N.E.R.D. Nothing

Of all the albums out this year, the two by The Roots (the hip-hop powerhouse that is How I Got Over and the soulful John Legend collaboration Wake Up!) shine bright on my list.  In both LPs, specifically the latter, the band took elements of vintage R&B, funk, protests songs, and jazz and made them fit the confines of the modern rap world.  But if you think Questlove and company cornered the market on revitalizing the sounds of old, think again.  For their fourth studio album, N.E.R.D. delved just as deep, if not deeper, into the sounds of the '60s and uncovered their most fun and mature release to date.  Solid. 

Beginning with 2002’s In Search Of…, the group were known for taking a lot of conventions of hip-hop and turning them on their head (who can deny a cerebral banger like Lapdance?)  Later efforts, specifically 2008’s Seeing Sounds and subsequent cuts like Everyone Nose, saw the trio begin to lose some of their unique appeal, falling into a plane with other faceless modern rap/dance/R&B acts.  A huge chunk of Nothing’s tracks fall prey to a similar artistic decay, but they’re created to be suffered through quite quickly and efficiently.

Good-time tracks aren’t bad; they’re just disconcerting when made in the face of actual integrity and depth.  However, if you’re one who pops in a N.E.R.D. CD for fun, what you get is a mixed bag of sorts.  Party People, featuring T.I., and Hot-n-Fun, featuring Nelly Furtado, could both be dancehall favorites anywhere in the world.  The one interesting selection could be Hypnotize U, which sounds like freaky modern New Wave electro music sung by a particularly creepy son of Al Green.   These songs are clearly meant for the mainstream pop addicts who love the smell of the club-friendly hits of Seeing Sounds.  They’re a decent warm-up and sandwich the album’s actual blasts from the past.

Of the songs that pull from the soundscape of the ‘60s, there are two ways to classify them.  The first category are blatant rip-offs, which I mean in the most sincere and kindest sense imaginable.  Help Me sounds like every Doors song ever made slammed together to form a ballad of passion and fire, but that suffers from the same ailment a lot of throwback songs skirt with simply by existing: not inventive enough and far too like the source material.  Thankfully, they remedy that in Victory.  Like a combination of late Beatles or early Wings, it’s a celebration of love and life and achieving greatness.  It’s simple, understated nature is a big departure for a band known for busy songs and a welcome addition to the catalog.

Despite all the saxophone parts and slow, sexy melodies, much like The Roots, the most appealing thing the group mined from the revolutionary era that was the ‘60s was the spirit of social consciousness.   Infused with the backbone and heavy beat of a hip-hop track spun with the bluesy nature of a true protest song, God Bless Us All is an inspiring speech to a young minority about being a man in the face of adversity.  But what truly instills hope and a sense of promise for the band is Life As A Fish.  Going right for the throat, this even-more-understated track is a religious overview, a biology lesson, a critique against mankind’s greed and violent nature, a plea for environmentalism, and so much more, all punctuated by a simple, explosive chorus/plea. 

A level of self-awareness and concern for the world outside themselves hasn’t always been N.E.R.D.’s thing.  This album does its best to give certain fans exactly what they want in sexually-driven club grinders while offering up real, honest-to-goodness substance.  It isn’t always a perfect situation, and parts of the album border on forgettable, but when they get it right, everything’s groovy.