Artist	Song

Comment:

The rock-face of the Neptunes production team, N.E.R.D. combines the digital tweakery and fancy beat-mongering of hip-hop with a funky, often soulful slice of the rock 'n' roll pie. Mix-desk aces Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo became a trio with the addition of friend Shay and released their debut, [i]In Search Of . . . [/i], in 2002: tracks like "Lapdance" tease out thrilling new tricks from a welter of generically unfettered influences. Two further albums have arrived since then — 2004's [i]Fly or Die[/i], featuring the flamenco-funk guitar tangles of "She Wants to Move," and 2008's [i]Seeing Sounds[/i], fronted by killer lead single "Everyone Nose," which comes on like King Kong, excepting a mellow, soulful mid-tune breakdown. Restless invention, thy name is N.E.R.D.

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