Rainy Milo on ‘Seeing Sounds’ by N.E.R.D.

Everybody got some favourite albums. Music that accompanied yourself through difficult times, records that acted like a friend when there was real one around. Whether it was the sound around the times of your first kiss or the starting point of your own attempts to take a deeper look into new musical territories. We all have this record somewhere in our hearts and private collections. In this category NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION lets the artist’s do the writing as they share their personal stories and feelings on their most loved record with us.

This time we have up and coming neo R&B and soul singer RAINY MILO talking about her love for Pharrell Williams and Co. aka N.E.R.D. And since she already hinted on her love for the band in our recent Introducing Q&A we’re not that surprised about her choice. But we guarantee that you’ll be surprised by her presence and performance power. And if you happen to be in Berlin on next Monday (Dec 15) don’t hesitate to visit her show at the Kantine am Berghain, presented by NOTHING BUT HOPE AND PASSION. We’re still giving away tickets right here, so don’t hesitate.

N.E.R.D. – ‘Seeing Sounds’ (2008)

One of the most inspiring records I ever listened to was N.E.R.D’s Seeing Sounds. It was my introduction to N.E.R.D as I was very young when they released their first few albums so it was the first I had heard of them. I remember buying it at my local HMV one summer with my cousin who had come from another city in the UK to visit me. I basically ignored him the whole summer because I was so into this album the only interest I had was to listen to it every day and nothing else.

I was inspired by how sonically progressive it was, the album as a whole can’t be tied down to any genre, as it has so many influences in its mix. There was this freeness in the songs that made me fall in love with it. I loved that it wasn’t attached to or held down by any genre it just did its own thing. You felt that Pharrell, Chad Hugo and Shay Haley just went into the studio and did whatever they felt like and that’s something I took away from. Listening to the record I had that same urge to just create anything I felt like there and then.

Some of my favorite songs on the album were either its opening track Time For Some Action because I love that it introduced what the whole album was based on and that was the concept of seeing music as colors, being so affected by music that it also manifested itself visually to you. It sounded magical to me and it was something I understood. I also loved the song Love Bomb and I thought the track You Know What summed up the end of relationships perfectly for me. Musically You Know What is probably one of my all time favorite songs.

As a whole this album is what opened up my eyes to just how experimental you can be with music. It showed me that there are no boundaries and that there is no right or wrong with mixing genres. I don’t think I would be the same artist I am today without having been affected by this album the way I was when I first fell in love with it.

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RAINY MILO