| RAFT.com Article (copied from site August 17, 2001) N*E*R*D (No-one Ever Really Dies) have no boundaries as they blend hip-hop, black psychedelic pop, new wave, rock and funk providing listeners with a whole new sound to the pop landscape. This sound is brought to you by a group of young musicians by the name of hot production outfit The Neptunes - Chad Hugo and Pharrell Williams and their long-time pal Shay - all natives of Virginia, USA. For the past five years they have propelled the unknown talents of soulstress Kelis, and revived old timers including hip hop heavyweight's Mystikal, Jay-Z and Wu Tang Clan member the Ol' Dirty Bastard amongst many others. The band explain that The Neptunes is who they are and N*E*R*D is what they do. The Neptunes have been knocking out their signature-punctuated beats and syncopated rhythms for the urban elite, which in turn has fueled a unique sonic aesthetic for the band. N*E*R*D have deep spiritual undertones to their music which is evident in the title of their name and Pharell explains more by adding: “N*E*R*D' is just a basic belief, man. People's energies are made of their souls. When you die, that energy may disperse but it isn't destroyed. Energy cannot be destroyed. It can manifest in a different way but even then it's like their souls are going somewhere. If it's going to heaven or hell or even if it's going into a fog or somewhere in the atmosphere to lurk unbeknownst to itself, it's going somewhere.” Yeah believe it or not these guys are very philosophical and this new album project acts as a soundtrack to their lives. They must lead very colourful lives if their highly explicit debut single 'Lapdance' is anything to go by! The album illustrates life's ups and downs for the band over the last couple of years. Their outstanding rule across the board is to 'Follow Your Spirit' and Pharrell adds that 'It's what you put forth when you're making the music, so you gotta follow that instinct that god has given you, that internal compass'. The Neptunes' past and current work's read like a who's who of the urban music forum and have worked alongside the likes of Sade, Janet Jackson, The All Saints and Norega. Their philosophy of follow your spirit has definitely done the trick as their music continually evolves and moves in different directions giving their sound an enlightening originality and edginess. The debut album 'In Search Of'' will be released sometime in the summer. Watch this space for further info. The funky new single 'Lapdance' is available from 28th May 2001. http://the-raft.com/nerd.html |