N.E.R.D Member Chad Hugo On Album Delays And Live Instrumentation

03/13/2002 3:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Mark Armstrong

(3/13/02, 3 p.m. ET) -- N.E.R.D., the alternative hip-hop group fronted by the Neptunes, issued its debut album, In Search Of..., Tuesday (March 12) on Virgin Records after more than a year of shuffling album release dates. The album's second single, "Rock Star," featuring members Chad Hugo, Pharrell Williams, and Shay Haley, is scheduled to be serviced to radio in the coming weeks.

"It was a little frustrating at first," group member Chad Hugo told LAUNCH about the delays. "It's just a matter of giving the right time to be released and hopefully, this is it." Last fall, the group replaced the studio version of the album with one made with live instrumentation from Spy Mob, a band signed to the Neptunes's Star Trak label through Arista.

The initial version of the album was a blueprint, according to Hugo. "We kinda just wanted to take it to another level by adding different live instruments, so people could hear the sound of a real electric guitar, or the sound of a real drum set," Hugo said. "We wanted people to pick up a guitar and learn those licks, and broaden our audience at the same time."

The following is the album's track listing: "Lapdance," featuring Lee Harvey and Vita; "Things Are Getting Better"; "Brain"; "Provider"; "Truth Or Dare," featuring Kelis and Pusha T; "Tape You"; "Run To The Sun"; "Baby Doll"; "Am I High," featuring Malice; "Rock Star"; "Bobby James"; and "Stay Together."

The Neptunes produced five songs on the Billboard Hot 100 chart: *NSYNC's "Girlfriend," Usher's "U Don't Have To Call," Fabolous's "Young'n (Holla Back)," Busta Rhymes's "Pass The Courvoisier Part II," and Mystikal's "Bouncin' Back (Bumpin' Me Against The Wall)."

-- Billy Johnson Jr., Los Angeles

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