes dynamic right there.

 

[PhonZhi]

So no one's gonna tell me what a bridge is?

Is it the lead in to the chorus,or something?

*edited*

Yeah. It's between the main beat/verse of the song and the chorus. It's part of what separates average songwriters and producers from really good ones. You either need to be naturally talented at music or study older music to learn and appreciate.

To add-on, Its usually the part of the song that sounds TOTALLY different than the rest to put it simply. In r&b the tempo usually slows. In most standardly constructed songs it happens after the 2nd verse and hook and leads back into the hook again to finish the song.

This is probably one of the best examples i can give u. Just listen for the part that sounds totally different than the rest. Lol. When the beat changes.

 

[satam55]

Do yall understand the musicianship it takes to craft a dope bridge??



That Robin Thicke "I Wanna Love You" bridge

@stomachlines

 

[PhonZhi]

@PhonZhi
It's funny because I subconsciously learned what you just posted when the more I listened to "Sooner or Later" from their album Seeing Sounds. Everytime I'd listen to that song I'd realize that it's a small portion of that song that just stands out from everything else:
"It all comes crashing down~~!"

You put what I instinctively felt into more technical terms. Thanks fam

No doubt. I love talking about the "technical" side of music. I wish more posters had an interest in it.