N*E*R*D: Everybody Nose
The music industry lives and dies on its ability to neatly categorize music. The companies executives need to know whether the group is rock, hip hop, pop, R&B etc… in order to know exactly where and to whom to market the music to. Therefore, when Chad Hugo, Pharrell Williams (The Neptunes) and Shay Haley decided to form a genre bending funk/hip hop punk band named N*E*R*D back in 2001 its certain that the groups sound baffled company heads on exactly how to market them. The band quickly defied the conventions of modern marketing techniques by finding an audience that immediately took to Pharrell’s familiar falsetto vocals, Chad’s implementation of synth heavy breaks and Shay’s energetic showmanship. The impact was swift as the first album “In Search of” was critically acclaimed and achieved gold status. The second album “Fly or Die” was more sonically advanced then the band’s first album. It showed growth lyrical and creatively as the members learned how to play different instruments adding to a more organic sound. Inevitably, label disputes caused Pharrell to announce that the band was permanently on hiatus in 2005. While casual N*E*R*D fans were disappointed by the news, die hard fanatics of the band knew that the creative urges of the crew would not allow them to stay away from the scene very long. After a four year break, N*E*R*D returns with which seems to be a more layered, up-tempo danceable effort. The first single for “Seeing Sounds” is “Everybody Nose”. The song is a not to subtle ode to club girls who indulge in the white powder over emphatic jungle drums, deep driving bass, hard synth stabs and an excellent piano beat break towards the end that would make Elton John jealous.
The music industry lives and dies on its ability to neatly categorize music. The companies executives need to know whether the group is rock, hip hop, pop, R&B etc… in order to know exactly where and to whom to market the music to. Therefore, when Chad Hugo, Pharrell Williams (The Neptunes) and Shay Haley decided to form a genre bending funk/hip hop punk band named N*E*R*D back in 2001 its certain that the groups sound baffled company heads on exactly how to market them. The band quickly defied the conventions of modern marketing techniques by finding an audience that immediately took to Pharrell’s familiar falsetto vocals, Chad’s implementation of synth heavy breaks and Shay’s energetic showmanship. The impact was swift as the first album “In Search of” was critically acclaimed and achieved gold status. The second album “Fly or Die” was more sonically advanced then the band’s first album. It showed growth lyrical and creatively as the members learned how to play different instruments adding to a more organic sound.
Inevitably, label disputes caused Pharrell to announce that the band was permanently on hiatus in 2005. While casual N*E*R*D fans were disappointed by the news, die hard fanatics of the band knew that the creative urges of the crew would not allow them to stay away from the scene very long. After a four year break, N*E*R*D returns with which seems to be a more layered, up-tempo danceable effort. The first single for “Seeing Sounds” is “Everybody Nose”. The song is a not to subtle ode to club girls who indulge in the white powder over emphatic jungle drums, deep driving bass, hard synth stabs and an excellent piano beat break towards the end that would make Elton John jealous.
