r/Music • u/Sisiwakanamaru • 20h ago

article Pharrell Trying to ‘Rewrite History’ and ‘Erase’ Chad Hugo from Neptunes, Producer Claims

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/pharrell-chad-hugo-neptunes-copyright-infringement-lawsuit-1235644309/
1.8k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

136 comments sorted by

1.1k

u/famous_informal 19h ago

Why even do this? Pharrell is exponentially more popular because of the work they did together. Give Chad his flowers and move on. I grew up idolizing The Neptunes and all the stuff they were doing, in and out of the music game. Made several attempts to be them! This is a real shame.

439

u/prettymuthafucka 19h ago

He’s been doing it for a while. Greedy mf

412

u/Medical-Diamond-6665 14h ago

It’s crazy because anyone who actually knows production history knows Chad was the mastermind behind those complex jazz chords and bridges while Pharrell handled the top-line melodies and front-man energy. Stripping Chad’s credit is literally rewriting the sonic identity of early 2000s music.

116

u/shortwritingshort 12h ago

The lawsuit is specifically for a bunch of music that they made between 2019 and 2021, not their classic songs from the 2000's

30

u/osmlol 9h ago

Why does that matter? We're the songs released under a shared pseudonym that has a contractual agreement?

18

u/shortwritingshort 5h ago

It matters because some ppl are going overdrive thinking it's about their fave hits. In my opinion, pharrell should let it go

-10

u/BedditTedditReddit 5h ago

So 2021 is not part of the 2000’s, thanks for that

2

u/shortwritingshort 1h ago

Its usually broken down into decades unless its about a longgg time ago or about a century or there's uncertainty which decade specifically. So 2019 is part of 2010's, 2021 is part of 2020's, so 2000's would be 2000-2009

42

u/Star-Prince-007 10h ago

Just like anyone who actually knows production history that Pharrell had been producing solo but using the Neptunes names during the time period in question here

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u/Finnyous 9h ago

That's on Pharrell. They had a deal that the Neptunes was a 50/50 thing. He should have stopped using the name.

9

u/Star-Prince-007 6h ago

I’m not disputing anything on their case just adding context to the person who was saying that it was still the two of them working together. It’s been just Pharrell for some time

-2

u/ComedianMinute7290 10h ago

nobody really reading the article. they see the clickbait title & post & immediately think P is erasing Chad from Neptune's history but it really isn't anything like that

1

u/Fit-Property3774 8h ago

Nobody rewrites Sonic

110

u/SunriseSurprise 18h ago

Because he can. That's why most of those super powerful people do shit like this.

63

u/PresidentSuperDog 17h ago

Pharrell just trying to be a billionaire

60

u/ProjectDv2 13h ago

Pharrell has had a pretty out of control ego for a while now. Nothing about this surprises me.

27

u/andhelostthem filmfortheblind 11h ago

Out of control hats too

20

u/alex_c89X 9h ago

The hats are pretty bad but makes sense. As my gf says "Its becoming more and more like Hunger Games". Tbh fashion people and their elitism bother me lol

5

u/hurryveryslowly 3h ago

An attempt to protect the perpetually swelling ego.

https://giphy.com/gifs/U77i93Pi74EX1a0o5E

1

u/donkeyrocket 8h ago

The LEGO set curse

61

u/WillyTanner 18h ago

Happy is more streams than any song Pharrell do with Hugo and that song exposed him to literally everybody of every age group.

He’s the “happy” guy to 90% of people

119

u/Khaeos 18h ago

Ironic

Sounds like a miserable dude

30

u/VivaZeBull 16h ago

The song was written ironically iirc but when he showed it around, people enjoyed it as a positive affirmation so he went with that to sell more.

12

u/Bigowl 13h ago

Nobody told him that rooms have a ceiling, not a roof.

38

u/prettymuthafucka 16h ago

So? We’re talking about the Neptunes. Chad was just as important. Maybe more

-30

u/WillyTanner 15h ago

I’m talking about Chad and Pharrell.there is no we.

13

u/prettymuthafucka 15h ago

The post and comment you replied to is about the Neptunes.

Happy is irrelevant

-11

u/WillyTanner 9h ago

It’s about Pharrell’s popularity compared to Chad. Do you know how to read?

You don’t, apparently

24

u/engelbert_humptyback 17h ago

Of course it does. Most of their music predates streaming. He was extremely popular and well known before that song.

-24

u/WillyTanner 17h ago

Their old music existed on Spotify before happy came out and got a head start.

