The Neptunes. Duff N*E*R*D albums and dodgy Daft Punk collaborations aside, their influence on today’s music is unmistakable. While preparing for a hip-hop set on Thursday night I read Immy’s post about Riffs and it put in mind Usher’s 2002 single U Don’t Have To Call, though I opted for the Ludacris-featuring remix on the night (“We puttin’ up As like Summa Cum Laude”). As it happens I even played Clipse’s When The Last Time just before Ursher. Then last night I noticed the latest AOAO guest mix from Remé, which kicks off with an instrumental of Gwen Stefani’s Hollaback Girl. It’s clear to me that they’re still very much in our consciousness. So what better time for this Neptunes-only mix to surface from DJ Sure Shot.

DJ Ayres has got this new mix series going called Heavy Warmup, and the MO is as follows: “I love this DJ slot, it’s the time of the night when people are getting their second drink, the dancefloor is just starting to fill up, and the DJ can tease the crowd with great forgotten jams and new secret weapons. So I’ve asked a bunch of my favorite DJs to record a heavy warmup mix and I’ll be posting a new one every couple of weeks.” Eschewing the super big tracks like Shake Ya Ass or Beautiful or Like I Love You, Sure Shot digs deep and reminds you of how these guys worked with everyone, like the late great Guru, on his Jazzmatazz Street Soul album, to Ray J, when he wasn’t making home movies with Kim Kardashian, and, like, Madonna… They hit the pop charts themselves with Frontin’ – although that Clones album had as many dodgy tracks as good ones – and yes, in case you forgot, that is Pharrell screaming S-W-V on that Human Nature-sampling remix of Right Here. Philly gets represented by both Beanie Sigel and the city’s most wanted, while of course JT has to feature, Last Night fitting in ahead of all the other admittedly stellar tracks he did with Pharrell and Chad. And in a delightfully recursive moment of self-reflexivity, Pharrell apes Usher’s opening lines from U Don’t Have To Call on Jay-Z’s Fuck All Nite. As N.O.R.E. would say, “N-E-P-T-U-N-E-S – the way they lace the beats like one of the best!”

Bonus download: Jay-Z – I Just Wanna Love U (Instrumental) (320 kbps)

Heavy Warmup Vol 4: DJ Sure Shot tracklisting:
Prince – Greatest Romance RMX f. Q-Tip & Pharrell
Guru – Supalove f. Kelis
Latrelle – Dirty Girl
Mase – Lookin At Me f. Diddy
Jay-Z – Fuck All Night
SWV – Right Here RMX
LL Cool J – Love You Better
Beanie Sigel – Don’t Stop f. Snoop
The Game – Ain’t No Doubt About It f. Justin Timberlake
Usher – I Don’t Know f. Diddy
Ray-J – Formal Invite f. Pharrell
Diddy – Diddy
Faith – Burnin’ Up f. Missy
Justin Timberlake – Last Night
Babyface – There She Goes
Pharrell – Frontin’ f. Jay-Z
Snoop Dogg – Let’s Get Blown f. Pharrell
Philly’s Most Wanted – Please Don’t Mind
Pharrell – Number One f. Kanye West
Snoop – Signs f. Justin Timberlake & Charlie WIlson
Madonna – Beat Goes On
Omarion – Touch
Robin Thicke – Wanna Love You Girl