Subversive and socially conscious aspects have been threaded throughout N.E.R.D's jocular jams and ornate fantasias since 2001.
"Politicians is soundin' like strippers to me," flippant as it was, stood out in their debut single "Lapdance." Later works involved anti-war, anti-bullying, and pro-conservation messages obscured by indiscriminate musical whims.
NO ONE EVER REALLY DIES, the first N.E.R.D album in seven years -- and first material since duly nutty contributions to The SpongeBob Movie -- turns it up, fueled almost exclusively by societal turbulence as experienced and observed by Pharrell Williams.
As a consequence, it's the closest N.E.R.D has verged on being a solo vehicle for Williams.
He produced the whole thing and wrote almost every line not delivered by the featured artists, a crew of nine starring Rihanna, André 3000, and Kendrick Lamar.
(Chad Hugo plays keyboards on only four songs and picks up one credit for additional production, while Shay Haley is typically secondary on vocals.) Williams and company change the style with almost as much frequency as Son of Bazerk, marking abrupt turns mid-song, spitting out brawling pop-punk and caustic fusions of new wave and synth funk, throwing in jittery footwork, comparatively straightforward hip-hop, and a little reggae.
Those old Neptunes steel drums make a return, too.
The energy level is high and restless, in a near-permanent state of agitation, heightened with machine beats that judder and bounce, synthesizers that plink and probe, and Williams' animated protestations.
The rollicking temperament gives all the material, and that includes "Don't Don't Do It!," regarding the fatal police shooting of Keith Scott, a replayable quality.
Tied together with recurring declarations of "mad ethnic right now," sampled from Retch's 2016 viral clip, the album is all raucous resistance to issues ranging from anti-immigration to police brutality to transgender rights.
When Williams barks "You fuckin' with survivors!" like an activist Rockwell, he perfectly summarizes the indignant optimism that dominates the best N.E.R.D album since the original version of In Search Of....
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | LemonPharrell Williams | N.E.R.D, Rihanna | Play | 03:39 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 2 | Deep Down Body ThurstPharrell Williams | N.E.R.D | Play | 04:11 | 9 MB | 24 MB |
| 3 | VoilàOlubowale Akintimehin, Ramon Rivas, Pharrell Williams | N.E.R.D, Gucci Mane, Wale | Play | 04:20 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 4 | 1000Nayvadius Wilburn, Pharrell Williams | N.E.R.D, Future | Play | 04:03 | 9 MB | 29 MB |
| 5 | Don't Don't Do It!Pharrell Williams | N.E.R.D, Kendrick Lamar | Play | 04:17 | 9 MB | 27 MB |
| 6 | ESPPharrell Williams | N.E.R.D | Play | 05:29 | 12 MB | 35 MB |
| 7 | Lightning Fire Magic PrayerPharrell Williams | N.E.R.D | Play | 07:44 | 17 MB | 50 MB |
| 8 | Rollinem 7'sAndré Benjamin, Pharrell Williams | N.E.R.D, André 3000 | Play | 05:09 | 11 MB | 34 MB |
| 9 | KitesPharrell Williams | N.E.R.D, Kendrick Lamar, M.I.A. | Play | 04:50 | 11 MB | 31 MB |
| 10 | Secret Life of TigersPharrell Williams | N.E.R.D | Play | 03:46 | 8 MB | 22 MB |
| 11 | Lifting YouPharrell Williams | N.E.R.D, Ed Sheeran | Play | 03:43 | 8 MB | 19 MB |
| 51 mins | 117 MB | |||||
| 51 mins | 330 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Olubowale Akintimehin | Composer |
| 2 | Kon Anders | Engineer |
| 3 | André 3000 | Primary Artist |
| 4 | A$AP Rocky | Vocals (Background) |
| 5 | Chris Athens | Remastering |
| 6 | André Benjamin | Composer |
| 7 | Mary J. Blige | Vocals (Background) |
| 8 | Leslie Brathwaite | Mixing |
| 9 | Andrew Coleman | Engineer |
| 10 | Thomas Cullison | Assistant, Engineer, Mixing Engineer |
| 11 | Miguel DaCruz | Engineer |
| 12 | Cara Delevingne | Vocals |
| 13 | Jacob Dennis | Engineer |
| 14 | Alexandra DePersia | Vocals |
| 15 | Rhea Dummett | Vocal Producer, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 16 | Jerry Edouard | A&R, Coordination |
| 17 | Eric Eylands | Engineer |
| 18 | Jan Fairchild | Engineer |
| 19 | Iain Findlay | Engineer |
| 20 | Tony Flores | Assistant, Mixing Engineer |
| 21 | Future | Primary Artist |
| 22 | Thomas Graham | Engineer |
| 23 | Gucci Mane | Primary Artist |
| 24 | Hart Gunther | Engineer |
| 25 | Masayuki Hara | Engineer |
| 26 | Kuk Harrell | Vocal Producer |
| 27 | Hana Hollinger | Vocals (Background) |
| 28 | Phi Hollinger | Art Direction, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 29 | Chad Hugo | Additional Production, Guitar (10 String), Moog Bass, Programming, Synthesizer |
| 30 | James Hunt | Engineer |
| 31 | Todd Hurtt | Engineer |
| 32 | Erik Ian | Photography |
| 33 | Darryl Johnson | Engineer |
| 34 | Madoka Kambe | Engineer |
| 35 | David Kim | Engineer |
| 36 | Sean Klein | Engineer |
| 37 | Kendrick Lamar | Primary Artist |
| 38 | Mike Larson | A&R, Coordination, Engineer, Mixing, Programming, Vocal Producer, Vocals |
| 39 | M.I.A. | Primary Artist |
| 40 | Mamose Moo | Vocals |
| 41 | Brendan Morawski | Engineer |
| 42 | John Muller | Engineer |
| 43 | N.E.R.D | Primary Artist |
| 44 | Ken Oriole | Engineer |
| 45 | Brent Paschke | Guitar (Electric) |
| 46 | Pres Rodriguez | Art Direction |
| 47 | Rihanna | Primary Artist |
| 48 | Ramon Rivas | Composer, Engineer |
| 49 | Matt Schaeffer | Engineer |
| 50 | Ben Sedano | Assistant, Engineer, Mixing Engineer |
| 51 | Josh Sellers | Engineer |
| 52 | Ed Sheeran | Primary Artist |
| 53 | Jon Sher | Assistant, Mixing Engineer |
| 54 | Jordon Silva | Engineer |
| 55 | Summer Uika | Vocals |
| 56 | David Swenson | Engineer |
| 57 | Thundercat | Bass |
| 58 | Todd Tourso | Art Direction, Creative Director |
| 59 | Marcos Tovar | Engineer |
| 60 | Mette Towley | Vocals |
| 61 | Matt Tuggle | Engineer |
| 62 | Wale | Primary Artist |
| 63 | Nayvadius Wilburn | Composer |
| 64 | Helen Williams | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 65 | Pharrell Williams | Composer, Executive Producer, Producer |
| 66 | Rocket Williams | Vocals |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |