Williams and Hugo are also known as the Grammy-winning production duo The Neptunes.
N*E*R*D's sound is a blend of rock, hip-hop, and R&B. N*E*R*D stands for "No-one Ever Really Dies".
Williams and Hugo originally recorded the band's debut album, In Search Of..., for European release in 2001 using similar digital production techniques used on Neptunes-produced records. However, they decided that if N*E*R*D was to be different from The Neptunes, it should sound different. This led to them re-recording the album (still titled In Search Of...) with the power pop band Spymob for worldwide release in 2002.
In Search Of... achieved moderate success in the United States.: the album reached number 59 on the Billboard 200; its first single, Lapdance, reached the top 40 on the rap charts; and its second single, Rock Star, reached the top 40 of the modern rock charts in the US and is still incredibly popular today. "Lapdance" also went top 40 in the Netherlands and its music video received heavy airplay on American MTV2. The album was well-received by critics even though it was not as successful as many of the Neptunes' productions for other artists.
The album won the second annual Shortlist Music Prize, awarded (by a group of musicians, journalists, and other music professionals) for Best Album that had sold less than 500,000 copies at the time of nomination. The band performed at the show, bragging that the week prior to the ceremony, the album had, in fact, achieved gold status by selling over 500,000 units.
Fly or Die
The band recorded their second album Fly or Die during 2003. The band actually learned to play the tunes live, as Chad Hugo told MTV News on December 9, 2003: "We're the ones playing the instruments live this time. "I just started playing guitar last year so I'm learning as we go. Pharrell's playing drums. [Last time] we didn't have time to learn certain instruments so we got Spymob to help us out."
The band also recruited some assistance to record the album with Lenny Kravitz playing on the track Maybe (which has been featured in ads for XM Satellite Radio) and Joel Madden and Benji Madden of Good Charlotte playing on the track Jump. Several of the tracks discuss issues of particular concern to adolescents, for example Thrasher, which is about bullies; Drill Sergeant, about rebellion; and Backseat Love, which talks about first love.
Fly or Die went on sale on March 22, 2004. The album went top 10 in the USA, while the lead-off single, She Wants to Move, went top 5 in the UK, top 20 in Norway, Ireland, and Denmark, and top 30 in Australia and top 40 in the USA and the Netherlands. The music videos for "She Wants To Move" and its followup single, "Maybe", received strong support from music video stations globally.
In 2005, N.E.R.D ended their contract with Virgin Records. After becoming "hooked" on the energy from their fans, the band began recording their third studio album, spending their own money. Williams and Hugo later established Star Trak Entertainment, a subsidiary of Interscope Records.
Seeing Sounds
The third album from N*E*R*D is called Seeing Sounds. The album's title, as well as its content, revolves around the neurological phenomenon of synesthesia, the mixing of sensory modalities. After touring in promotion of their previous album, Fly or Die, N.E.R.D felt that album was too consistent. For their following album, they wanted to create the atmosphere of hyperactivity they knew their fans wanted.
The album debuted at number seven on the Billboard 200, selling 80,000 in its first week. It received mixed reviews, with critics lauding the production of the album. Some writers called the record N.E.R.D's best album to date, while others criticized Williams' singing and the album's content.
The album was released on June 10, 2008. The first single off the album, titled "Everyone Nose (All the Girls Standing in the Line for the Bathroom)" featured a video with fans as well as stars like Lindsay Lohan and Kanye West. In June 2008, the second single off the album, titled "Spaz", was used in a TV commercial for the Microsoft Zune. The third single "Sooner or Later" featured a video dedicated to America's economic crisis.
