N.E.R.D. and Clipse

Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo of The Neptunes are the most revolutionary production tandem in modern music since Quincy Jones and Rod Tempterton put down shuffle-beats and doo-wops behind a young singer named Michael Jackson. With their digital musical palette and vivid imaginations, they've taken their hip-hop foundation and un-tethered the bounds of pop, bestowing unsuspecting hit records in almost machine-gun-like succession - whether in rap (Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, et al), R&B (Usher, Babyface), pop (Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake) or rock (No Doubt).
But N.E.R.D is not the Neptunes. N.E.R.D is the offspring of the Neptunes id, a fly-or-die, thrash-around, do-as-you-will, set-your-soul-on-fire alter-ego that subscribes to no rules, adheres to no agenda. It is Pharrell, Chad and Shay � a trio whose chemistry allows the uninhibited exploration of the sounds, emotions and impulses of self and society, of identity and belonging. Of life.
Fly or Die is the second album from N.E.R.D, picking up where the groups debut, In Search Of, left off. "It's evolution, for real," says Shay. "There's an entire dimension to music and life that we touched on with In Search Of, but that was only the beginning. Those were only doors to this other dimension and with this album we are there."
If many of the songs tap into the anxieties, awkwardness and aspirations of adolescence, it's no coincidence. "We didn't write these songs like that because we're obsessed with high school," says Chad. "But there are real memories from that time that shaped our lives and it just comes out naturally." Says Shay more succinctly, "I think those were some of the best years of our life, truth be told."
Which is where N.E.R.D lies - in the time-warp, where boundaries and borders and linearity succumb to the openness of truth. Because in life, there are two paths to choose from but only one direction to go in - and you can either Fly or Die.