And it’s not like the generation who grew up on Neptune’s doesn’t steam music. You’d have a point if it was music from the 60s or 70s.

Also it’s not a small margin, happy has overs billion streams. It charted higher and longer than any Neptune produced song. Even if you account for its release in the streaming era. The shit was and still is a huge. It’s a fucking anthem in commercials, all media, schools, conferences, churches, public speaking events etc. til this day.

14

u/deadfisher 17h ago

That's a lame-ass, shallow way to try to judge cultural impact. It would put him in the same category as Carly Rae Jepsen, rather than as a producer who shaped the sound of an entire generation of music.

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u/financekid 16h ago edited 16h ago

Hey now, Carly Rae Jepsen Emotions is one of my favorite albums tbh I'd honestly rather listen to that than some of the lesser Neptune's productions.

5

u/deadfisher 16h ago

By all means enjoy any music you like, we're just talking cultural impact.

5

u/financekid 16h ago

Agreed with your overall take but don't agree with using Carly as the comparison. Legit good popstar. 

13

u/bozon92 15h ago

I think that he means that people knowing Pharrell as the “Happy” guy is the same concept as Carly Rae Jensen being known as the “Call Me Maybe” girl

5

u/igotagoodfeeling 16h ago

Yeah no Carly slander on my watch. Her most recent album is also turning into a favorite

1

u/Own-County-48 14h ago

Carly is pop royalty. I will not be contradicted.

2

u/deadfisher 13h ago

I'd just as happily pick any artist dear to me who didn't make a fundamental impact on musical culture. It's not a slam against Carly or any pop song, I'm just comparing a big hit vs. a generational artist.

I'm not stanning for Pharell or whatever, either. Basically just saying that it's super lame to insinuate "happy" is his most important thing because it's his most overtly popular.

8

u/cherrycoloured 12h ago

the idea that carly rae jepsen has no cultural impact was so confusing to me until i remembered that gay culture isn't mainstream culture lol. she is a huge star amongst us lgbtq ppl, i forget she's not as popular outside of us

7

u/deadfisher 11h ago

I don't mean to say she's not popular, maybe cultural impact is a bad phrasing too. She's popular, but she's not like a... musical pioneer, you know?

"Happy" is a pop bop, Neptunes defined the sound of an era, more or less. My point is to roll eyes that we're even talking about streams and popularity, when the real conversation here should be about respecting the guy's creative legacy.

•

u/roseofjuly 4m ago

You don't have to be a musical pioneer to have huge cultural impact.

-10

u/WillyTanner 17h ago

We talking about popularity not cultural impact. Follow the comment thread.

You wanna discuss cultural impact, Pharrell probably wins too based on all the fashion stuff he’s done and being the front man of the neptunes. Chad chose the background and there’s nothing wrong with that. They both did their thing with the music.

2

u/Former_Most_5570 10h ago

Hugo’s music is the actual music that made him popular tho. Especially in the 2000s when people had to actually purchase music

479

u/moistplumpin 18h ago

Fuck Pharrell, no one happy in 2026 except a bitch ass

227

u/rysker6 19h ago

Pharrell trying to claim he's Neptunes now ?

You will not Chiddybang alone Pharrell. IT TAKES TWO

41

u/justanawkwardguy 18h ago

At least chiddy had the blessing of xaphoon jones to continue using the name solo

6

u/shortwritingshort 12h ago

The lawsuit is specifically for a bunch of music that they made between 2019 and 2021, not their classic songs from the 2000's

264

u/WallyReddit204 18h ago

Pharrell is a shitty human and it shows his music isn't what it was with chad. Hes gotta make things right

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u/Capt-Crap1corn 18h ago

That's a fact. You can feel the music is missing something. Chad's touch

13

u/Hippopotamist 14h ago edited 14h ago

I mean he made Hell Hath No Fury entirely without Chad, for me that’s the best album production under The Neptunes name.

I don’t like that he’s doing this but if this is the same situation and Chad had no involvement with the disputed music it’s not totally black and white to me.

5

u/Sunghanthaek 8h ago

Solid point.

1

u/Capt-Crap1corn 4h ago

I agree. Solid take

116

u/Specific_Berry6496 13h ago

half of everything I hear about Pharrell is evil.

31

u/Nova_Dove 8h ago

yeah, it's either "pharrell is a genius" or "pharrell is a snake." no in-between.

13

u/UltLuc 7h ago

All I think about him now is popularizing the hat the dad from Curious George wears. Goofy ass MF.

10

u/donglecollector 7h ago

I’m pretty sure to get to the top of anything you gotta be a lil of both.

