Hailing from Virginia, Clipse -- brothers Pusha T and Malice -- were one of the rare first artists to associate with the Neptunes. The Neptunes' Pharrell Williams first met the duo in the early '90s, was very impressed by their talents, and decided to help them get a gig. Hooking them up with the Elektra label, an early single flopped and the group seemed done, even though an album's worth of material had been recorded. Williams was not discouraged and continued to hype the group until Arista finally intervened in 2001.