N.E.R.D. (the acronym of No one Ever Really Dies, stylized as N*E*R*D) is an American rock,funk, and hip hop band. Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo were signed by Teddy Riley to Virgin Records as a duo, The Neptunes. After producing songs for several artists throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, the production duo formed the band with Shay Haley as a side project of The Neptunes in 2001. N.E.R.D's debut album, In Search Of..., sold 603,000 copies in the United States and was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). It was also awarded the second annual Shortlist Music Prize. The band's second album, Fly or Die, sold 412,000 copies in the United States, but shipped at least 500,000 units making it qualify for RIAA's Gold Certification.
Formation and early career
Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo met at the age of 12 at a summer camp for musicians in Virginia Beach; which they both disliked.They spent their free time making beats and performing in groups with fellow childhood friendTimbaland. Williams and Hugo met Shay Haley in high school and began performing together. The trio often met in Hugo's garage, where he beatboxed through a speaker system while Haley danced.After watching the duo perform at a high school talent show, Teddy Riley, a musician and producer, signed Williams and Hugo in 1992.After producing songs for several artists throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, the production duo formed N.E.R.D in 2001 as a side projec.
The band recorded its second album, Fly or Die, in 2003. They learned to play the songs live, as Chad Hugo told MTV News on December 9, 2003: "We're the ones playing the instruments live this time. I just started playing guitar last year so I'm learning as we go. Pharrell's playing drums. [Last time] we didn't have time to learn certain instruments so we got Spymob to help us out."
Fly or Die was released in March 2004. The album debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, selling 119,000 copies in its first week.The album sold 412,000 copies in the United States and was certified Gold by the RIAA.The first single, "She Wants to Move", has gone top 5 in the United Kingdom, top 20 in Norway, Ireland, and Denmark, and top 40 in Australia and the Netherlands. The music videos for "She Wants to Move" and its follow up single, "Maybe", have received strong support from the digital cable network VH1 Soul in America.
In 2005, N.E.R.D ended their contract with Virgin Records over a label dispute and the band disbanded.While touring, the band became "hooked" on the energy from their fans, which led them to begin recording their third studio album, spending their own money while still unsigned. Williams and Hugo later established Star Trak Entertainment, a subsidiary of Interscope Records.In March 2008, the band performed at South by Southwest in Austin, Texas. While there they filmed a PSA for Rock the Vote saying why they thought voting was important and the issues they cared about that election year.
From April to June 2008, the band toured with Kanye West as an opening act along with Rihanna and Lupe Fiasco as part of the Glow in the Dark Tour. On June 13, they gave an energetic performance at the Isle of Wight festival, however they almost missed their scheduled show because they didn't know where the island was.On June 25, they performed in front of 40,000 people at the Isle of MTV 2008 at the Floriana granaries, Malta with free admission.On August 9, 2008, the band played at the Way Out West music festival held in the city park of Gothenburg, Sweden. In September 2008, N.E.R.D performed to a sold-out crowd at the House of Blues in Chicago, and brought special guest Bad Brains onstage. N.E.R.D released their third studio album, Seeing Sounds in June 2008. The first single off the album, titled "Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing in the Line for the Bathroom)", was first mentioned on their Billionaire Boys Club blog in January 2008. The second single off the album, titled "Spaz", was used in a TV commercial for the Microsoft Zune.
A song entitled "Soldier" featuring Santigold and Lil Wayne was featured on the soundtrack of the teen drama 90210. In late 2009, N.E.R.D. added a fourth member to the group named Rhea.
In 2010, N.E.R.D announced the release of their fourth studio album entitled Nothing, which had a scheduled release date for September 7, 2010, but it was pushed back to November 2, 2010. The first single from the album, "Hot N' Fun" featuring Canadian recording artist Nelly Furtado, was released on May 18, 2010 on iTunes.It was released in the United Kingdom on August 30, 2010.On August 20, 2010, a track titled "Party People" leaked onto the internet. It was rumored to be the second single from the album. On September 28, 2010, they premiered another track from the album titled "Hypnotize U" on Late Show with David Letterman, the track is produced by electronic music duo Daft Punk.On September 30, 2010, in a interview with Mark Hoppus on A Different Spin with Mark Hoppus, Pharrell explained the album cover as "a mix of so many things. The feathers represent the peace, and the helmet represents the war. It's like where we are right now. There's a lot of war, that people can't necessarily explain. The economy sucks, girls are still beautiful. We wanted to make music that reflected that. So people can look back twenty years from now, and say 'this is what was going on". They then announced in the interview that the next two singles would be "I've Seen the Light" and "Hypnotize U". Pharrell described "Hypnotize U" as being "so different from the rest of the album," stating he was "very pleased because it serves a different purpose" in the album.On October 17, 2010, the standard edition and the deluxe edition of the album became available for pre-order on iTunes.It has been announced that they will be supporting Gorillaz on the North American leg of their 2010 'Escape to Plastic Beach' World tour.
Musical style
The band's sound generally contains elements of rock, funk and hip hop, while also encompassing R&B and pop.Though the band rarely samples from other songs,the European release of their debut album, In Search Of..., relied heavily on sampling.They have been praised for their heavy use of electronic, bass and funk beats,while others have suggested that The Neptunes are unable to blend R&B and rock.
N.E.R.D's lyrics have been criticized. Ian Cohen of Pitchfork Media called the band's writing ability "far down the list of what N.E.R.D is actually good at",where Williams is often criticized for being excessively sexual.With the release of Fly or Die, the album was advertised in Kerrang! magazine, which made Alexis Petridis of The Guardian feel that N.E.R.D's lyrics tried to "empathize with the alienated teenagers who make up Kerrang!'s readership".
