Pharrell Williams reshaped hip-hop and pop with smooth vocals, innovative production, and a creative vision that influenced culture worldwide. He met Chad Hugo in seventh grade when both played in a Virginia Beach marching band, and after high school they formed The Neptunes, discovering a signature sound that blended old school funk, spacey synths, and world music elements on 1998's "Superthug" by N.O.R.E.. Over the next five years the duo racked up countless platinum hits, producing for Britney Spears' "I'm a Slave 4U," Justin Timberlake's Justified, Gwen Stefani's "Hollaback Girl," Nelly's "Hot in Herre," Snoop Dogg, Jay-Z, Mariah Carey, and countless others. His solo work proved equally monumental, "Frontin'" featuring Jay-Z launched his solo career in 2003, and 2013's "Get Lucky" with Daft Punk and Nile Rodgers defined the nu disco revival while "Happy" from Despicable Me 2 became a cultural phenomenon, the best-selling song of 2014 and a global anthem that stayed atop the Billboard Hot 100 for 10 consecutive weeks. Pharrell won 13 Grammy Awards including Producer of the Year three times (2004, 2014, 2019), earned two Academy Award nominations for "Happy" and Hidden Figures, and built massive fashion empires with Billionaire Boys Club, Ice Cream, and his Louis Vuitton menswear creative director role. He didn't just make hits, he broke down the divide between urban and pop music, imprinted his style on every artist he touched, and redefined what it meant to be a creative force across music, fashion, and design. #pharrellwilliams #theneptunes #2000s #hiphop #bape - @onlyrealtalkofficial