There has always been a passionate connection between Pharrell and his music. When he was seven years old his family left the inner city for the suburban side of Virginia Beach , peaking his music tastes. "We lived across the street from a biker group called The Renegades, which were like Hell's Angels," Pharrell recalls. "They played a lot of rock 'n' roll, so they'd be playing 'Born To Be Wild' across the street. Meanwhile in my house, my mom and dad are playing Earth, Wind & Fire, but on the radio they playing Rick James and Queen. I never really lost that."

It was in junior high school band camp that Pharrell linked with Chad and later formed a group. Their performance in a high school talent show caught the attention of local New Jack Swing producer Teddy Riley, who had made a name for himself for his work on Bobby Brown's Don't Be Cruel album, as well as songs for his group Guy, Keith Sweat and Al B. Sure. Soon thereafter, Pharrell wrote Teddy Riley's rap verse for Wrecks-N-Effect's 1992 double platinum single "Rump Shaker."

Pharrell and Chad quickly landed work with SWV, and eventually met Sean "Diddy" Combs, who hired them to produce songs for Total and Mase. But it was Noreaga's "Superthug," the hottest underground rap track in 1998, that made The Neptunes a household name in the hip-hop community. Since, The Neptunes' credits have included everyone from Ol' Dirty Bastard, No Doubt, Janet, Britney Spears, *NSYNC, TLC, Usher, Mary J. Blige, Toni Braxton, Kelis, Busta Rhymes, Babyface, and Mariah Carey I think we should add Justin. In 2003, they took home the Producer Of The Year, Non-classical Grammy Award.

Additionally, Pharrell has scored a number of business ventures. He designed a series of upscale sunglasses for Louis Vuitton. He has launched the Billionaire Boys Club clothing line and Ice Cream shoe collection. He created the Ice Cream skateboard team, and collaborated with skateboard icon Tony Hawk to encourage more inner city youth to participate in the X-Game competitions.

Pharrell is humbled by his accomplishments, and hopes that through his music, listeners will see his vision.

"I'm just trying to bring the ammonia back to radio and to television," Pharrell says. "When I was a kid, you'd run to the screen to see that rapper and the beat was, 'Oh my God.' You'd lose it. I miss that. I appreciate what's going on right now. I appreciate my opportunity. So with my opportunity I'm going to get in, I'm baseball batting. I want to break the color lines, and that's the way I grew up."

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