0

u/GuyNamedLindsey 2h ago

As a genius myself, I ageee.

0

u/FocusDelicious183 1h ago

Hey buddy, I’m the genius here

3

u/splintersmaster 8h ago

Yet another example of how pharell and the band injured differ

1

u/ChasingDarwin2 1h ago

Both can be true

35

u/andhelostthem filmfortheblind 11h ago

The other half is happy

13

u/HollowBottom 10h ago

It might seem crazy what I’m bout to say

11

u/xanderpills 11h ago

”Everyone in music business has some cutthroatness in them”.

2

u/alex_c89X 10h ago

Im am so curious who said this

4

u/HomemadeLightbulb 8h ago

xanderpills said that iirc

1

u/xanderpills 9h ago

It was a youtuber, but that’s how it is. Music business is one where no one is going to tell ”Hey, shouldn’t you get 30% of the royalties?”

No one is doing that.

3

u/Nina-Ninja123 7h ago

Isn’t that any kind of business?

Your rights for minimum compensation are just not defined by a law in music like it is in other sectors.

1

u/xanderpills 7h ago

I guess, but the difference is you’re still ”making great songs with a bunch of friends”, it happens in your free time and it’s usually fun. It might even happen in complete agreement. Until it doesn’t.

0

u/shapednoise 2h ago

Not actually true, but perhaps 90% true, 😃but some of us recognise the other people we work with as deserving and that collaborative work deserves recognition.

1

u/ExpressionUnlucky875 4h ago

Half of everything is also a lot of bass.

1

u/Skreamie 2h ago

Damn I've never heard a bad word about him, I must have my head in the sand

1

u/onesleekrican 8h ago

I grew up in the area he’s from. It’s par for course.

1

u/FernandoDante 8h ago

The other half is lame.

1

u/stackdatdough 5h ago

The way he does the praying hands in every picture

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u/YZYSZN1107 18h ago

Skateboard P is damaging what was a epic duo. makes me sad

66

u/DontBlameMe4444 19h ago

How about no lil skateboard p

17

u/fednandlers 6h ago

The way most of these celebs “make it” is by being huge egotistic assholes who will shit on everyone that propped them up. 

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u/NoMoPolenta 19h ago

This is not how it should go. I do not like Neptunes fracture.

2

u/ghost_sanctum 3h ago

Really tough for bedroom producers in VA to be hearing about this fracture

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u/nitro4450 18h ago

'Re-writing history" might be a stretch. The lawsuit is specifically for a bunch of music that they made between 2019 and 2021, not their classic songs from the 2000's

I'm not necessarily defending Pharrell. Hugo deserves his fair share since it was a 50/50 partnership.

17

u/No-Lead-6769 11h ago

Rewriting history is always a heavy term for something like this, when I hear "Rewriting history" I always think about someone claiming the holocaust never happened or aliens built the pyramids or that crazy town was a good band

32

u/psychoacer 17h ago

Yeah Chad didn't really have anything to do with the last N.E.R.D. album but that was mostly up to Pharrell. I wonder what's going on with Chad though since he looks pretty beat up right now and his last song had a music video done with AI for 90% of it. I hope they both figure their shit out

11

u/meatballfreeak 17h ago

Nobody read anything anymore 😂

-5

u/jt004c 10h ago

oh ffs. Rewriting history is not a stretch. The phrase is understood to be within the context of whatever it's being used for. Nobody thinks that the term means we need to start editing our World History textbooks.

26

u/hmatthias 19h ago

This the guy with that hat?

10

u/relevantnewman 14h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/zOBM2EO8rEyj1Hfe3V

yeah, this guy

2

u/earth-to-matilda 13h ago

he kinda does look like a turtle

1

u/relevantnewman 9h ago

yeah I came to this revelation years ago- not just any turtle though, specifically Franklin the Turtle.

9

u/itsafuntime 16h ago

because I'm hattyyyyyy

18

u/maaalv 5h ago

Real ones know it was always Chad

25

u/SophiSae00 17h ago

Anyone who knows 2000s hip-hop and R&B knows Chad Hugo was the secret sauce behind 'The Neptunes' signature sound. Pharrell was the face, front-man, and vocalist, but erasing Chad's contribution to those iconic chords and arrangements is pure disrespect.

2

u/Shorlong 15h ago

But this is about the stuff from 2019-21, that Chad didn't really do anything with

1

u/AttemptImpossible111 8h ago

I know hip hop so I know this is a myth with absolutely no evidence backing it up and actually good evidence against it

19

u/sharponephilly 18h ago

Pharrell is yesterday’s news.

