N.E.R.D. | |
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Background information | |
Origin | Virginia Beach, Virginia, U.S. |
Genres | |
Years active |
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Labels | |
Spinoff of | The Neptunes |
Past members | |
Website | nooneeverreallydies |
N.E.R.D. [A] (a backronym of No-one Ever Really Dies) was an American rock and hip hop band, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1994. The Neptunes were signed by Teddy Riley to Virgin. After producing songs for several artists throughout the late 1990s, the duo formed the band with Shay Haley as a side project band of The Neptunes in 1994. 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, certifying it Gold. [2] [3]
In 2005, N.E.R.D. ended their contract with Virgin and disbanded. Three years later, the band reunited under Star Trak Entertainment, a subsidiary of Interscope Records established by Williams and Hugo. The band's third album, Seeing Sounds , released in 2008, sold just under 80,000 copies in its first week. [4] The album was followed by Nothing , which was released in 2010.
The Neptunes met at the age of 12 at a band class in Virginia Beach. [5] [6] Hugo was the Drum Major for the Kempsville High School Marching Chiefs, under the direction of current University of Virginia Band Director, William Pease, while Pharrell was a drumline member of the Fabulous Marching Cavaliers (FMC) of Princess Anne High School, both of Virginia Beach, Virginia.[ citation needed ] They spent their free time making beats and performing in groups with fellow childhood friends Missy Elliott, The Clipse, Timbaland & Magoo. The Neptunes 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. [7] After watching the duo perform at a high school talent show, Teddy Riley, a musician and producer, signed Williams and Hugo in 1991. [6] After producing songs for several artists throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s, the production duo formed N.E.R.D in 1994 as a side project known for their appearance on Ghetto Children off Kelis' debut Kaleidoscope. [5] [8] [9]
The band's debut album, In Search Of... , was released in Europe in September 2001. Williams and Hugo used similar digital production techniques as they did for other artists. However, the band decided that they wanted to sound different from their previous work. [10] This led them to rerecording the album using live instruments with rock band Spymob for a worldwide release in 2002. [10] [11] The album debuted at number 61 on the Billboard 200 and peaked at number 56. [12] [13] It failed to replicate the success of The Neptunes' previous productions. The album won the second annual Shortlist Music Prize, an accolade awarded to albums released in the United States that have not achieved mainstream success and have sales of 500,000 copies or less at the time of nomination. [10] The album sold 603,000 copies in the United States and was certified Gold by the RIAA. [13] [14] The album's lead single, "Lapdance", peaked at number 36 of the Hot Rap Tracks chart and number 85 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs. [15] The second single, "Rock Star", peaked at number 36 on the Billboard Hot Modern Rock Tracks chart. [16] A 6.1 surround mix of this album was released by DTS Entertainment on a DVD-Audio disc in 2005. The original version of the album is a collectors' item.[ citation needed ]
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." [17]
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. [18] The album sold 412,000 copies in the United States and was certified Gold by the RIAA. [14] [19] 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. [10] [20] 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. [9] 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. [21]
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. [22] 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. [23] [24] 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. The group toured with American rock band, Linkin Park on the European leg of their Projekt Revolution tour in 2008 with artists like HIM, The Used and Jay-Z. The group also played at the National Bowl, Milton Keynes before the recording of Road to Revolution by Linkin Park. [25]
In 2009, a song entitled "Soldier" featuring Santigold and Lil Wayne was featured on the soundtrack of the teen drama 90210 . 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 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. [26] It was released in the United Kingdom on August 30, 2010. [27] 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 , produced by electronic music duo Daft Punk. [28] On September 30, 2010, in an 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. [29] On October 17, 2010, the standard edition and the deluxe edition of the album became available for pre-order on iTunes. [30] It was later announced that they would support Gorillaz on the North American leg of their 2010 'Escape to Plastic Beach' world tour. [31] In 2013, Pharrell confirmed a N.E.R.D album was in progress, but also mentioned that the album would not be released that year due to the projects he was working on with other artists. He has also said the album will be "nature-based". The group reunited on December 26, 2014, to release the songs "Squeeze Me," "Patrick Star," and "Sandy Squirrel" for the film The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water .
