Neptunes, Outkast, REM up for Songwriters Hall of Fame

NEW YORK — The Neptunes, the creative, innovative production-songwriting duo of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo who shaped pop and urban radio from the ’90s well into the 2000s thanks to crafting hits for Britney Spears, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake, Usher and Beyonce, are nominated for the prestigious Songwriters Hall of Fame.

Joining the Neptunes as nominees for the 2020 class are other visionaries who have carved out their own space in the music universe: the rap icons Outkast and rock pioneers R.E.M., who announced they had called it quits in 2011.

Twenty-four acts are in contention for the 2020 class. Performing nominees include Patti Smith, Journey, Vince Gill, Gloria Estefan, the Isley Brothers, former Eurythmics members Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart, Mike Love, Bread’s David Gates and Steve Miller. Mariah Carey, who co-wrote 17 of her 18 No. 1 hits and earned her first Songwriters Hall nomination last year, is up for the prize again.

Songwriters are eligible for induction after writing hit songs for at least 20 years. Six songwriters, or songwriting groups, will be officially inducted at the Hall’s 51st annual Induction & Awards Gala in New York on June 11, 2020.

The Neptunes, based in Virginia, became sought producers and songwriters as everyone, from pop to rap to R&B stars, requested their services. Williams and Hugo worked on Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits such as Nelly’s “Hot In Herre,” Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl,” Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot” and Ludacris’ “Money Maker.” They crafted a number of Top 10 hits, too, including Timberlake’s “Rock Your Body,” Kelis’ “Milkshake,” Usher’s “U Don’t Have to Call,” Snoop Dogg’s “Beautiful,” N’Sync’s “Girlfriend,” Jay-Z’s “Excuse Me Miss” and “Change Clothes,” N.O.R.E.’s “Nothin'” and Mase’s “Lookin’ at Me.”

If inducted, Outkast and Williams — who also raps and sings — could join the elite group of hip-hop players in the Songwriters Hall: Jay-Z, Jermaine Dupri and Missy Elliott joined the organization in 2017, 2018 and 2019, respectively.

Outkast emerged from the Atlanta rap scene in the mid-90s, marking commercial and critical success with the albums “Southernplayalisticadillacmuzik,” “ATLiens,” ”Aquemini” and “Stankonia.” Andre 3000 and Big Boi’s fifth release, 2003’s double album “Speakerboxxx/The Love Below,” propelled them to pop star icon status, thanks to the inescapable hit “Hey Ya!” The album, which blended sounds of jazz and rock with hip-hop, became the second rap-based album to win the Grammy for album of the year, following Lauryn Hill’s win for “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” at the 1999 show. A rap album hasn’t won the top Grammy prize since Outkast’s win, though hip-hop heavyweights like Jay-Z, Kendrick Lamar, Eminem, Kanye West, Drake and Lil Wayne have competed for the honor.

R.E.M. shook up the music world with its edgy sound and then earned multiplatinum success and a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The group got its start in Athens, Ga., coming out of the region’s indie-rock scene. The band was credited for helping launch college radio with songs such as “Radio Free Europe.” And later R.E.M. became chart-topping rockers, selling millions of albums with hits like “It’s the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine),” ”Losing My Religion” and “Everybody Hurts.”