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Nathaniel Johnson, also known as Fam-Lay (born May 28, 1974)^{[citation needed]} is an American rapper from Norfolk, Virginia.^[1] Signed to The Neptunes' Star Trak imprint, he first gained notoriety through several guest appearances he made on various Neptunes-related projects, including the Clipse's debut album Lord Willin' in 2002. He also later appeared on The Neptunes' compilation The Neptunes Present... Clones in 2003, which featured his song "Rock 'N Roll". Then in 2004 he had the single and video "Rock N Roll (Remix)" featuring Lil Flip. It gained heavy rotation on MTV Jams.

He planned to release his debut album, titled Traintogo, in March 2004,^[2] through a joint venture between Star Trak and Def Jam Recordings. Unlike most Neptunes-helmed projects, where Pharrell and Chad Hugo handle almost all of the production duties, Traintogo was unique in that it was to feature production from outside producers, including Lil' Jon and David Banner. After suffering several delays, Traintogo failed to meet its scheduled release date. To further complicate matters, Fam-Lay's deal with Def Jam fell through, and he was dropped from the label in July 2004. Traintogo still has yet to be released.^[1]

He is currently wrapping up on the second iteration of Traintogo, re-e seen titled Dat Missile. The time has allowed him to re-tweak Dat Missile into a well crafted and solid effort, with 70% of the production done by The Neptunes, additional beats by DJ Toomp and guest spots from Three 6 Mafia, David Banner and the Clipse. Dat Missile was set to hit stores on October 25 via Star Trak/Interscope Records, but has yet to be released. Its first single is "Da Beeper Song", produced by The Neptunes and the video was shot by Hype Williams.

Fam-Lay can be seen in a cameo shot in 2005's "Can I Have It Like That" video with Pharrell. Also he can be seen sitting in front of a car in the Clipse's music video "Mr. Me Too", as well as briefly standing in front of Pusha T on the video of the remix to N*E*R*D's "Everyone Nose" (also featuring Kanye West and Lupe Fiasco). In 2005 Fam-Lay cut off his signature cornrows, now sporting a low cut. Da Beeper Record Video shot by Hype Williams. The second single is called "No Time 4 No's" with Pharrell and Clipse which is actually from Fam-Lay's unreleased album Traintogo.

In 2011 Fam-lay started his comeback by releasing 'Whats my name' & 'Look into my eyes' both produced by new up & coming London born producer Nana Rogues [1]

Fam-Lay released an official single called "Clap Clap" in January 2012. this single is produced by Nana Rogues

Discography[link]

Studio Albums[link]

• Unreleased: Traintogo
• 2008: Dat Missile Unreleased

Mixtape[link]

• 2004: Star Trak Presents: Fam-Lay (Hosted by DJ Cipha Sounds)
• 2005: Grand Theft Ghetto (Shark City) (Hosted by DJ Noe Dout)[2]
• 2008: DirtyWay - Never released

Singles[link]

(Chart positions from Billboard magazine)

Guest appearances[link]

(All songs feature Fam-Lay unless otherwise noted)

References[link]

External links[link]

• Fam-Lay's MySpace
• Fam-Lay's Boots N' Wigs blog

The Neptunes are a record production duo consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, who are credited with contributing the sound for many successful hip hop, R&B and pop artists in the late-1990s and 2000s. The Neptunes' sound is a distinctive brand of off-kilter, stripped-down electronic funk with sounds from Middle Eastern and Asian music including percussion and woodwind. Pharrell sings and (later) raps on records and appears in videos, unlike his production partner Chad, and sometimes vocal partner Shay Haley, who tends to stay behind the scenes.

The Neptunes are estimated to have a net worth of $155 million and are considered one of the most successful producers in music history, noted by twenty-four Billboard Hot 100 top 10 hits during the late 1990's and 2000's.^[1] In 2009 Billboard ranked The Neptunes No. 1 on their list of Top 10 producers of the decade. Readers of Vibe Magazine named The Neptunes as the 3rd greatest hip-hop producers of all time behind Dr. Dre and DJ Premier.^[2]

Biography[link]

Pharrell and Chad met at a summer camp from the school of The Gifted and Talented in Virginia Beach, where Williams was a drummer and Hugo played tenor saxophone.^[3] They were also both members of a marching band; Pharrell played kettle drum and Chad was a student conductor. In 1990 Chad and Pharrell formed a 4-piece "R&B type" group along with friends Shay and Mike Etheridge, which they named The Neptunes. Upon entering a local talent contest, they were discovered by Teddy Riley, whose studio was close to Pharrell's school.^[4] After graduating from high school, they signed with Riley as a group.^[5]

