ashley's music, art & stuff: N-E-R-D

Chad Hugo, Pharrell Williams and Shae Haley. These three men combined create what is probably my favorite trio of all time. When I decided to discuss these guys, I initially wanted to give my opinion of there second drop 'Fly Or Die'. Then I started reasoning that speaking on one album alone is not going to justify the creative thinking that they generate. Therefore, for myself to give you a true introspective outlook towards this band, I had to deliver the culmination of my thoughts derived from what I know and feel.

N.E.R.D. From beginning to end, I hear constant originality and flavor. I'm a strong believer in that when music is really good, it doesn't matter when it was created. It doesn't matter what the individual or individuals look like; when its good it's great. These guys are just that. Rewind to 2004 and I never thought I'd be saying that about this group. 'Looser' from "The Neptunes Present... Clones", was the first track I ever heard. The mesh of alt rock/rap was something I wasn't entirely too familiar with. In my personal playlist at the time, I had been used to a certain commonality in what I was listening to. Not that I stuck to one genre, but I hadn't taken any risks as far as branching out towards anything really different. From that point onward, not only had I begun to incorporate various sounds but N.E.R.D. became a mainstay. Every remix that I could find, every video, and each album; I had to see and hear. I love just about EVERY song they've made. However I always have my favorites that I can go to anytime I want. 'Bobby James' is probably the main track I took a liking to. I like the hidden song at the end of this one. Reading up, I learned that Chad plays saxophone along with other instruments, so maybe that's him playing there. It's great nonetheless. I think about songs like 'Happy', 'Find My Way', 'The Way She Dances', 'Run To The Sun' and all the others. I find that now, in 2011, I'm never board.

Content doesn't surprise me, be it social change, relationships, love, hate, internal thoughts, past, present, future or something far out; its nothing new. The presentation grabs me. From "In Search Of" to "Nothing" and individual projects along the way, they always deliver what I've come to know. What have I come to know? That's seamless beats, complex backdrops, live instrumentation (you know I dote on that), "spacey" synthesized sound, percussion, piano, drums, guitar and just about everything of the sort. This is what they do. The brain, the red dog, spacemen, spaceships, simply a medley of many things and styles.

If by any chance you're unfamiliar with N.E.R.D., don't "front", "sooner or later" you will be.

Pick one or all...