Pharrell Williams & N.E.R.D Discuss Music and Politics With 'New York Times'

Tomorrow marks the release of N.E.R.D‘s long-awaited new project. No_One Ever Really Dies promises to once again center around Pharrell Williams, Chad Hugo, and Shae Haley’s multifaceted musical tastes, blending hip-hop, rap, rock, funk and more. However, unlike past N.E.R.D releases, the new album centers around political and social injustices, a concept the group lays out in discussion with The New York Times.

Explaining, “If the ubiquitous nature of the internet affords you to see so much and have access to so much, how can you care?” Williams highlights the political discourse running throughout No_One Ever Really Dies. Last year’s election for the US President informs a great deal of the album, although work began on it in early 2016 — Williams channels his outrage for the current political climate into his lyrics, balancing his frustration with appealing melodies, because “If I make a record about this administration and it sounds sad, how many times you gonna listen to it?” Williams’ claims to have handled a great deal of the album’s “heavy lifting,” collaborating with his partners when possible. Influences from this Williams-centric production can be felt in the off-kilter song structures, inspired by Williams’ recent taste for music from post-punk legends Suicide, Devo, and Talking Heads.

“The first two-thirds of my career to date I didn’t care,” Pharrell notes. “I was just purely doing things for aesthetic and bragging rights.” Now, everything’s changed: “There are atrocities happening in this country and people still going to the movies that night.” Read the entire piece on The New York Times and hear the album’s Kendrick Lamar and Frank Ocean-starring single, Don’t Don’t Do It! here.