Nothing
In 2010, N.E.R.D announced the release of their fourth studio album entitled Nothing, which had a scheduled release date for September 7, 2010, but was pushed back to November 2, 2010. The first single from the album, "Hot-n-Fun" featuring Canadian recording artist Nelly Furtado, was released on May 18, 2010, on iTunes. It was released in the United Kingdom on August 30, 2010. On August 20, 2010, a track titled "Party People" leaked onto the internet. It was rumored to be the second single from the album. On September 28, 2010, they premiered another track from the album titled "Hypnotize U" on Late Show with David Letterman, produced by electronic music duo Daft Punk. On September 30, 2010, in an interview with Mark Hoppus on A Different Spin with Mark Hoppus, Pharrell explained the album cover as "a mix of so many things. The feathers represent the peace, and the helmet represents the war. It's like where we are right now. There's a lot of war, that people can't necessarily explain. The economy sucks, girls are still beautiful. We wanted to make music that reflected that. So people can look back twenty years from now, and say 'this is what was going on'". They then announced in the interview that the next two singles would be "I've Seen the Light" and "Hypnotize U". Pharrell described "Hypnotize U" as being "so different from the rest of the album", stating he was "very pleased because it serves a different purpose" in the album. On October 17, 2010, the standard edition and the deluxe edition of the album became available for pre-order on iTunes. Nothing debuted at number twenty one on the US Billboard 200 chart, with first-week sales of 20,000 copies.
The albums concept was to create a time capsule about America's divisions, "so that ten years from now people remember that era." Sonically the album was inspired by the late 60's and early 70's psychedelic pop.
Pharrell explained: "I just wanted to make some good music that would affect people in a good way." Williams says it wasn't easy. N*E*R*D worked on "a previous body of work which was really good, but it wasn't timeless to me. I didn't feel like we were pushing ourselves as much as we could. We needed to perfect the sound, so we kept pushing the date back until it was right." The result includes "a lot of vintage sounds...The album is very '68-'72, '73, America meets Crosby, Stills & Nash meets Moody Blues."
Nothing received mixed to positive reviews from most music critics.
NO_ONE EVER REALLY DIES
In 2013, Pharrell confirmed a N.E.R.D album was in progress, but also mentioned that the album would not be released that year due to the projects he was working on with other artists. He has also said the album will be "nature-based". The group reunited on December 26, 2014, to release the songs "Squeeze Me," "Patrick Star," and "Sandy Squirrel" for the film The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.
On February 6, 2017, during an interview with BBC Radio 1, Pharrell stated that "it's feeling really good, really special" about the group's return.
In October 2017, the album was teased after posters were popping up on the side of streets, and by concertgoers at the 2017 Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival.
It was preceded by three singles; "Lemon" with Rihanna, "1000" with Future, and "Don't Don't Do It!" with Kendrick Lamar.
The album was debuted with a live listening party during the first day at ComplexCon, thus revealing the tracklist. Pharrell revealed the album's cover art and release date via Instagram and Twitter on November 22, 2017.
NO_ONE EVER REALLY DIES was released on December 15, 2017 through I Am Other and Columbia Records. It features guest appearances from Rihanna, André 3000, Kendrick Lamar, M.I.A., Gucci Mane, Wale, Future and Ed Sheeran among others. The album presented a radical change in sound compared to Nothing, heavily influenced by 80's New Wave and Post-Punk.
“Mr. Williams had been listening to the nervy jangle of post-punk and avant-punk: Gang of Four, Suicide, Devo, Talking Heads,” the Times reported in a December profile. “Once I identified all my pieces,” Williams said, “I was like, ‘Yo, I don’t want to make any more linear songs.’ ” N.E.R.D’s fifth album, “NO ONE EVER REALLY DIES,” released in December, delights in the aimless, anything-plays spirit of post-punk and New Wave—an era that Pharrell, Chad Hugo, and Shay Haley watched firsthand as students of nineteen-eighties MTV."
