N.E.R.D. released their latest album No_One Ever Really Dies on December 15, the day which ended up being one of the biggest for Hip-Hop in 2017 with new releases from Eminem, Jeezy, G-Eazy and more. One of the standouts on the album was the song ‘Don’t Do It‘ featuring Kendrick Lamar Lamar on the guest verse.
As Pharrell revealed to Zane Lowe during the song’s premiere on Beats 1 radio, the intro to the song was penned by Frank Ocean but sung by Skateboard P. But today, an alternate version, which we are assuming is the demo one, has surfaced on the internet courtesy hacker group Music Mafia. On this particular version, Frank Ocean can be heard singing the melodic intro instead of Pharrell.
The track was originally inspired by Keith Scott, who was killed during a fatal run-in with the police last year. “She’s filming the entire thing on her camera phone. She is saying ‘Don’t do it. Don’t don’t do it. Don’t do it Keith. Don’t don’t do it,’” Pharrell said. “She’s telling the authorities that her husband has a TBI, that’s a Traumatic Brain Injury. They’re telling him to put his hands up or whatever and she knows, you can tell in her voice that she see what’s going to happen. She’s saying ‘Don’t do it. Don’t do it Keith. Don’t don’t do it.’ And of course you know the way that turned out, he was killed.”
It was announced yesterday and N.E.R.D. will take the stage at the 2018 NBA All-Star Weekend at Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 18 to perform a medley of hits.