Pharrell Williams on N.E.R.D., touring and future collaborations with Beyonce, Kanye West and Pitbull
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.