To make sense of “NO ONE EVER REALLY DIES,” it helps to spend time with the cartoonish yelps of Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh on “Uncontrollable Urge” or David Byrne on “Life During Wartime.” Those front men both shout-sing somewhere higher than mid-range; Byrne has mentioned that, on “Once in a Lifetime,” he evoked the quivering timbre of a southern evangelical preacher whom he’d taped off of local radio. Fans are used to Pharrell’s many voices: the falsetto made famous on “Frontin’,” the breezy and conversational way that he rapped on “Mr. Me Too,” even the showman croon on “Happy.” But this latest voice, on such tracks as “Rollinem 7’s” and “ESP,” searches for a slightly goofball tone that offsets stone-serious messages, like “What possessed the slave to look in the river / Then he saw his true master, fuck is a ‘mister’?” and “Detach yourself, repack yourself / Be back yourself, and dream as yourself.” Many music fans winced at the sight of the new album’s credits, worried that its several guest slots meant a muddy, scattered N.E.R.D. project, but the most unexpected voice on it belongs to Pharrell, who finds new angles for his instrument almost fifteen years in.
This shape-shifting extends to the album’s production, an unrelenting tangle of stuttering rhythms, tempo changes, bridges, and every other misdirection the band can jam in. “Lemon,” the opening track, is the most generous to pop form, and “Deep Down Body Thurst” takes traditional N.E.R.D. piano chords and lays them under new, challenging shapes. You can hear shades of the song’s stomping guitar in the English Beat’s “Mirror in the Bathroom,” itself a mutation of the ska sound that took hold in the U.K. “Don’t Don’t Do It!” pushes through its hook in the same fashion: while the verses are smooth and bluesy, the chorus bursts open in three steamy riffs. (“Don’t, don’t do it!” “They’re gonna do it anyway!” “They. Are. Go-nna. Do. It anyway!”) “Kites” is just as sprawling, bobbing between a double-time punk stomp and trunk-melting trap as Kendrick Lamar and M.I.A. vent about flying over borders and walls on both ends of the beat.
NO_ONE EVER REALLY DIES received positive reviews from music critics.
Rock Star
N*E*R*D Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Yo, yo, yeah
Yo, yo, yeah
Yo, yo, yeah
Yo, yo, yeah
Yeah (uh, uh huh)
Fuckin' posers
For all you, fuckin' posers (yeah)
Yeah
It's almost over now, almost over now
You think the way you live is okay
You think posing will save your day
You think we don't see that you're running
Better call your boys 'cause I'm coming
You can't be me, I'm a rock star
I'm rhyming on the top of a cop car
I'm a rebel and my .44 pops far
It's almost over now, almost over now
Guess, you ain't heard that we swallow guys
It's too damn late, to apologize
When you see the mantle or when you see the skies
It's almost over now, almost over now
You think that you don't have to ever quit
You think that you can get away with it
You think the light won't be ever lit
It's almost over now, almost over now
Somethings on your chest better get it off
There'll be no one left when we set it off
We ain't gonna take it no more
Since it's almost over now, almost over now
You have to plenty of time, there was no rush
But it was your dream to be like us
You're in dreamland so you don't care
And as you wake, we're standing there (I'm standing there, I'm standing there motherfucker)
You can't be me, I'm a rock star
I'm rhyming on the top of a cop car
I'm a rebel and my .44 pops far
It's almost over now it's almost over now
Guess, you ain't heard that we swallow guys
It's too damn late, to apologize
When you see the mantle or when you see the skies
It's almost over now it's almost over now
You think that you don't have to ever quit
You think that you can get away with it
You think the light won't be ever lit
It's almost over now, almost over now
Somethings on your chest better get it off
There'll be no one left when we set it off
We ain't gonna take it no more
Since it's almost over now, almost over now
On your chest better get it off (get it off)
Set it off (pop, pop, pop)
It's almost over now, almost over now (look, It's almost over now, almost over now)
You don't succeed 'cause you hesitate
You think we're fly, but we levitate
Just be yourself, don't ask us why
'Cause if you don't, we'll make you cry (pop, pop, pop)
You can't be me, I'm a rock star
I'm rhyming on the top of a cop car
I'm a rebel and my .44 pops far
It's almost over now it's almost over now
I guess, you ain't heard that we swallow guys
It's too damn late, to apologize
When you see the mantle or when you see the skies
It's almost over now it's almost over now
You think that you don't have to ever quit
You think that you can get away with it
You think the light won't be ever lit
It's almost over now, almost over now
Somethings on your chest better get it off
There'll be no one left when we set it off
We ain't gonna take it no more
Since it's almost over now, almost over now
You can't be me, I'm a rock star
I'm rhyming on the top of a cop car
I'm a rebel and my .44 pops far
It's almost over now it's almost over now
I guess, you ain't heard that we swallow guys
It's too damn late, to apologize
When you see the mantle or when you see the skies
It's almost over now it's almost over now
No one ever really dies, do you believe that?
