Virginia became a hotbed for talent, but we already knew what we had. We could see that something close to us was turning into a movement. I would see Teddy riding around in a Ferrari, Chauncey from Blackstreet, and all these hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of cars parked outside of the studio. Once Pharrell and them started to break with “Rump Shaker,” we could see success around us. I always received more love from where Pharrell and Chad were from in Virginia Beach than I did from my city, which is Richmond. The only person I knew of from Virginia that made it was Skillz. As far as hip hop music is concerned, I didn’t listen to anything other than New York hip hop. Well, we had our rappers, the occasional dudes that thought they could rap in school. What was the hip hop music scene like in Virginia during the early 1990s? They did a remix for The Lox’s “If You Think I’m Jiggy” and Mase’s record “Lookin’ at Me.” They were starting their hip hop production as The Neptunes. I met Chad after they made Noreaga’s “Superthug” song. By the time I met Chad, they were already established as The Neptunes. That guy was Pharrell Williams, and it was the first time I met him. They had this Keith Murray style of using big words. He and my partner had a serious style when they were rapping together. We started beat boxing and rapping together. I said, “Yo, that’s the tour bus right there.” It looked like he was about to cry. As we’re standing there, Tribe’s tour bus was at the light about to turn left. I asked him, “What is your name?” He responded, and he’s probably going to kill me for saying this, but he said his name was Magnum, The Verb Lord. I make beats.” I was looking at him because he looked so different. He was wearing silver rain boots, black pants, a silver Donna Karan puffy vest with a black shirt underneath of it, silver and black ski goggles, and he was like, “Yo, weren’t you just on stage with Tribe? You have to introduce me to Q-Tip.” I was like, “Huh?” He said, “You have to introduce me to Q-Tip. I was rapping with this dude I used to rap with named Kalonji, and this dude walked up to us. I just got off of the stage and a couple of my people from Richmond were there, so I was feeling good about my performance. So I was in the parking lot after the show. He used to invite me to Tribe’s shows when they were in Virginia, and he would let me rap at the end. He was very instrumental in getting me on The Stretch Armstrong & Bobbito Show. I had a relationship with Q-Tip which started in 1992. Pharrell and I were the biggest A Tribe Called Quest fans ever. The first time I met Pharrell was at Hampton University. I first saw them at this talent show in the winter of 1991. Before the talent shows, I heard that Pharrell was just showing up there on his own with cassettes. I think the prize was to meet Teddy Riley in person and come to his studio and record a song with him. I remember sitting there with my mom and I told her, “He has something.” He was the front man of the group, but the whole musical vibe they were bringing to the stage was so cool. When I came back, I believe Pharrell’s group came on last. Those talent shows were kind of boring, and I left one of them because my mom came down to visit me one day. The high school that Pharrell and Chad went to was within walking distance from Teddy’s studio, and Teddy started putting on these talent shows there. I was staying in Virginia with Teddy Riley and doing work for his company. From that point on, we always would be on the phone communicating with each other. Cam told me a lot about you, too.” It just so happened that he and Chad were partners then. I told him, and he said, “Yo, Cam told me a lot about you.” I replied, “Yeah. Pharrell was out there, and he asked me for my name. I was hanging down on Virginia Beach’s oceanfront, and that’s where everybody would be on the strip freestyling, rapping, and kicking it. My man was always telling me that I needed to get with his boy because his beats were crazy. His name is Chad.” We went over to Chad’s house, and he was showing Alex how to work the machine. So Alex said to me, “Let’s go over to my friend’s house. My friend Alex and I got this drum machine, but we didn’t know how to work it. I went to a music store called AL&M, and I rented a drum machine. The first time I met Chad I was working on some music. When and where did you first meet Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo?
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