Through working with Riley, Pharrell went on to write a verse for Wreckx-N-Effect's 1992 #2 (billboard hot 100) hit "Rump Shaker". In 1994, Hugo and Williams had established themselves formally as a production duo under the previously used name "The Neptunes", and produced "Tonight's The Night" from Teddy Riley's group BLACKstreet's self-titled debut. Over the next three years they continued to produce occasionally. Some of the production, such as for SWV (1996) and Total (1996), had little resemblance to what would become their distinctive sound, while other songs such as Mase's 1998 No.8 (Billboard hot 100) hit "Lookin' At Me" (from the Harlem World album, 1997) showed clear signs the Neptunes sound was developing.

Their first major production hit, and the most clear beginning of the distinctive Neptunes sound, came with N.O.R.E.'s "Superthug" in 1998, reaching #36 on the Billboard Hot 100, and gaining them widespread attention for the first time. The duo then went on to work heavily with Kelis, producing her first album Kaleidoscope' which was the duo's very first full album production and Ol' Dirty Bastard's record Got Your Money, on which Kelis is featured. They achieved huge commercial success with tracks like Jay-Z's "I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)", Mystikal's "Shake Ya Ass", and then-newly-renamed Diddy's single "D.I.D.D.Y". Other notable hits during their commercial rise were Busta Rhymes' "Pass The Courvoisier pt. 2" and Usher's "You Don't Have to Call".

Kelis was one of several artists whose careers Hugo and Williams have helped launch; artists such as the Clipse, Vanessa Marquez and Justin Timberlake's solo career were also closely tied to the Neptunes' involvement. They have also helped re-launch the careers of Snoop Dogg, Robin Thicke and Mystikal.

In 2001, The Neptunes gained their first worldwide hit with Britney Spears' single, "I'm A Slave 4 U", which reached #1 in several countries in Europe and South America. The following year they reached #1 in the U.S. with Nelly's single, "Hot in Herre". In August of the same year, The Neptunes were named "Producers of the Year" at both The Source Awards and the Billboard Music Awards.

In 2003, they released a self-credited album called The Neptunes Present... Clones, featuring songs and remixes from various Star Trak artists. This album topped the US Billboard 200 Albums Chart.

The Neptunes went home with two Grammy Awards in 2004, one for "Producer of the Year, Non-Classical", and another for "Best Pop Vocal Album" for their work on Justin Timberlake's No.2 Billboard hit Justified. They also gained their first UK #1, again with Nelly, and Flap Your Wings.

The Neptunes sound[link]

Their 'sound' is mostly synthesizer riffs, Sampling Keyboard and modules. The Neptunes sound was first heard on Noreaga's 1998 track "Superthug", although not their first production, the song made it officially known as "The Neptunes Sound". Another example of "The Neptunes Sound" is in the Daft Punk song "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger," which they did a remix of. The song was released in Daft Punk's remix album titled "Daft Club," which was released Internationally on December 3, 2003 and in the U.S. on January 27, 2004. Along with The Neptunes remix, there were also remixes by Jess and Crabbe, Basement Jaxx, and many more.

Drums[link]

A Neptunes production is typically characterized by flat, punchy drum machine sounds and the use of module presets. "Grindin'" was a drum track that paid tribute to Eric B. & Rakim's song of the same nature, "My Melody". Justin Timberlake's "Like I Love You" paid tribute to the drums of the funk era, where the loop consisted of various snare sounds. On Busta Rhymes' "Light Yo Ass On Fire" they used a heavy chorus effect on the rhythm track suggesting an industrial or robotic theme. They have used the popular Roland TR-808 drum sound on such songs as LL Cool J's and Jamie Foxx's collaboration "Best Dress" but later production work introduced 'live' drum sounds similar to the ones they would frequently use under their N*E*R*D guise.

The Neptunes' engineer, in an interview with Sound on Sound magazine, revealed many of their production techniques.^[6] In reference to their drums he said, "Williams will play a standard drum kit, then I will cut 16 bars of it into a loop, before using the same method for other instruments including guitars. That's where a lot of the feel of their records comes from — it's not just machines and loops."^[7]

Vocals[link]

Many Neptunes productions feature a hook with Pharrell singing falsetto, including Jay-Z's "Excuse Me Miss", Jadakiss' "Hot Sauce To Go", Kelis' "Flashback", and Snoop Dogg's "Beautiful". Pharrell also adds his own rhymes to his productions, including "Drop It Like It's Hot" in 2004 and "Can I Have It Like That" from his solo debut album In My Mind. Sometimes he is credited as a featured artist and other times he is not.

