Maybe there’s another way that we can bumpbumpbump

N.E.R.D.: Fly or Die

The Neptunes are quite notable as hip-hop producers, but there is a good reason they do not go by that name for their own albums. For one, they would squander their reputation. Fly or Die is not hip-hop, or at least only very tangentially. It’s sort of an R&B-emo-prog concept album about teenage runaways and sodomy and… Look, I don’t know. This has a guest appearance by Good Charlotte, alright? Good fucking Charlotte! Most of the album comes off like a collaboration between Lenny Kravitz and R. Kelly, which, actually is kind of entertaining, in a morbid curiosity sort of way. Seriously, only R. Kelly can write a line so perfectly R. Kelly as ‘Her ass is a spaceship I want to ride.’ Lenny Kravitz even does make an appearance on the album. They knew what they were doing.

Put all this together and it shouldn’t be something I can stand, but somehow the pieces fall together that makes the mess compelling. There are some distinct suggestions that the whole thing is a sly act of parody. In particular, the closing track “Chariot of Fire” is definitely a riff on Prince, “Don’t Worry About It” is straight-up a rewrite of their own hit “Lapdance” from In Search of…, and I don’t know what the hell “Wonderful Place” is on about (especially the wicked-cool totally insane second section), but it’s sure something. Something indeed.

I cannot fault N.E.R.D. for making the album they wanted to make, because that’s surely what they did. This is just a bizarre album in every way, weird, silly, proggy, poppy bullshit, but in sort of a good way. It’s dumb like Andrew W.K. and insane like R. Kelly, which is a combination that just works, as long as you don’t dig too deep. I mean, this is a stupid, stupid album, even if it is being cleverly stupid, if you follow. Sure, some of these songs are just terrible, like “Breakout” and “Jump” and other inspirational titles, but mostly, it’s big dumb fun. I love “Drill Sergeant”, love it, that is just perfect pop.

Yeah, I don’t know. I don’t like this album, but I do like this album.

62% => ***

~ by jshopa on June 4, 2008.