44. Pharrell feat. Jay-Z - Frontin' (2003)

One of the reasons for the hip-hop takeover of the beginning of the third millennium is that the period was blessed with several hip-hop producers that cooked up wondrous things in the studio, and drew musicians from other styles, who wanted the same kind of treatment done on their records. Dr. Dre and Timbaland were two who stood out, but above all were undoubtedly the pair of Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams, better known as the Neptunes.

The unique style that turned the Neptunes into a hitmaking machine is based on exotic sounds, either digitized or instrumental, ordered to create a bouncy and sensual rhythm section, minimalist funk that invokes Prince in his prime. Their bass always has something crackling about it, a dirty sound that makes you feel horny and dissatisfied, but the treble pampers the body and the spirit. The Neptunes play many of the instruments themselves, which enables them to create a live and hungry feel, and their mastery of technology is absolute, allowing them to intensify every effect. And the icing on the cake is Pharrell's funky falsetto, which always adds a sexy dimension to the records, and his baby face which does the same for the videos.

The Neptunes worked together as producers some years before this sound gelled in 1998, but once they found it, it didn't take them long to become the hottest producers around. Their springy style, and Pharrell's soft backing vocals, made the music of hardcore rappers like Jay-Z, Snoop Dogg and Busta Rhymes a lot more accessible, and elevated them to a higher level of popularity; lit a fire under the white nerdy asses of Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake and Gwen Stefani, and made them cooler and funkier; launched the career of several artists, like Kelis; and yielded interesting results even in the field of rock. In 2003, about every third record you heard on the radio was their production. In my chart this is the sixth, and certainly not the last, record they have produced.

With such domination, it is no wonder they started to produce records of their own. This is their biggest hit, and also the most representative. "Fronting", in black jive, means pretending to be more than what you really are, putting a front. But in the context of this record, it is of course also a symbol of the moment Pharrell steps up to take front-stage. In the song itself, Pharrell is indeed fronting, boasting and coming over as a lover-man to impress some chick, in a typical combination of romantic sweetness and funky dirty talk. But in 2003, Pharrell really was the man.