Pharrell Responds To Chad Hugo’s Lawsuit Over Withheld Money Allegations

It’s always been the business of show. Money will continue to be the sticking point for all creation as long as there’s a market for entertainment. In music in particular, this rings truest. Pharrell Williams has been caught in the crosshairs by former friend and music partner Chad Hugo. In his claim against Williams, Hugo has alleged that the “Alright” producer owes him at least three hundred thousand dollars. That figures balloons to a million dollars as the residuals come into view over the work they did with N.E.R.D. album No One Really Dies (2017).

This could have all been avoided. People say don’t go into business with friends but that’s nonsense. The idea is to enter into business with someone you can trust and share the same values. Williams and Hugo went wrong with their inability to understand the mechanics of enterprise, allegedly.

Often called “Poor Chad” because of his contributions to the Neptunes while almost never appearing on the tracks and in scant music videos. Pharrell has rocketed to superstardom based on the strength of his songs like “Happy.”

There’s a sour spin on the Neptunes history because of supposed poor financial tracking. At the outset, Hugo claims that Pharrell should have been on top of all the monetary matters. When Poor Chad had brought up another suit claiming the ownership over the name Neptunes, this created a fissure between the two men.

As Pharrell always likes to project harmony and peace among people, he certainly has found himself in a war in the courts system. This is what is so sad. Two relatively young men with money and power in the industry who have severed ties shows just where relationships can go. Their talents would lead anyone to understand how on the dance floor and in the car or around the house, whatever is going on must be as good as the music. Such is not the case. The dollar amount means that Poor Chad is serious about receiving the money that he feels is rightly his.

Pharrell on the other hand is producing whole albums for GRAMMY®-nominated duo Clipse. One half of this group, Pusha T, is feeling the hurt from the disbandment of WIlliams and Hugo. From their days in cars riding around Virginia Beach, Virginia to beat samples and making music in Chad’s attic, now they have to side with Pharrell because of their closer links to the superproducer.

In a space where litigious issues often outweigh the relationships for even the closest of friends, there ought to be a way for justice to be delivered. It seems as if Pharrell is a purveyor of kindness and truth, but is he really that way? When will the Neptunes documentary drop to show what all this drama behind the hits really is like? If there is a continuance of the legal hashing out there may be a feature film in the works akin to The Social Network.

To get the money right comes before the art. While everyone loves music, cash is always a priority. And if Pharrell is said to be the one who governed the dollars, Poor Chad might have a point. All the grooves in the world mean nothing if there is no proper commercial consideration. From the people who have been able to see past the sense of beats and breaks and look to dollars and cents, that’s the reality few want to talk about or even consider. For Pharrell to go about like everything is sweet is an ugly way of conveying himself. Poor Chad will have to see about him getting his money. Maybe both men will be “Happy” after all of this legal talk.