Various Artists: The Neptunes Present... Clones

At this point, it would be difficult to imagine the pop landscape without The Neptunes, and depressing to try. Pop radio remains dire, but it'd be far worse if many of hip-hop's most popular producers (The Neptunes, Timbaland, DJ Premier, Dr. Dre) weren't also the genre's best. Since becoming a veritable two-man Motown, The Neptunes' Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams haven't produced songs so much as automatic singles. Consequently, when listening to Clones, their first producer's compilation, it's hard not to line up Ludacris, Nelly, Snoop Dogg, and N.O.R.E.'s new tracks alongside their previous Neptunes-produced hits, and find the new songs lacking. Then again, it would be unfair to expect 18 sure-shot singles from any album, even an album from two of the biggest hitmakers in rap history. Clones has already scored a pair of hits in the "Hot Damn" remix, a reworking of the soulful posse cut from The Neptunes' Star Trak label, and "Frontin'," which draws its tension from the vulnerability of Williams' strained falsetto and the brash cockiness of his pop-star posturing. The song, which marks his debut solo single, poignantly captures the exact moment when lovers drop their pose of superior indifference and fumble toward something like commitment. Jay-Z pops up later on the track to profess his monogamous love to Beyoncé Knowles, and while romance isn't his forte, it's a touchingly vulnerable moment. Possibly the most surprising aspect of Clones is that two tracks are devoted not just to rock songs (from High Speed Scene and from Spymob, who backed The Neptunes on N*E*R*D's debut), but to quirky, smart-ass college rock. Rock and rap have long borrowed from each other, but it's still jarring to hear a rock song on a hip-hop album: Spymob popping up alongside Nelly and Jadakiss is a little like Steven Wright appearing on Def Comedy Jam. Somewhat embarrassingly for Hugo and Williams, the rock tracks–which they didn't produce–rank among the album's highlights. It should be noted, however, that The Neptunes' usual fine work and inspired turns from acts like Clipse (who raps about selling coke better than anyone else right now) and the deranged Dirt McGirt (who raps about using coke better than anyone else right now) ensure that hip-hop highlights also abound.