Chad Hugo's Contributions Will Be Missed on the New Clipse Album

Welcome to Golden Dragon, a newsletter by Eric Diep about Asians in hip-hop and my takes on trending topics in AAPI pop culture. Golden Dragon is a rotation of interviews, reviews, news, critical perspectives, and random blogs about music I recommend.

• Clipse’s Let God Sort Em Out is out tonight. I wish Chad Hugo were part of this moment.

I’ve been spending this month consuming all the Clipse interviews in anticipation of Let God Sort Em Out, which drops on July 11.

One of them was with Jon Caramanica and Joe Coscarelli on Popcast, where the brothers Pusha T and Malice were asked whether Chad Hugo is missed after they reunited with Pharrell for their first album in 15 years. Chad and Skateboard P were once The Neptunes, but a lawsuit over the name rights has put them no longer on speaking terms.

“[I] absolutely miss Chad as far as being on the album,” Malice says. “But I’ll see Chad in the airport, in the street. At Buffalo Wild Wings. Whatever they got going on, I just hope for the best. When we see each other, it’s always going to be love.”

When Coscarelli asked if Hugo’s contributions were missing in the music, Pusha T said it wasn’t for him. “No. Everybody knows my favorite album is Hell Hath No Fury. Pharrell did that alone,” he says. “Chad’s my guy. I love Chad. Pharrell’s my guy. Love Chad too. We’re brothers. We came up together. But when you say missing in the music, there is no missing in the music when it comes to Clipse. If it's just P, it don’t matter. We’re gonna find what we find.”

Everyone in hip-hop, from the fans to the industry, is calling Let God Sort Em Out the album of the summer. We’re dusting off our Bapestas and wearing LRG hoodies again. But I’m pretty bummed that Chad Hugo won’t be apart of this reunion or the upcoming tour that’s launching on August 3. He has so much history with them, producing as one half of The Neptunes on Exclusive Audio Footage, Lord Willin,’ and Till the Casket Drops. 

Maybe I’m a sucker for nostaliga these days. It seems like people have moved on from Hugo and The Neptunes' sound. On “So Be It,” Malice raps, “Ain't no more Neptunes, so P's Saturn.” The trio of Pusha, Malice, and Pharrell has found a pocket where they’re restoring the feeling of Clipse again. Without Hugo, though, I’m just always going to wonder what he could’ve brought to this album that would’ve made it better.

When I interviewed Hugo around the time he and Pharrell were inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2022, he told me how successful their partnership was.

“From my point of view, I just liked the process of being involved in making a record and then building on something and constructing something that is durable. Bulletproof. Something that you can hear over and over again,” Hugo said. “And just being a fan of music and appreciating art and incorporating that into what we did. And I’m just grateful that I’ve been able to travel places and reach different audiences through my partnership with Pharrell as The Neptunes. You know, we were hustling and we just wanted to get our stuff out there. I’m just thankful to be a part of it.”

With Hugo, he’s all about making magic. He’s the type of artist who loves to jam and improvise, trying his best to make songs move in a certain way. He’s never worried about getting credit for his work, which is why I think his relationship with Pharrell started to turn sour after 2022’s It’s Almost Dry. We were excited to see a Verzuz-like battle between The Neptunes and Kanye West. It was confusing when we couldn’t figure out what Hugo contributed on the Pharrell beats, leading us to believe there was a rift between them. In my Billboard piece, I had to confirm that he was working with Pusha and Ab-Liva for over six weeks while they were in Miami on It’s Almost Dry.

When Three 6 Mafia went on hiatus, Juicy J and DJ Paul released solo albums. Juicy’s was called Hustle Till I Die, and DJ Paul’s was a play on weighing drugs, titled Scale-A-Ton. I kept thinking when I listened to both albums that they felt incomplete. Juicy J was missing DJ Paul’s ear, and vice versa.

Clipse is fully committed to their album rollout through editorials, Funk Flex premiering “So Be It” on Hot 97, album listenings, an early Rolling Stone album review giving it four stars, and a tracklist that includes Kendrick Lamar, Tyler, the Creator, Ab-Liva, and Nas. We’re getting an album listening party on X before Thursday night’s release, a throwback to the days when we would all stay up late dissecting lyrics and sharing live reactions. We’ll still listen with great fervor, but without Hugo, does this really feel like a complete Clipse reunion?

Hugo will occasionally pop up with a production credit, most recently working with Eyedress on the songs “Dream Dealer” and “The Big City.” Listening to some of his solo production with artists, he brings the old N.E.R.D. sound, full of synthesizers and future funk that is authentically his. I like how minimalist his approach to music can be. Then there’s the Hugo from The Neptunes who can complement an artist with polished production. It’s P’s other half that we won’t hear on this album.

Clipse did another interview with the Elliott Wilson Experience, where Malice reiterated the same feelings about The Neptunes’ break-up. “It’s still giving honor to P, I understand that The Neptunes are no longer. We still go forward. We still persevere. We still push through. We gotta call him something else other than The Neptunes,” he said.

I just can’t call P, Saturn yet, I’m sorry, Malice. I know I’m on this Chad Hugo island alone. The real Star Trak fans want him and P on good terms again and settle whatever issues they have with The Neptunes brand. I got my hand like this 🖖 until it happens.

When I saw VannDa and Vuthea were doing Sabaidee Fest again this year, I was contemplating making the trip out to Los Angeles. The festival is a celebration of Southeast Asian talent, voices, and stories. They were promoting it heavily, telling fans that the Lao artists had their visas approved in April.

But in June, the Anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles sparked demonstrations nationwide. Because the L.A. protests have been concentrated in the city’s downtown area, Sabaidee Fest made the difficult decision to postpone the event happening on July 12-13. As of now, they haven’t released details on the new date and location. They’ll honor current ticket holders, and anyone looking to attend any dates on the Sabaidee Fest Tour will be able to for free.

Will I ever go to a Head in the Clouds? I really want to. The next one is in New York. Yuki Chiba!