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Pharrell Williams · S2 E5
Superthug
N.O.R.E.'s banger that put The Neptunes on the map
Sound on Sound Studios, New York, 1998. A rapper from Queens looks up and sees two kids from Virginia Beach walk in wearing tight jeans and chokers. He thinks they look like dorks.
N.O.R.E., Superthug (1998). The Neptunes' breakthrough. Built on a Blondie sample, a sparse drum groove, and the most unexpected hook in hip-hop. It peaked at #1 on the Hot Rap Songs chart and #36 on the Hot 100.
Superthug -- N.O.R.E. (1998)
Samples Blondie's "Heart of Glass," a 1978 new wave disco track repurposed as the backbone of a hardcore hip-hop single. The production is sparse and alien: a tinny synth line sits front and centre, the drums hit with mechanical precision, and the space between the sounds does all the work. The "what, what, what" hook was originally a placeholder ad-lib. Pharrell heard it and kept it.
“They looked like dorks to me. This was the era of 44-inch waist pants, and Pharrell had on tight jeans and a choker.”
— N.O.R.E., Billboard, 2018
TAP TO REVEAL: Who else wanted the Superthug sound?
Sound on Sound Studios, New York
The studio where Noreaga first met Pharrell and Chad Hugo. Two worlds colliding: a Queens street rapper and two Virginia Beach producers in tight jeans who were about to change the sound of hip-hop.
Superthug: The Numbers
Banned from TV. N.O.R.E. ft. Big Pun, Cam'ron, Jadakiss, Nature & Styles P
From the same 1998 N.O.R.E. album that gave the world "Superthug." A Swizz Beatz production stacked with five of New York's hardest rappers. This is the world Noreaga came from, and the world The Neptunes invaded with a Blondie sample and a pair of tight jeans.
What song did The Neptunes sample for "Superthug"?
Michael Jackson is calling, and every rapper in New York wants a Neptunes beat. But they are not done with Virginia Beach yet. Next: the scene that raised them.
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