Synthesizers[link]

Another sound found on Neptunes productions are their distinctive use of synth lines (popularized by Dr.Dre in the early 1990's with his G-funk sub-genre). Examples include the sharp unfiltered sawtooth bass on Busta Rhymes' As I Come Back or Kelis' Milkshake, the heavily phased strings in Jay-Z's "Excuse Me Miss (Remix)", and hard clavi sounds which is used in N.E.R.D's "Lapdance" reminiscent of those associated with rayguns or video game sound effects from the 8-bit era. The synthesizers they use include a MicroKorg, and a Minimoog Voyager.

Studio equipment[link]

There has been much speculation about their tools of the trade. For sequencing they use the Korg 01/W, for drum sounds they use the sampling keyboard Ensoniq ASR-10, their sound modules include the Roland JV 1080 and JV 2080 and for basslines and filtering they have used the MicroKorg. They are also well known for using the Korg Triton and incorporating live percussion and acoustic instruments into their music.^[5]

Other Neptunes-related ventures[link]

Star Trak[link]

The Neptunes' record label, Star Trak Entertainment, includes acts such as Snoop Dogg, Slim Thug and Robin Thicke. Star Trak artists generally benefit from more frequent production from The Neptunes, however, criticisms include poor promotion and release scheduling. Former artist include (due to parent label disputes) Kelis.

N*E*R*D[link]

The alternative group N*E*R*D is composed of Pharrell, Chad and Shay Haley. It is a backronym of No one Ever Really Dies. Their group hits include "Lapdance", "Rock Star" and "She Wants To Move". The first two singles came from their debut album In Search Of... released in 2001, while the latter came from their eagerly anticipated follow-up Fly Or Die in 2004. The band released a third album, Seeing Sounds, on June 10, 2008 and released their fourth studio album entitled "Nothing", on November 2, 2010.

Pharrell as a solo artist[link]

In 2003, Pharrell released his first solo single, Frontin' featuring Jay-Z. At the time he claimed it was a one-off song, and that he was not a singer in his own right. However, after several delays, Pharrell released his debut solo album on July 24 , 2006, titled "In My Mind". The first single from the album was a collaboration with Gwen Stefani titled "Can I Have It Like That", released in 2005. The album features numerous guests, including Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg, Nelly, Slim Thug, and Kanye West.

In recent years, Pharrell and Hugo have written many songs and produced beats separately on different projects, despite production still being credited to The Neptunes in all cases except Pharrell's solo debut In My Mind and Hugo's work on Kenna's New Sacred Cow. Notable examples include the Clipse's 2006 release Hell Hath No Fury,& 2009 release of Til The Casket Drops, where Pharrell or P.Williams is the only member of the duo who receives writing credits, as well as N.E.R.D.'s 2008 album Seeing Sounds, where nine songs are written solely by Pharrell and 3 are written by both Pharrell and Chad (Hugo received credits for additional keyboards and horns). Hugo, meanwhile, co-wrote the majority of Kenna's 2007 album Make Sure They See My Face, with the exception of two songs co-written by Pharrell and two written by Kenna alone. Basic speculation has to do with the fact that Pharrell now resides in Miami and Chad still resides in Virginia, but according to Pharrell, the two are very much still a team, despite recent allegations that the duo were splitting ways back in October 2008. The most recent project to receive substantial writing input from both Pharrell and Hugo has been Common's Universal Mind Control while Asher Roth recently confirmed that he was collaborating with both on his latest album.^[8]

Discography[link]

Awards and nominations[link]

The duo has received numerous awards, such as from the Grammy Awards, where they have been nominated every year from 2004 to 2007. The Neptunes have received three Grammy Awards: "Producer of the Year, Non-Classical", "Best Pop Vocal Album" for Justified, and "Best Rap Song" for "Money Maker". Overall, The Neptunes have received five awards from 17 nominations.

Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Awards[link]

The Billboard R&B/Hip-Hop Awards are sponsored by Billboard magazine and is held annually in December.^[9][10][11]

Grammy Awards[link]

The Grammy Awards are awarded annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States.^{[12][13][14][15]}

References[link]

Memphis Bleek
Background information
Birth name	Malik Cox
Born	(1978-06-23) June 23, 1978 (age 34)
Origin	Marcy Houses, Brooklyn, New York
Genres	Hip hop
Occupations	Rapper Actor Record Producer
Years active	1995-present
Labels	Get Low Records (1996-Present) Roc-a-Fella Records (1996–2009) Mass Appeal Entertainment (2009-Present)
Associated acts	Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, Beenie Man, Too $hort, Ja Rule, DMX

Malik Cox (born June 23, 1978), better known by his rap persona of Memphis Bleek or "Bleek", is a New York rapper mainly known for his tenure with Roc-a-Fella Records and CEO of his own label Get Low Records. He has released four albums during his career (all of which went Gold) , and had planned to release The Process in 2011, although the album has yet to be completed.

Biography[link]

NYC 1998

Memphis Bleek was one of the first artists signed to Roc-A-Fella Records, as protege to long time friend, Jay-Z. He appeared on the Jay-Z Albums Reasonable Doubt, Vol. 2... Hard Knock Life, Vol. 3… Life and Times of S. Carter, The Dynasty: Roc La Familia, and The Blueprint 2: The Gift & The Curse.^[1] Bleeks first official appearance was Coming of Age from Reasonable Doubt. After the huge success of the multi-platinum Hard Knock Life album and exposure of the Roc-A-Fella camp, (a Memphis Bleek track off the aforementioned Jay-Z album, "It's Alright", actually charted on Billboard), the label released Memphis Bleek's debut album, Coming of Age. The album was the weeks Hot Shot Debut on the Billboard 200, peaking at #7 with 118,000 units sold in its first week.^[2] MEMPHIS which the rapper explained to pay homage to Pimps; Making Easy Money Pimping Hoes In Style. He has released 3 more albums since his debut, The Understanding, M.A.D.E., and 534(all of which went Gold) . In between the release of The Understanding and M.A.D.E., he took a three year hiatus, in which time he took care of his older brother, who was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident.^[3] There are three significant notes to take away from the album 534, which was named after the building number where Memphis and Jay-Z grew up in the Marcy Projects. First, it was the first release from the "new" Roc-A-Fella Records, referring to Jay-Z becoming President of Def Jam.^[4] It was also the first official Def Jam recording by label mate turned international star, Rihanna, on the song "The One". And lastly, this album marks where Jay-Z released his first song since beginning his brief "retirement". The song was called "Dear Summer", in reference to what Jay called the time of the year when he would drop a classic album or single every year for 8 straight years, and how he had to metaphorically leave "her", Summer.^[5]

His single chart status has not proved to be as impressive, as much of his following being with Hip-Hop listeners following Jay-Z and the record Label, and not commercial singles success. His highest charting single was "Is That Yo Chick", Featuring Missy Elliott and Jay-Z, which peaked at #7 on the Hot Rap Singles Billboard Chart, and only one of two songs by the artist to crack the Billboard Hot 100, peaking at #68, and the only track to appear on one of his solo albums. The other single being "It's Alright", appearing on the Hard Knock Life album by Jay-Z, peaking at #61 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[6] He has had countless collaborations with fellow hip-hop artists such as DMX, Ja Rule, T.I., and Trick Daddy, with many of the features coming with other Roc-A-Fella artists, including Beanie Sigel, Freeway, Cam'ron, Amil, Young Gunz, and of course Jay-Z.

In fall 2005, Memphis Bleek told MTV that he was recording an album called The Process, that he would describe as a make or break album, saying "I want to do an album that's through the roof, I want to do a classic album. I feel that if this album I'm not recording is a classic, I'm not even gonna put it out. I have to do it bigger than anybody has ever done it. I have to make a good record this time, not just talking-junk records."^[7] The rapper has worked on the album since 2005 and during that time frame he would release the songs "Hustla", "Get Ya Money Off" and "Let It Off". During this time, he would also leave Roc-A-Fella after Jay-Z told him he could run his own company and had the proper distribution deals to do so.^[8] He found a new home in 2009 when he signed to Mass Appeal Entertainment which is where he will release his long anticipated album The Process in 2010.^[9]

In the summer of 2010, he was on stage with Jay-Z, as a background singer, on the Swedish festival Peace&Love.

Filmography[link]

In 2002, Memphis Bleek made his acting debut in the film State Property. He played the role of Blizz. A year later, he was featured in the film, Paper Soldiers.

Discography[link]

Studio albums[link]

• 1999: Coming of Age
• 2001: The Understanding
• 2003: M.A.D.E.
• 2005: 534
• 2012: The Process

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Memphis Bleek

• Memphis Bleek on Myspace