One of the most deserving nominees for the 2020 Hall Of Fame are The Neptunes, the world conquering production duo comprised of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo. Since the late ’90s, The Neptunes have been responsibile for 24 Billboard 100 Top Ten hits, including seminal tracks such as Kelis’s “Milkshake”, Nelly’s “Hot In Herre”, “Grindin'” by Clipse, Jay-Z’s “I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)” and of course, Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot.” To emphasise just how important Pharrell and Chad Hugo’s contributions to songwriting are, at one point in the mid-00s, around 43% of all songs on the radio were produced by The Neptunes – that’s incredible.
In addition to The Neptunes, this year’s list of nominees features another seminal American duo: OutKast. Regarded as one of the greatest hip hop acts of all time, Big Boi and Andre 3000’s work together essentially put the now-thriving city of Atlanta on America’s musical map, with the group incorporating elements of funk, psychedelia and Southern stylings into their productions. On top of their classic LPs Aquemini and Stankonia, OutKast are the only hip-hop act to have ever received the Grammy Award for Album of the Year for their 2003 double album Speakerboxx / The Love Below – it’d be a crying shame if these guys weren’t inducted.
Other nominees worthy of note include Patti Smith, a punk poet who really needs no introduction, as well as soul/RnB stalwarts The Isley Brothers, indie instigators R.E.M, Mariah Carey, Eurythmics’ Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, Journey, Vince Gill and Steve Miller.
Head to the Songwriters Hall Of Fame for more details, and stay tuned to find out more when the inductees are announced next year.
