If hip hop music were a competitive sport, it would be Formula One motor racing. A small number of beat constructors battle ever more intensely over each incremental victory, and the competition for the top places seems to be as predictable as it is heated.
And, if that's the case, then Sean 'P.Diddy' Combs is Williams - a former champion who has spent some time off the pace, and despite the odd victory, will surely never now reach the heights again. Dr Dre is McLaren - something of a starmaker, always there or thereabouts, and with an inexhaustible supply of new drivers he can call up to put his new creations through their paces.
And, if all of that works (It really does - comotosed Reviews Ed) then The Neptunes are surely Ferrari. They seem to have been in style forever, and for the past few years have been unable to do anything wrong. Even though they languished for a while when competitors seemed to have the upper hand, they've gone back to the lab and come up with an unbeatable sonic vehicle that will, it seems, only be toppled by changes to the rules.
This, Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams' (Jesus no! - Reviews Ed ) first LP as The Neptunes, is part show (-off) reel, part compilation, part line in the sand. It is presumably intended to show any doubters among their rap audience that while pop success with Justin and Britney may have come their way, they're still in thrall to beats and rhymes. And they are not ready to relinquish their crown as hip hop's top production construction crew.
Throughout, 'The Neptunes Presents Clones' matches idiosyncratic vocals with precision-tooled beats, the 'Tunes changing styles as efficiently as a pit crew fuels up and swaps wheels. Ruthlessly, relentlessly refined, the surprise is that you don't get sick of what is, despite its surface changes, a fairly predictable formula. Rather, you want to hear it again. And again. And again.
So Busta Rhymes is Michael Schumacher, effortlessly rounding the curves at Imola as he sprays syllables over the flickering shimmies of 'Light Your Ass On Fire'. Rap's royal couple, Kelis and Nas, are a Hakkinen/Coulthard dream team, while Ol' Dirty Bastard, released from prison and calling himself Dirt McGirt, is a boisterous Montoya ready to squirt champagne over anyone within range when The Neptunes finish building him a new LP.
The rest had best get busy: The Neptunes sound like their domination is only just beginning.
