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Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' Meets Dance Punk: Inside N.E.R.D's Comeback Concert And New Album
Pink Floyd's 'The Wall' Meets Dance Punk: Inside N.E.R.D's Comeback Concert And New Album
Photo Credit: Vickey Ford For Okayplayer

N.E.R.D Enlists Kendrick Lamar And M.I.A. For New Single "Kites"

As N.E.R.D gets ready to drop its highly-anticipated new album No_One Ever Really Dies, the alternative funk-rock trio has released another track.

STREAM: N.E.R.D’s “Don’t Don’t Do It” Featuring Kendrick Lamar And Frank Ocean

Titled "Kites," the song features M.I.A. and Kendrick Lamar. The production is reminiscent of Seeing Sounds-era N.E.R.D, the beat bouncy and bass-driven. However, the standout is Lamar, who provides another memorable verse for the Pharrell-led group.

"Every prosecution hung, save the verdict for the lawyers," the Compton rapper says. "Illuminate the corner, I celebrate humanity scream back at me in the morning."

On Wednesday, N.E.R.D unveiled "Don't Don't Do It," a track which features Lamar and Frank Ocean. Speaking to Zane Lowe on his Beats 1 radio show, Pharrell talked about the track and how he believes Lamar is a "jazz artist reincarnated."

"The way that he handles the pen is kind of how Miles Davis handled the trumpet. Or how Coltrane fingers just shifted and sifted through his saxophone keys. It’s like his melodies are as prolific and what he has to say has so much harmony and so much color in it," Pharrell said.

"You're arguing and asking yourself is it brilliant colorful scribble or is it like really eloquent calligraphy? Is the way he’s rhyming, is that a drumroll or is that like an AR-15 with a banana clip," Pharrell continued. "That is what a jazz musician is always able to do, a really good one."