8

u/shortwritingshort 12h ago

The copyright issue is about music made between 2019-2021. Can ppl agree or disagree based on the actual lawsuit n not this headline?

1

u/WillyTanner 6h ago

No. They’re outrage vultures here to dump on a celeb

5

u/larflezz 7h ago

While im not saying its not possible, hasn't he made two separate documentation films that mention him and Chad working together extensively?

7

u/Suspicious_Hand_2194 17h ago

Money can be such a corrupting force so quickly

7

u/clarkkentsson 17h ago

Sounds like Chad just didn’t know as much about the business side of the industry and let Pharrell fuck him. Shit happens all the time

2

u/kirko_bane 9h ago

Did For Real even watch his own Lego movie? Is it better to keep playing their albums for Chad's benefit or just stop altogether?

2

u/NoConcert8526 6h ago

I used to love The Neptunes. Those NERD albums were a huge part of my childhood. I haven’t really followed him as a solo artist too much as I felt like he moved away from that magic of The Neptunes.

3

u/AttemptImpossible111 8h ago

I see reddit has bought the myth that Chad is the real genius behind the neptunes sound

4

u/TheLionOfJudah101 14h ago edited 13h ago

guaranteed that if everybody in the comments actually read the article, and then went and looked at the multiple complaints, they would 100% agree with Pharrell here

Edit: wanted to add that I'm pretty sure Chad's complaint mostly gets dismissed with leave to amend. This really isn't going anywhere.

The article title is complete ragebait though. you know they are desperate for our clicks. so just use Chad's own words as the title even when they know this is going nowhere.

3

u/[deleted] 17h ago

[deleted]

4

u/cs700r 10h ago

That can’t be right, Pharrell went to Princess Anne HS & Chad went to Kempsville. -VB native & resident

4

u/theninjaofthenasty 10h ago

This guy Virginia’s

3

u/Radio_Ethiopia 16h ago

Millenial hall and oats , yall

1

u/Initial-Ad-1467 15h ago

I remember seeing this guy at the opening of the Paris olympique games. The way he dressed was so ridiculous wearing shorts exposing his chicken legs. Fashionista my ass
https://giphy.com/gifs/pc32sCWRJVLrWUgMCJ

1

u/dividepaths 2h ago

Lol FUCK Pharrell

1

u/Scared-Box8941 2h ago

I’m telling you. All of these rich people tell themselves little lies along the way and live in their own reality surrounded by people who will never really confront them or force accountability

1

u/elegy2theevoid 16h ago

It all went down hill after his solo album.
Just like Brandon Flowers.

1

u/X_Zephyr 14h ago

I hope this is resolved in the future. Their work together was revolutionary, not many people know they produced some of the biggest tracks from the 2000s.

1

u/Rathma_ 13h ago

Wow. Pharrell is being a dick.

1

u/Former_Most_5570 10h ago

If Pharrell was a good person he would make it right with Chad but

1

u/deadly_monk 8h ago

Pharrell has made hits.

He also sounds like a complete moron in every interview. His NPR interview (for his “movie”, insane that was even a thing) was very telling and hilarious to me. He doesn’t know anything about music, really, it was so obvious and his ego is endless, which is why the movie happened.

He just learned how to make good beats and kept reusing it and faking it until he made it. I was thinking the whole time, goddamn this guy makes millions and barely has anything to say.

1

u/apaulogy 8h ago

this is disappointing because I want to like Pharrell but he does need to acknowledge that his music would have been corny without Chad.

1

u/Ensteinnoodles87 7h ago

I always stand with CHAD. Never PHARRELL who does shows for IDF soldiers and then screams he’s non politicial - ok how did an unqualified designer get such a plum job. 

-3

u/wholesomefringe 17h ago

Lemons and limes are fighting

0

u/Kilik613 11h ago

Guess we'll always have that lego movie to look back on.

0

u/ucmyproblemisthis378 2h ago

Pharrell is a terrible person

-2

u/Macqt 6h ago

Wait the Neptunes? That group that would just take popular songs and sing/rap over them back in the Napster/limewire days?

-57

u/WillyTanner 18h ago

Chad basically just turned on the keyboards and installed software on the computer.

22

u/MandudesRevenge 18h ago

Is that a fucking joke? Dude is talented as hell

15

u/maniacreturns 18h ago

It's past your bedtime Pharrel

11

u/Khaeos 18h ago

Why? Is the other guy too dumb to install software?