Without that crucial ballast, both sides of the Neptunes story swing irretrievably into orbit. The reason that listening to Nothing is so profoundly depressing, however, is because the first half of the above equation- the part where the Neptunes are still cranking out lethal, indelible radio hits- has more or less evaporated. So the fact that Nothing, their fourth album, is a parade of deliriously bad ideas- terrible ones realized with fervent conviction, half-promising ones botched by disastrous execution- shouldn't even really be held against it. albums may never have made for essential listening, but they spoke to an important part of the Neptunes storyline, fleshing out Hugo and Williams' image as likable, overly enthusiastic dorks. For every indestructible "What Happened to That Boy" or "Superthug", there was an "Everyone Nose" or a "She Wants to Move"- something goofy and dubiously conceived where their reach wildly exceeded their grasp. albums served a useful purpose: they brought the super-producers, endearingly, to earth. Back when he and Chad Hugo were still dominating hip-hop radio, N.E.R.D. has been a reliable repository for all of the worst ones. Ever since 2001, his rock-band side project N.E.R.D.
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