Pharrell Williams insists his rock outfit, N.E.R.D., still isn't concerned with achieving blockbuster commercial success.

As one-half of production duo the Neptunes, his outer-space aesthetics and genre-fusing beats have helped yield plenty of hits (and a few Grammys) for practically every bold-face name in today's pop landscape. But as frontman of the rap-rock leaning N.E.R.D, he and the band have remained a commercial underdog, despite being led by one of the biggest hit-makers in music.

The trio -– comprised of Williams, fellow Neptunes member Chad Hugo and Shay Haley –- are back with their fourth album, "Nothing," after adding -- and dropping -- a new member.

Late last year, the group announced it was were recording a new disc, originally titled “Instant Gratification,” the follow-up to 2008's "Seeing Sounds," with female singer Rhea. They toured with the spunky vocalist, her presence adding a strong, sexy girl-power edge to balance Williams’ trademark raspy falsetto. It was assumed she'd do for the band what Fergie did for the Black Eyed Peas: shift its cult following to pop gold.

But the idea didn't last too long.

“We were taking a chance on having a girl as like a fourth member for a second. It was fun. We did a really great album. But it was good and for us good isn’t good enough,” Williams, 37, says in his usual cool demeanor. “So we stopped, took a break and started over.”

The scrapped project led to the creation of “Nothing,” released last week (check out Pop & Hiss’ review of the record) and debuted at No. 20 on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart, after logging first-week sales of 20,000 copies.

The record, led by the Nelly Furtado assisted “Hot n’ Fun,” has the same brand of funk, rock, R&B and electropop from the group that make them favorites among the festival circuit; at the moment they are touring with the Gorillaz. Williams said the influences for the album came in a few unlikely places.

Of the half-dozen acts that played during Monday night's mega event at Staples Center, perhaps any one of them alone could have filled the arena. But together, those genre-spanning superstars produced a fantastic and unforgettable stage show for the fairly intimate crowd.

Also, there might have been something about a video game.

The invite-only event was put on by Activision Blizzard, the Santa Monica outfit that makes such hit games as Call of Duty, Guitar Hero and World of Warcraft. Among the first nighttime events for the kickoff of this year's E3 video game expo in Los Angeles, Activision somehow managed to top Microsoft's Project Natal spectacle from the night before, which called upon the ever-mystifying Cirque du Soleil.

How a video game publisher managed to book Staples Center on the eve of the Lakers' crucial Game 6 in the NBA finals was a mystery soon forgotten after things got rolling. Eminem was the apparent headliner of the night, nabbing the longest playtime and the last punch and kick onstage, but it wouldn't be at all fair to call those who preceded him opening acts.

Up until 2003, Los Angeles band the Black Eyed Peas was a fledgling hip-hop act best known for its impressive dance moves and feel-good beats.

But with the addition of Stacy “Fergie” Ferguson, BEP transformed into a sleek pop hit machine, churning out a seemingly endless stream of hit singles, which culminated with a record-breaking run at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart this year with “Boom Boom Pow” and “I Gotta Feeling.”

Although there’s no indication that the Black Eyed Peas' female-powered success was any influence, N.E.R.D., the pop-rock outfit fronted by superstar producers the Neptunes, has followed suit by introducing a woman into its fold.