Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo, and Shay Haley are back at it again with their fourth LP Nothing. Together as the Neptunes, Pharrell and Chad have produced countless hits over the last decade. It only makes sense that they would create a few beats for themselves to get the masses moving as N.E.R.D.
The group’s style has been described as rock with a blend of funk and hip hop and elements of R&B and pop. Their mastery of blending different sounds is nearly unrivalled. Each member of the band plays various instruments with Pharrell fronting the vocals. Occasionally, Shay will lend his voice on a track as well.
Nothing is a ten track album with all the usual you expect from an N.E.R.D album. They’re main focuses are appealing to women and providing music to dance to. The deluxe version of the album contains four bonus tracks, as well one additional track for those that buy it from iTunes or Amazon.Their first single, Hot-N-Fun, featured Nelly Furtado and provided the summer with a nice prelude to what was to come. The opening lyrics are even written as an invitation, though it is actually the last track on the album. “Okay, we wrote this for a purpose, to motivate you at this time/with this hypnotizing bass line, please feel free to lose your mind/and get high, get money, get sex, get real, all intertwined/oh yeah, this is stadium music, 50,000 at a time.”
The first track on the album, Party People, is a high energy welcome. Bass bumps steadily and horns blear a plenty during the chorus: a repetition of, “What I need, what I need is that girl down” under a dragged out yell of “Party People!”
Pharrell uses his lyrics to instill a bit of confidence in his listeners. “Hey they if they complain, tell them m*****f*****s it’s your stage. Yeah yeah, hands in the air, let’s spray champagne everywhere.” T.I. even makes an appearance on the song, delivering his lyrics viciously fast. “Like tennis, get served/why she licks her/all I need is that girl right thurr/listen hurr/she playing under her dress/soaking wet, no fur/who? One on one sex? Not me, no sir.”
The following track Hypnotize U is the opposite to Party People tonally. The beat is mellow and melodic, almost hypnotizing as the song title suggests. After each of Pharrell’s sung verses, he quickly inserts “I’m behind you” as it then leads to the chorus: “Just close your eyes let me hypnotize you/I can make your stone feel sky blue/girl when you lost you know I’ll find you/if I’m not beside you, I’m inside you.”
Shay even takes the lead during the song to deliver a quick rap. “You’re a dream, inception your my queen/wait babe let me paint that wall/change the background take that off/in your eyes I could see you a winner/I know saints don't lie like a Lior/you could stay but there’d be no me/but if you come and set you free.” It’s an overall smooth track to lure in the ladies.
Perfect Defect also makes beautiful use of horns. Chad on guitar provides the track with a proper funk mood. Again, Pharrell opens the song appealing to the ladies, but this time to a specific offbeat female. “First day of school, guess who?/I would bump, into/the creme de la creme, that's you/But they treat you like, doo doo/so then you had to use, my wit/and think a-bout it/that's when I had to admit/they were right, you're the s***”
The chorus is enough to woo any lady in want of being appreciate. “I don't care who gets you/I don't care what they don't see/I don't need God to remix you/it's less for them, but mo' for me.
Overall, Nothing is a solid album from a solid group, certain to get you up and moving.
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