Well if not, for you
It's almost over now it's almost over now
In "Rock Star" by N*E*R*D, the lyrics speak to those who are "fuckin' posers" and "running" from their true selves. Pharrell Williams, the lead singer, urges people to stop pretending to be rock stars and to be themselves. He suggests that if they don't, they will regret it when they see "the mantle" or "the skies." He rhymes about being a rebel who is not afraid to shoot his gun, both literally and figuratively, to prove that he is a rock star. The song also features a chant that implies that it is almost over for the posers.
Throughout the song, Pharrell Williams is trying to send a message to people to be true to themselves rather than trying to be like him or other rock stars. He calls out those who try to copy his style or way of life and says that they can never be him. The lyrics suggest a sense of rebellion against the mainstream music industry and the media that promotes an unrealistic idea of what it means to be a rock star. The phrase "It's almost over now" could be interpreted two ways: either it's almost over for those who pretend to be rock stars, or it's almost over for the music industry that feeds into this false narrative.
Line by Line Meaning
Fuckin' posers
An expression of disdain towards those who pretend to be something they are not
It's almost over now, almost over now
A message to the posers that their time is up and their act will soon come to an end
You think the way you live is okay
A criticism of the posers' lifestyle and behavior
You think posing will save your day
The posers believe that their facade of pretending to be someone else will benefit them
You think we don't see that you're running
The posers are actually trying to hide their true selves and identity
Better call your boys 'cause I'm coming
A warning that their true selves will be revealed and they should be prepared to face the consequences
You can't be me, I'm a rock star
The posers can never truly be like the true rock stars, who are authentic and genuine in their identity
I'm rhyming on the top of a cop car
An example of the rock star's unconventional, rebellious behavior which sets them apart from the posers
It's almost over now, almost over now
The posers will soon be exposed for pretending to be something they are not
Guess, you ain't heard that we swallow guys
The posers have a mistaken belief about the rock star's behavior
It's too damn late, to apologize
The posers will regret their actions, but it will be too late to make amends
When you see the mantle or when you see the skies
A reference to the afterlife or reckoning, as the posers will face the consequences of their actions
You think that you don't have to ever quit
The posers believe they can keep pretending forever and never face the truth
You think that you can get away with it
The posers think they can continue their facade without ever being exposed
It's almost over now, almost over now
Their time is running out
Somethings on your chest better get it off
The posers have something they need to confess or reveal
There'll be no one left when we set it off
The posers will be alone when their facade comes down
We ain't gonna take it no more
The rock stars will no longer accept the posers pretending to be someone they are not
You have to plenty of time, there was no rush
The posers had the opportunity to become themselves, but they pretended to be something else instead.
But it was your dream to be like us
The posers wanted to be like the true rock stars but lacked the authenticity and talent to do so.
You're in dreamland so you don't care
The posers are in a state of delusion where they believe their facade is real
And as you wake, we're standing there (I'm standing there, I'm standing there motherfucker)
The true rock stars will confront the posers and expose their true selves.
Set it off (pop, pop, pop)
A reference to starting something or initiating an action (potentially violent in this context)
You don't succeed 'cause you hesitate
The posers will never truly succeed because they hesitate to be themselves and must pretend to be something else
You think we're fly, but we levitate
The true rock stars have a level of status, talent, and authenticity far beyond the reach of the posers
Just be yourself, don't ask us why
A challenge to the posers to be authentic and genuine rather than pretending to be something else
'Cause if you don't, we'll make you cry (pop, pop, pop)
The true rock stars will confront the posers and force them to be honest with themselves, potentially through confrontation or violence
No one ever really dies, do you believe that?
An existential question challenging whether or not the posers truly believe they can keep pretending forever without ever facing the truth
Well if not, for you
An implication that those who do not believe that no one ever really dies will be the ones to suffer regret and consequences in the future
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Chad Hugo, Pharrell Williams
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@branm7581
[Intro]
Fuckin' posers!
Yo-yo, yeah
Yo-yo, yeah
Yo-yo, yeah
Yo-yo, yeah, haha, yeah
Uh, yeah (Uh-huh, fuckin' posers, huh)
It's almost over now, almost over now (Hehe, for y'all you fuckin' posers)
Yeah (Look)
It's almost over now, almost over now (Look, look!)
[Verse 1]
You think the way you live is okay
You think posin' will save your day
You think we don't see that you're runnin' (Uh, uh)
Better call your boys 'cause I'm comin'
[Chorus]
You can't be me, I'm a rockstar!
I'm rhymin' on the top of a cop car!
I'm a rebel and my .44 pops far!
It's almost over now, it's almost over now!
I guess, you ain't heard that we swallow guys!
It's too damn late to apologize!
When you see the mantle or when you see the skies
That's almost over now, almost over now!
[Post-Chorus]
You think, that you don't have to ever quit
You think, that you can get away with it
You think, the light won't be ever lit
It's almost over now, almost over now
Somethin' on your chest, better get it off (Uh)
There'll be no one left when we set it off
We ain't gonna take it no more
Since it's almost over now, almost over now
[Verse 2]
You had plenty of time, there was no rush (Time, rush)
But it was your dream to be like us (Uh)
You're in dream land, so you don't care (Haha, care)
And as you wait, we're standin' there (I'm standin' there, I'm standin' there, motherfucker! Haha)
[Chorus]
You can't be me, I'm a rockstar! (Ha)
I'm rhymin' on the top of a cop car!
I'm a rebel and my .44 pops far!
It's almost over now, it's almost over now!
I guess, you ain't heard that we swallow guys!
It's too damn late to apologize!
When you see the mantle or when you see the skies
That's almost over now, almost over now!
[Post-Chorus]
You think, that you don't have to ever quit
You think, that you can get away with it
You think, the light won't be ever lit
It's almost over now, almost over now
Somethin' on your chest, better get it off (Get it out, somethin' on your chest, uh)
There'll be no one left when we set it off
We ain't gonna take it no more (Look)
Since it's almost over now, almost over now
[Interlude]
Your chest, better get it off (Get it off)
Pick up my pop, pop, pop, uh (We 'bout to set it off, uh)
Look, it's almost over now, it's almost over now!
Ooh!
[Verse 3]
You don't succeed 'cause you hesitate
You think we're fly, well, we levitate (We levitate)
Just be yourself, don't ask us why (Why?)
'Cause if you don't, we'll make you fly (Pow-pow, pow-pow! Look, look!)
[Chorus]
You can't be me, I'm a rockstar!
I'm rhymin' on the top of a cop car! (Haha)
I'm a rebel and my .44 pops far!
It's almost over now, almost over now!
I guess, you ain't heard that we swallow guys!
It's too damn late to apologize!
When you see the mantle or when you see the skies
That's almost over now, it's almost over now! (Haha!)
