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Pharrell Reunites with Defunct Funk-Rock Band, N*E*R*D for "Squeeze Me" from The SpongeBob Movie (Sponge Out of Water)




"We're trying not to think too much in a cartoon sense, but more just like a psychedelic, otherworldly type of thing. If you want to draw a parallel, maybe think of what The Beatles did with Yellow Submarine," Chad Hugo, one half of hit-making production team The Neptunes, recently told Variety about their forthcoming work on The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water. "Squeeze Me," which was released online Friday afternoon, is the first track accredited to N*E*R*D since their 2010 group album, Nothing; Hugo, Pharrell, and Shay Haley's critically-acclaimed Funk-Rock fusion side-band has remained largely inactive over the past 4-5 years since its release. While Pharrell seemingly confirmed that N*E*R*D's "nature-based" fourth album has been in-the-works since around 2013, nothing of any magnitude has yet materialized. But to their credit, "Squeeze Me" is a jangly Caribbean-infused track that's likely comparable to something along the lines of Pharrell's light-hearted commercial success formerly achieved with "Happy." Odd Future rapper-producer and self-proclaimed N*E*R*D super-fan Tyler, The Creator even went as far as to speculate that "IT'S [PROBABLY] A ROUGH DRAFT FROM '08... [RE DONE] FOR THE PURPOSE OF A KIDS MOVIE WITHOUT GOING LEFT FIELD, BUT STILL KEEPING IT UNIQUE." N*E*R*D's long-awaited reunion single, "Squeeze Me" will see an official release on January 6th, while the film it's lifted from, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water, is out in theatres nation-wide on February 6th.