+ Band Bio

N*E*R*D (pronounced 'en ee arr dee', but also often referred to as simply 'nerd') is the name of the hiphop-jazz-rock-funk band consisting of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of The Neptunes and their friend Shay Haley. Their music is best described as funk/rock, with various other influences, including soul music, hip hop music, and blues rock. Pharrell explains "What is a N.E.R.D? N.E.R.D stands for No One Ever Really Dies. The Neptunes are who we are and N.E.R.D is what we do. It's our life. N.E.R.D is just a basic belief, man. People's energies are made of their souls. When you die, that energy may disperse but it isn't destroyed."

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 U.S.: the album reached number 59 on the Billboard 200; its first single, "Lapdance", reached the top 40 on the "Modern Rap" charts; and its second single, "Rock Star", reached the top 40 of the "Modern Rock" charts in the US. "Lapdance" also went top 40 in the Netherlands and its music video received heavy airplay on American MTV2. The album won the second annual Shortlist Music Prize, awarded (by a group of musicians, journalists, and other music professionals) to the best album of the year which had sold less than 500,000 copies at the time of nomination. The band performed at the show, stating that the week prior to the ceremony, the album had, in fact, achieved gold status by selling over 500,000 units.

The band recorded its 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." Several of the tracks discuss issues of particular concern to adolescents, for example "Thrasher", which is about bullies and street violence; "Drill Sergeant", about rebellion and war, "Backseat Love", which talks about first love, and "Maybe" talked about a first time break up.ly or Die went on sale on March 22, 2004. The album debuted in the top 10 in the USA, while the lead-off single, "She Wants to Move", has gone top 5 in the UK, top 20 in Norway, Ireland, and Denmark, and top 40 in Australia and the Netherlands. The music videos for "She Wants To Move" and its follow up single, "Maybe", have received strong support from the digital cable network VH1 Soul in America.

The band is now working on their follow up, "Seeing Sounds" which was originally titled "N.3.R.D.". In the Band's debut single from the project "Everyone Nose", Pharrell proclaims "I see sounds". N.E.R.D.'s previous disc, 2004's Fly or Die, was stacked with topically heavy layers, the group addressing war over Britpop-styled rock and teen-angst anthems. This time around, N.E.R.D.'s focus, Williams says, will be markedly different."There's a Great Depression soup line of people talking about politics, so I don't think people necessarily need to hear that from us," he says. "We wanted to focus on the subconscious of the individual, much like the first record (2002's In Search of . . .). We wanted to get back into the brains of our listeners again." To promote the album N.E.R.D has embarked on a intimate promo tour and will be an opening act on Kanye's blockbuster "The Glow In The Dark" tour.The album is set for a June release date.

+ Discography Click on Album Cover for Tracklist And purchase

+ Videography

"Lapdance"________ "Rockstar" _______"Provider"_____"She Wants To Move"____"Maybe"