[Post-Chorus]
You think, that you don't have to ever quit (Uh)
You think, that you can get away with it (Uh)
You think, the light won't be ever lit (Ayo)
Well, it's almost over now, almost over now
Somethin' on your chest, better get it off (Yeah)
There'll be no one left when we set it off (No one ever really dies, come on)
We ain't gonna take it no more (Do you believe that? If not, yo)
Since it's almost over now, almost over now
[Chorus]
You can't be me, I'm a rockstar! (Haha)
I'm rhymin' on the top of a cop car!
I'm a rebel and my .44 pops far!
It's almost over now, almost over now! (Pow-pow, pow-pow)
I guess, you ain't heard that we swallow guys!
It's too damn late to apologize!
When you see the mantle or when you see the skies
That's almost over now, it's almost over now!
[Outro]
No one ever really dies, do you believe that? (Yeah, uh-huh)
Well, if not, for you, it's almost over now, almost over now
No one ever really dies
Brought to you by Star Trak, comin' to a theater near you
@jcl197
This is the version I remember jamming to in college, when I tried to find it on Spotify all I found was the other version I like both versions but this one is a classic and brings me back
@citystars1117
I've been searching for this version for years now, this one is so much better I was so mad when I bought the cd and it had that other official version on it. Thank god this ones still around. First one I heard was this
@pidiocxc
Dude. years and years of looking for this version and have never been able to find it and I just did. I'm wayy too happy
@omicronnero2346
Agreed. Original Version > Re-Release Version.
@MindandSoulfm
The reason that they changed the American release of the album so much is because the US audience wasn't as receptive to their style at the time. So the UK got the original "Electronic Version" while we got the "Rock" Spymob version afterwards. Long story short, you just needed to buy the UK version of the album to get this version of the song. lol
@danfromzr3289
I love the digital percussion. Anyone who doesn’t think isn’t the better version hasn’t heard it in their car with 15” subs in the trunk.
@PMB827
I prefer most of the songs on the us version but this one is better
@YerpDerp17
This version is really cool, especially when I have loved this record for decades and never knew it existed. I lived in a small town where there wasn't a place that sold parental advisory CD's. All we had was a Walmart. So we would have to drive over a half hour to the city and go to Sam Goody or Best Buy. I had just got my allowance (15 dollars every 2 weeks ) and my dad needed to run to Best Buy to get something for the computer. Once I hit the age of 10ish, all I ever spent money on was music, and music magazines. My family wasn't well off, and a lot of times I would be a couple dollars short of getting a CD, so I typically had to wait a month to get a new album. But we also didn't make the trip to the city often, so I decided to tag along. We get there and per usual, I jolt to the music section. All the CD's I want are around 18 dollars, and I knew better than to ask for more money after I just got my allowance. So I continue browsing, but I badly want a new CD now. Then there is a space at the front of the section where the new releases were. Here is this album. I had heard Rock Star a few times on MTV, thought it was cool, but knew nothing else about this group or if I'd be into them. But the album was on sale for 13 dollars, it had a parental advisory stick, which made it cooler. There was something so appealing about the cover, and I remember opening it on our drive home and loving the art style.
Fast forward 20 something years and this album is just as good, if not better than it was then. Provider is one of my favorite songs ever, and it was so fun putting people onto this band. Even nowadays I will find myself recommending this to people who have never heard it. Ironically I have about the same story with The Clipse "Lord Willin" album, knowing their and Pharrels history.
Sorry for the ramble, was just bringing back so many memories that I hadn't accessed in well over a decade or more. In that time you really dug into and stuck with the music for a long while, because you didn't have access to unlimited music. Once we got a music store where they sold used music called "Karma", that became my second home and a way to listen to new music for half the price. lol Then once our family got a CD burner, it was over. Ever since then music has been my life, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Have a wonderful and positive day to anyone who may randomly come across this!
@Vnov93
This version is on the US retail CD single for Lapdance. For me, it's a toss between which one I like more. This one is more reminiscent of the typical Neptunes production style, so I have to give it that. But then, the US album version is more energetic and fun to go wild to. They both have their place.
@cds2319
Ugh.... I LOVE THIS VERSION! ❤️