N.E.R.D's fifth album, No One Ever Really Dies , was released on December 15, 2017, through I Am Other and Columbia Records. [32] It features guest appearances from André 3000, M.I.A., Gucci Mane, Wale, and Ed Sheeran among others. It was preceded by three singles; "Lemon" with Rihanna (on November 1), "1000" with Future (on November 29), and "Don't Don't Do It!" with Kendrick Lamar (on December 13).
The group did shows throughout 2018 such as the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards and the Reading and Leeds Festivals. They also released a popular remix to "Lemon" with Drake.
In 2024, Chad Hugo filed a legal action against Pharrell Williams. [33]
The band's sound generally contains elements of rock, funk and hip hop, while also encompassing R&B and pop. [34] [35] Their sound has also been described as featuring alternative hip hop, [36] funk rock, [37] rap rock, [38] experimental hip hop, [39] avant-funk, [40] and progressive pop. [41] [42] [43] [44] They have been praised for their heavy use of electronic, bass and funk beats, [45] [46] [47] while others have suggested that The Neptunes are unable to blend R&B and rock. [48]
N.E.R.D's lyrics have been criticized. Ian Cohen of Pitchfork called the band's lyrical writing ability "far down the list of what N.E.R.D is actually good at", [49] where Williams is often criticized for being excessively sexual. [50] [51] 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". [35]
Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | Sales | Certifications | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [52] | AUS [53] | FRA [54] [55] | GER [56] | IRE [57] | ITA [54] | NZ [54] | SWE [54] [58] | SWI [54] [55] | UK [59] | ||||
In Search Of... | 56 | 70 | — | — | 27 | — | — | 17 | — | 28 |
| ||
Fly or Die |
| 6 | 11 | 31 | 20 | 12 | 10 | 22 | 9 | 27 | 4 |
| |
Seeing Sounds |
| 7 | 14 | 45 | 65 | 60 | 97 | — | — | 13 | 20 | ||
Nothing |
| 21 | 55 | 43 | — | — | — | — | — | 32 | 83 | ||
No One Ever Really Dies [32] |
| 31 | 58 | 92 | — | — | — | — | — | 65 | 80 | ||
"—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. |
Title | Year | Peak chart positions | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
US [63] | US R&B [64] | US Dance [65] | AUS [53] | BEL (Fla) [66] | ITA [67] | NLD [68] | SWE [69] | SWI [70] | UK [59] | ||||
"Lapdance" (featuring Lee Harvey and Vita) | 2001 | — | 85 | — | — | — | — | 56 | 47 | — | 20 [B] |
| In Search Of... |
"Rock Star" | 2002 | — | — | — | 32 | — | — | 74 | — | — | 15 | ||
"Provider" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 95 | 43 | — | 20 | |||
"She Wants to Move" | 2004 | — | 69 | 6 | 21 | 19 | 7 | 8 | 58 | 36 | 5 |
| Fly or Die |
"Maybe" | — | — | 19 | 48 | 58 | 45 | 37 | — | — | 25 | |||
"Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing in the Line for the Bathroom)" | 2008 | — | — | — | 69 | 65 | — | — | — | — | 41 | Seeing Sounds | |
"Spaz" | — [C] | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
"Sooner or Later" | 2009 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Hot-n-Fun" (featuring Nelly Furtado) | 2010 | — | — | 26 | 52 | 23 | 26 | 88 | — | — | 49 | Nothing | |
"Hypnotize U" | — | — | — | — | 54 | — | — | — | — | — | |||
"Lemon" (with Rihanna) | 2017 | 36 | 16 | 37 | 44 | 63 | — | 87 | — [D] | 59 | 31 | No One Ever Really Dies | |
"1000" (with Future) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
"Don't Don't Do It" [73] (with Kendrick Lamar) | 2018 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
"Lemon (Remix)" (with Rihanna and Drake) | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Non-album single |
Notes
Song title | Year | Album |
---|---|---|
"Loser" (featuring Clipse) | 2003 | The Neptunes Present...Clones |
"Squeeze Me" | 2015 | Music from The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water |
"Patrick Star" | ||
"Sandy Squirrel" | ||
"Locked Away" | — |
The Neptunes were an American record production duo composed of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, formed in Virginia Beach, Virginia, in 1992. Williams often provided backing vocals and music video appearances on the duo's productions, while Hugo remained behind the scenes.
