Daily Inspiration: Watch Mike D Interview The Neptunes Before They Were Famous
This grainy, chopped up footage of Mike D, Pharrell, and Chad Hugo shooting the shit in 2001 might be the best thing you watch all week.
These Neptunes interview clips were some of the last ones filmed for the Beastie Boys' now-defunct label/website Grand Royal, and feature a 28-year-old Pharrell humbly philosophizing about how he wants to share his art with the world. He lists dream collaborators like Harmony Korine and spiritual guides like Timothy Leary, and even foreshadows N.E.R.D hits like "Lapdance" using sex as a bait to draw listeners into something different. But it isn't all heavy: there are some hilarious tour anecdotes about weed brownies and getting punched in the face to Wu-Tang in Virginia nightclubs. Considering how drastically different hip-hop and technology were 15 years ago, it's wild to see just how forward-thinking these dudes were.