Hugo was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, to a Filipino-American family. His mother was a lab technician and his father served in the United States Navy.[3] His exploration of music included recording mixtapes in his home using a boombox, and writing a paper about Robert Moog after learning about synthesizers from the news, which sparked an interest in electronic musical equipment.[4] He later joined his school band, playing the saxophone, through which he met Pharrell Williams, with whom he began producing music. They formed The Neptunes, and in 1992, upon entering a local talent contest, they were discovered by Teddy Riley, whose studio was close to their school.[5] Williams introduced Hugo to Shay Haley,[6] with whom they formed the group N.E.R.D in 1999. During high school Hugo worked as a professional DJ, performing at local church events,[4] and he and Williams also met and begin collaborating with brothers Pusha T and No Malice of Clipse, recording in Hugo's bedroom in his parents' attic.[7]
The Neptunes continued their production work, contributing to projects by New York City-based rapper Noreaga, Ol' Dirty Bastard, and Kelis[5] for whom they would entirely produce her debut studio album, Kaleidoscope in 1999, and her album Wanderland two years later.[8] Hugo met Jay-Z during a studio session for his second studio album, In My Lifetime, Vol. 1 (1997), performing saxophone on the album's second single "The City Is Mine",[9] with the Neptunes going on to produce a number of tracks for Jay-Z. The Neptunes also produced hip hop duo Clipse's album, Exclusive Audio Footage in 1999, which went unreleased until 2022.[10]
In 2001, the Neptunes founded the label Star Trak Entertainment,[9] on which both the Neptunes and N.E.R.D would release the entirety of their projects until the label's dissolution in 2014. The same year, N.E.R.D. released their debut studio album, In Search of..., experimenting with more live instrumentation in comparison to the Neptunes' previous output.[11] Soon after, the Neptunes gained their first worldwide hit, producing Britney Spears' single, "I'm a Slave 4 U",[12] and wrote and produced NSYNC's final single, "Girlfriend". After the breakup of NSYNC, they continued to work with group member Justin Timberlake, writing and producing most of his debut solo album, Justified.[13]
Hugo worked with Baltimore producer and DJ Daniel Biltmore under the name "MSSL CMMND", releasing mixtapes, original productions, and remixes of artists including Rhye, Iamsu!.[15] Under the moniker Yardnoise, he produced six tracks on the companion album to the film Manny (2014), by directors Ryan Moore and Leon Gast, which chronicled the early life and career of Filipino boxer Manny Pacquiao.[16][17]
In 2024, Hugo filed a legal action against Williams over the trademarks for the production duo's name.[19] Williams subsequently confirmed the duo were no longer on speaking terms.[20]
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