No One Ever Really Dies
Studio album by N.E.R.D.
Released	December 15, 2017
Studio	Various Glenwood Place Studios, Burbank; Chalice Recording Studios, Conway Recording Studios and Henson Recording Studios, Hollywood; The Lunchtable, Los Angeles; The Why, Malibu, CA South Beach Studios, Miami Beach, FL Makoché Recording Studios, Bismarck, ND Flux Studios and Jungle City Studios, New York, NY Sony Studios, Tokyo, Japan Metropolis Studios, London, UK
Genre	Hip hop[1] experimental hip hop[2] new wave[3] post-punk[3]
Length	51:09
Label	I Am Other Columbia
Producer	Pharrell Williams (also exec.) Rhea Dummett Kuk Harrell Chad Hugo Mike Larson
N.E.R.D. chronology
Nothing (2010) No One Ever Really Dies (2017)
Singles from No One Ever Really Dies
"Lemon" Released: November 1, 2017 "1000" Released: November 29, 2017 "Don't Don't Do It!" Released: January 12, 2018[4]

No One Ever Really Dies (stylized as NO_ONE EVER REALLY DIES) is the fifth studio album by American hip hop and rock band N.E.R.D. The album was released on December 15, 2017 through I Am Other and Columbia Records.^[5] It features guest appearances from Rihanna, André 3000, Kendrick Lamar, M.I.A., Gucci Mane, Wale, Future and Ed Sheeran among others. It was preceded by three singles; "Lemon" with Rihanna, "1000" with Future, and "Don't Don't Do It!" with Kendrick Lamar.

No One Ever Really Dies is the group's first full-length album since 2010's Nothing.^[6]

Background

On February 6, 2017, during an interview with BBC Radio 1, Pharrell stated that "it's feeling really good, really special" about the group's return.^[7]

In October 2017, the album was teased after posters were popping up on the side of streets, and by concertgoers at the 2017 Camp Flog Gnaw Carnival.^[8][9]

The album was debuted with a live listening party during the first day at ComplexCon, thus revealing the tracklist.^[10] Pharrell revealed the album's cover art and release date via Instagram and Twitter on November 22, 2017.^[11][12]

Artwork

The album's artwork depicts a tongue with the album's title placed on top and aluminum foil on the teeth to substitute grills.^[13][14]

Critical reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	74/100[15]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[16]
Consequence of Sound	B[17]
Exclaim!	8/10[18]
The Guardian	[19]
HipHopDX	4.1/5[20]
Pitchfork	6.2/10[21]
Rolling Stone	[22]
Tom Hull – on the Web	B+ ()[23]
Chicago Tribune	[24]
The Observer	[25]

No One Ever Really Dies received positive reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album has an average score of 74, based on 17 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[15]

Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune, in a 3.5 out of 4 star review, praised the album saying "No One Ever Really Dies” (Columbia), the band’s first album in seven years, is a typically diverse, trippy ride from the group."^[24] In a four out of five star review for AllMusic, critic Andy Kellman claimed that "Tied together with recurring declarations of "mad ethnic right now," sampled from Retch's 2016 viral clip, the album is all raucous resistance to issues ranging from anti-immigration to police brutality to transgender rights. When Williams barks "You fuckin' with survivors!" like an activist Rockwell, he perfectly summarizes the indignant optimism that dominates the best N.E.R.D album since the original version of In Search of....."^[16] With an 8/10 rating, A Harmony of Exclaim! declared "We're approaching 2018, but N.E.R.D. are centuries ahead of the rest of us. No_One Ever Really Dies is the group's most futuristic and experimental effort to date; it's gutsy and more than a little weird, but there's a slick tidiness underpinning the chaos from start to finish."^[18]

Giving a 4.1 out of 5 grade, Kyle Eustice of HipHopDX opined "True to form, the 11-track effort is more like a collection of fiery mini-symphonies that effortlessly swing from genre to genre. Every track has multiple intricate parts that make each one feel like its own wild musical journey. Much like the trio’s 2002 debut In Search Of…, it’s impossible to classify the record as merely “Hip Hop” when it’s a cornucopia of layered, eclectic sounds, including pop, R&B, trap, rock, fast-paced electronica, reggae and calypso."^[20] Consequence of Sound's Dan Weiss gave a B saying "With NO_ONE EVER REALLY DIES, the trio have delivered the party-at-the-end-of-the-world record that only their Rolodex could truly dream to life."^[17] Kitty Empire of The Observer, in a 4 out of 5 star review, found "This is a brash, busy party record with its eyes wide open, in which the NERD brand is thoroughly refreshed."^[25]

Track listing

Credits adapted from Tidal.^[26] All tracks are produced by Pharrell Williams, except where noted.

Notes

• ^{^[a]} signifies an additional producer.
• ^{^[b]} signifies an additional vocal producer.
• "Don’t Don’t Do It!" originally featured credited vocals by Frank Ocean.
• "Deep Down Body Thurst" features additional vocals by Mike Larson.
• "1000" features additional vocals by Alex DePersia, Mette Towley, Rhea Dummett and Phi Hollinger.
• "ESP" features additional vocals by Alex DePersia and Mette Towley.
• "Lightning Fire Magic Prayer" features additional vocals by Rocket Williams, Helen Williams, Rhea Dummett and Mike Larson.
• "Kites" features additional vocals by ASAP Rocky, Mary J. Blige, Rhea Dummett, Hana Hollinger, Phi Hollinger and Helen Williams.
• "Secret Life of Tigers" features additional vocals by First Summer Uika and Momose Momo of Billie Idle, and Cara Delevingne.

Personnel

N.E.R.D

• Pharrell Williams – production (all tracks), executive production
• Chad Hugo – additional production (track 6), synthesizers (tracks 2, 5), doorslam (track 2), synth FX (track 3), programming (track 3)
• Shay Haley

Additional musicians

Technical

Release

Charts

References