Fly or Die is the second studio album by American rap rock band N.E.R.D. It was released on March 23, 2004.
Pharrell Lanscilo Williams, often known mononymously as Pharrell, is an American musician. He first became known as one half of the music production duo the Neptunes, which he formed with Chad Hugo in 1992. Fifteen of their productions have peaked within the top ten of the Billboard Hot 100, which includes four songs that peaked atop the chart. The two also formed the alternative band N.E.R.D. with drummer Shay Haley in 1999, for which Williams served as lead vocalist. He has been considered one of the most influential music producers of the 21st century for his impact on popular music.
Charles Edward Hugo is an American record producer. Alongside childhood friend Pharrell Williams, he formed the hip hop and R&B production duo the Neptunes in 1992, with whom he has produced numerous hit records for various artists. He is also a member of the band N.E.R.D., alongside Williams and Shay Haley, and co-founded the record label Star Trak Entertainment with Williams in 2001. In contrast to Williams, Hugo does not perform vocals on records.
Victor James Santiago Jr., better known by his stage names N.O.R.E. and Noreaga, is an American rapper. Santiago first rose to prominence as one half of the East Coast hip hop duo Capone-N-Noreaga, which he formed in 1995 with fellow Queens-based rapper Capone. The duo released five studio albums, briefly disbanding after their second to pursue solo careers.
Clipse, also known as the Clipse, is an American hip hop duo, mainly active from 1994 to 2010. It consists of brothers Gene "No Malice" and Terrence "Pusha T" Thornton. Pusha T was known as Terrar during the group's early years, while No Malice was originally known as Malicious, but changed his stage name to Malice soon after the group's formation, before changing it to No Malice once more in 2012 following his conversion to Christianity. Based in Virginia Beach, Virginia, the duo was discovered by producer and fellow Virginia Beach native, Pharrell Williams, who convinced the artists to work in tandem. Williams served as executive and lead producer for each of their albums, as part of the Neptunes and as a frequent guest performer. As key figures in establishing Virginia as one of the East Coast's strongholds in hip hop, the duo's frequent subject matter is based around illegal drug trade.
"Drop It Like It's Hot" is a song by American rapper Snoop Dogg, featuring American singer, rapper and musician Pharrell Williams. It was released on September 27, 2004, as the lead single from Snoop Dogg's seventh studio album, R&G : The Masterpiece (2004). The song was produced by Williams alongside Chad Hugo as the Neptunes. It is regarded as an iconic song, with Snoop performing the chorus and the second and third verses while Pharrell performs the first verse.
The Neptunes Present... Clones is a compilation album produced and released by American production and songwriting duo The Neptunes. It was released on August 19, 2003 and has been certified Gold by the RIAA. The album featured six singles; "Frontin'" by Pharrell Williams, "Popular Thug" by Kelis, "Light Your Ass on Fire" by Busta Rhymes, “Rock ‘n’ Roll” by Fam-Lay, "Hot Damn" by Clipse and "It Blows My Mind" by Snoop Dogg.
Genesis is the fifth studio album by American rapper Busta Rhymes. The album was released on November 27, 2001, by Flipmode Records and J Records. The fourth single from the album, "Pass the Courvoisier Part II", peaked at number eleven on the Billboard Hot 100. It was included at the end of the album on some later pressings. The album debuted at number 7 on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 185,000 copies. It later sold one million domestic copies and certified Platinum by RIAA.
Urban Legend is the third studio album by American rapper T.I., released on November 30, 2004, through Grand Hustle Records and Atlantic Records. The album debuted at number seven on the US Billboard 200, selling 193,000 copies in its first week of release. It also debuted atop the magazine's Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums and Top Rap Albums charts.
