"We didn't care about genres; we're not doing this for the money. We're doing this for people who pledge allegiance to our movement"Do to Pharrell's solo album & The Neptunes production career, N*E*R*D was put on a minor hiatus since their last album Fly or Die. Until, of course they announced that they were dropping N3RD, which has now since been re-titled Seeing Sounds.
Apparently they named the album after the rare condition Synesthesia...
"It's a mixture of senses that may cause a person to experience colorful hearing, auditory smell," Shay explained. "For example, you might see something, and it might trigger a song. You might hear something, and it might trigger a taste in your mouth. When we created this album, it was the music we envisioned while creating it. We decided it would be the appropriate title for the album."During the legendary SXSW festival Pharrell spoke a little more about the actual album though...
"If you really analyze that," Pharrell added, "the most inspiration is probably deep inside a synesthesiac. So for us, 'seeing sounds' is what we relate to the most. We figured we'd make an album out of it."
"Energy and emotion was the criteria [while recording], but we made the music anticipating the [live] show," he continued. "That was the most important thing. ... [The song] 'Spazz' is [a] nostalgic, hip-hop feeling with some drum and bass. It becomes a big, tall monster. It's almost like this big gorilla looking down at you. If he smacks you, he kills you. His fingers are the size of your body. That's kinda what we're doing in N.E.R.D. We're facing this big monster of, of what we know is out there, of what we see, that big monster of energy."Thats not all N*E*R*D is up to though, Starting in mid-April, they will also join Kanye West on the Glow in the Dark Tour, while Seeing Sounds is due to drop this June.
