For many years, Chad Hugo was one half of the Neptunes, the legendary Virginia Beach production duo who changed the sound of rap, R&B, and overall pop music in the '90s and '00s. It's hard to overstate the impact of the Neptunes, who made a dumbfounding number of classic hits and whose playfully spartan space-funk continues to reverberate today. Hugo was also a founding member of the Neptunes' N.E.R.D. side project. He was the quieter side of the Neptunes, the one who didn't sing hooks and appear in every video like Pharrell, but he was a crucial part of the whole — though the actual internal dynamics of the Neptunes are still a matter of some debate today.
The Neptunes haven't worked together for a long time, and Hugo has largely been out of the spotlight. Hugo worked on a Phoenix remix in 2023 and on the Eyedress album STONER last year. But when Hugo has been in the news lately, it's mostly been for legal battles and general overall rancor with his ex-partner Pharrell. So it's cool to see that Hugo is now stepping out on his own, releasing what he calls "my first EVER solo track."
This seems to be right! Hugo is listed as a feature on tons of tracks and remixes, and he's released instrumental under the name Yardnoise, but he's never been listed as a lead artist under his own name before today, when he released his brand-new single "JUMPUPW!NYA." But this song isn't exactly solo, either. It's a pulsing dance-rap jam, with some of that old minimal Neptunes clatter and with verses from rap iconoclasts Tierra Whack and Leikeli47. Cool song!
Chad Hugo stars in the Glenn Michael-directed "JUMPUPW!NYA" video, which is about scientists making wacky cartoonish mistakes and which has a real '90s Beastie Boys vibe. Check it out below.
"JUMPUPW!NYA” is out now on Galaxie Records, and Hugo seems to have more new solo music on the way.