In Search of... is the debut studio album by American funk rock band N.E.R.D. The group originally released the album on August 6, 2001 in Europe, where Kelis' Wanderland—produced by The Neptunes, consisting of N.E.R.D members Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo—was better received. Similarly to Kelis' early work, the original version of In Search of... juxtaposes hip hop and rock influences and styles. The album is named after the TV series In Search of..., hosted by Leonard Nimoy.
Hell Hath No Fury is the third studio album by hip hop duo Clipse. The album was released on November 28, 2006 in the United States by Re-Up, Star Trak and Jive. Recording sessions for the album took place over a period of several years, and suffered numerous delays prior to release. Production was handled by The Neptunes.
Go is the third studio album by American recording artist Mario. It was released by J Records on December 10, 2007. Mario worked with many producers on the album, most notably Scott Storch and Pharrell with whom he recorded a song called, "Faith". Other songs were written and produced by Akon, Timbaland, The Neptunes, Stargate, Mr. Collipark, Polow da Don and with guests such as Juelz Santana and Rich Boy. Go is Mario's first album to receive a parental advisory sticker in the United States, and his second to receive a parental advisory sticker in the UK.
"Us Placers" is the debut song by American supergroup Child Rebel Soldier, a musical collaboration consisting of American hip-hop artists Lupe Fiasco, Kanye West, and Pharrell Williams. It was released as the third song on the track-listing of West's 2007 mixtape Can't Tell Me Nothing. The song was produced by Fiasco and samples the 2006 song "The Eraser" by Thom Yorke. In "Us Placers," the trio speaks on the entrapments of fame. Having been released on a free mixtape, the song did not enter the charts but became an online hit and received strong reviews from music critics.
Seeing Sounds is the third studio album by American alternative rock band N.E.R.D released June 10, 2008 on Star Trak Entertainment and Interscope Records in the United States. After ending their contract with Virgin Records in 2005, the band felt their previous album Fly or Die (2004) was too consistent. Using their own money, the band recorded the album in Florida and California. The album was produced solely by record production duo The Neptunes, consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, with additional assistance by rock band Spymob and was mainly written by Williams. The album's title, as well as its content, revolves around the neurological phenomenon of synesthesia, the mixing of sensory modalities.
"Rump Shaker" is a song by American hip-hop group Wreckx-N-Effect. It was released in August 1992 by MCA Records as the lead single from their second album, Hard or Smooth (1992). It features production and guest vocals from Teddy Riley, brother of former Wreckx member Markell Riley. Due to the massive success of Whitney Houston's version of "I Will Always Love You," the song did not advance further than No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks charts. Nevertheless, it peaked at No. 1 on the Hot Rap Singles, and No. 9 on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play charts.
"Nothin'" is the lead single from American rapper N.O.R.E.'s third studio album, God's Favorite (2002). The song was produced by the Neptunes and features Neptunes member Pharrell Williams performing the song's hook. "Nothin'" reached No. 10 on the Billboard Hot 100, surpassing his 1998 hit "Superthug" as his biggest solo hit. At the end of 2002, "Nothin'" was ranked No. 37 on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 singles of 2002.
Nothing is the fourth studio album by American rock band N.E.R.D, released November 2, 2010 on Star Trak Entertainment and Interscope Records in the United States. On October 17, 2010, the standard edition and the deluxe edition of the album became available for pre-order on iTunes.
"Lemon" is a song by American band N.E.R.D. from their fifth studio album, No One Ever Really Dies (2017). The song features vocals from Barbadian singer Rihanna, and was released as the album's lead single on November 1, 2017.
No One Ever Really Dies is the fifth and final studio album by American hip hop and rock band N.E.R.D., released on December 15, 2017, by I Am Other and Columbia Records. It is the group's first full-length album in 7 years, following 2010's Nothing, and features guest appearances from Rihanna, André 3000, Kendrick Lamar, M.I.A., Gucci Mane, Wale, Future and Ed Sheeran among others, and was preceded by three singles; "Lemon" with Rihanna, "1000" with Future, and "Don't Don't Do It!" with Kendrick Lamar.