But stretched over the course of 16 songs, with few contributions from those who owe him for part of their success, leaves a moist, spoiled aftertaste. Not that there’s anything wrong with his brand of quasi-philosophical, brazenly materialistic music- see Jay-Z’s 'I Just Wanna Love U (Give It 2 Me)”, for example.

Without that dark core, Pharrell is left to focus expressly on the bouncy and bounce-able. One listen to Kenna’s overlooked 2003 post-new wave album New Sacred Cow- produced entirely by Hugo- reveals the evil synths and cold kinetics he brings to Williams’ airy theatricality and bougie Turks & Caicos yacht-rap. So one’s got to wonder, with that pedigree, why the hell Pharrell would leave his longtime partner out of the production process for his debut solo album, I n My Mind? The dark curls and eccentric lazers in the Neptunes’ music have always been attributed, at least in part, to Hugo.

In the canon of great American duos, Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo- better known as hip-hop’s paragons of icy minimalism, the Neptunes- rank somewhere between Laurel & Hardy and Hall & Oates.

Pharrell in my mind lyrics