More N*E*R*D-om on display

OutKast may be the hottest rappers at the moment, Timbaland’s been the in-producer for yonks but it is only one act that does both - magnificently. In two distinct guises: The Neptunes is its production arm, N*E*R*D its recording and performing identity. And, on the second outing, ‘Fly or Die’, the trio have f-u-n.

Its title is appropriate, this really flies and it’s not afraid to experiment, have a go at anything and everything. This disc is a huge melting pot and it contains distorted guitars, mean’n’moving bass dollops, Parliament-like-funk-psychedelia, all sounding like done for pleasure, for their own sakes and not with any commercial considerations. This record surely phuks about!

Millions of fans will notice the absence of the band Spymob in the second album. Originally, Pharrell Williams and Hugo Chad recorded songs for ‘In Search Of…’ with programmed beats which made the tunes sound very similar to the tracks they produced for the vast array of artists that they have worked with. Eventually they decided to re-record the songs with live instruments courtesy of the Minneapolis funk outfit Spymob (who are signed to The Neptunes’ Star Trak label and usually back them on live dates).

Minus Spymob, the new tracks are less funk-rooted and more boastful of heavy influential British pop and classic rock music of yester-year. They have even collaborated with The Neptunes fan Lenny Kravitz, who plays guitar on the track ‘Maybe’. ‘Don’t Worry About It’ has a 60’s Beatles-esque pop influence with a hip-swinging backbeat. ‘I Love The Way She Dances’ takes the album back to the days of disco, but not without a signature Neptune hook in tow.

The most affecting subjects tackled on the album include bullying in the shape of the track ‘Thrasher’, rebellion with the hard-hitting anti-war ‘Drill Sergeant’ and the awkwardness of first-time love with the predictably titled track ‘Backseat Love’.

Both albums go to show this crew being able to leave console’s lights for centre stage with an unprecedented ease.

"Our album is," Williams holds the wordy-hood while Hugo only offers occasional insight, "a life soundtrack. This is our life over the past few years, searching for the best way to express ourselves, to be as musical as possible. We've been doing that from the beginning of our career and people often couldn't realise what we were doing but what we should be doing. There were instances when an artist would refuse our remix but would tell us later on how somebody else's mix was much better and the truth was - both used the same sample!? We were always doing something else, searching for an alternative."

“This is a positive record,” Williams continues, “it is happy and never melancholic. Our music is a reflection of our lives and there is always a bright side to everything, as long as you are alive. There is no excuse to feel sad, you are alive - get on with it!”

Major knobbery

Pharrell and Chad are childhood friends who were spotted by Teddy Riley at a high school talent show and he helped them establish themselves as the hot producers and remixers. The N*E*R*D press kit contains a page that lists the founding duo’s production and remixing jobs for chart-topping Jay-Z, Mystical, Kelis, Moby, Janet Jackson, Britney Spears, Mary J Blige, Justin Timberlake, No Doubt... Enough credits crammed in the past seven years to fill in several ordinary careers but Williams and Hugo, with a fellow Virginia Beach, Va., denizen Shay (Sheldon Haley), have had to step out to bump their own beats.

‘Fly or Die’ is again a collection of songs mixing hard-hop beats with black pop and psychedelic echoes of rock as well as its 'classic' dimension, all part of what the boys simply term as 'Awareness of diversity'. Pharrell fondly remembers his childhood when he listened to Donny Hathaway as well as Steely Dan, Earth Wind And Fire, AC/DC, The Spinners and reckons "Queen is the s**t." The two also mention love for jazz, The White Stripes, The Darkness…

"There are other things in life," Pharrell iterates the obvious, "than gun-slinging, ball-grabbing, Mercedes Benz-driving and swearing world. There are plenty of other people doing it and there is no need for another one. We are not stereotypes and our message is not one-dimensional."

But plenty of rap appears to be so blinded. Is Eminem, for instance? Do they rate him as a fact or a fake?

"Eminem is good," Chad speaks quietly, "we can see where he is coming from but don't forget that a lot of his success is down to Dr Dre."

It transpires they wouldn’t like to produce Em for no other reason but respect for Dr Dre.

Spirit formating

The name of this trio of rhymesters is not a reference to geeks, although they’ve never minded that connotation - after all, Pharrell and Hugo attended school for specially talented - and it refers to their (Pharrell’s actually) philosophy that 'No-one Ever Really Dies' because everything is energy. The man is also a great reader which you’ll discover to be a dying virtue all round.

"There is one basic belief, " Pharrell formulates carefully his wisdom, "behind us and that is the people's energies are made of their souls. When you die the energy may be dispersed but it isn't destroyed. Energy can't be destroyed and it is somewhere. It could be Heaven or Hell, or someplace else you believe in, but it is gone somewhere. Each life enriches the universe, it is like a treasure chest of collective human existence."

Spirituality is usually not associated with rhymes and rap [and R&B] stars only remembers it during Awards’ acceptance speeches, there is an element of Gospel and, somewhat, sweet Soul music; is all this part of a bigger picture?

"It is only part," Pharrell counters, "of expending our musical attitude into other situations in life. We are trying to show people what they are missing; there's a lot of cool things going on right now but there's a landfill of fucked up things about life. People don't know the true reasons for their existence and their being, they don't know how they got here and what they are supposed to do. We are trying to show people what it is they might be looking for."

"We are making music right now," Pharrell says at the end, "to change the world 'cause the world is f**ked up."

With the survival techniques of Hip-hop in one hand and the psychedelic feelings of love from classic rock in the other, somewhere in the middle of it all is where you will find the perfect controls for N*E*R*D’s existence.

“With the old album,” Hugo says, “you had to drink or smoke to get into it. The new album will intoxicate you.”

How high is now?