N.E.R.D. - Provider

Artist: N.E.R.D.

Song: Provider

Album: In Search Of… (2001)

The acronym N.E.R.D. stands for "No One Ever Really Dies," but childhood friends Chad Hugo, Pharrell Williams, and Shay most certainly used the group to proudly emphasize the nerdier aspects of their musical personalities. Before this side project took shape, Hugo and Williams -- as the Neptunes -- had established themselves as giants in the field of pop production, whether they were working with hardcore rappers, smooth crooners, or teen pop groups. Although their faces were known to many due to this prominence, N.E.R.D. allowed the duo to take center stage, as rock stars, even if a new alias was being used.

The trio recorded its first album, In Search Of..., and released it in Europe in late 2001.

“Provider” was the third and final single from the album. It managed to gain minor popularity in Europe, making the charts in the Netherlands and Sweden. In the UK, it was released as a double a-side with a re-release of "Lapdance," peaking at #20.

The video opens with two girls and a guy in a truck, the guy asking the two if they remember a guy named Shagg. Pharrell and Chad ride around with a bike gang interspersed with scenes of a young man (Brad Renfro) struggling to make ends meet and his pregnant girlfriend (Kelli Garner). She suggests he apply to the military, which he angrily rejects but reluctantly does. The video ends with Pharrell wearing cammo and holding a little girl displaying the peace sign with other children around him doing the same. Tony Hawk and Travis Barker make a cameo in a convenience store scene, while Pusha T of the Clipse appears as a drug dealer.

Woke up I had the same clothes on I had on last night
Damn
I must have passed out
And cash is just like the clothes I worn yesterday
We are broke
Damn
I gotta get my ass out
I went to see what my friend was talking about
Drugs
He told me cocaine would get you clout
My momma said he's trouble and schools my route
But I went to high school and got kicked out
So I'm driving this truck down the 95
I pray to God I make it home alive
I don't get pulled over by the man
I just want to make it home to hold your hand

Chorus

Goodbye beloved one
Do you know what I am
If you don't see my face no more
I'm a provider girl, gotta face the streets tonight
Goodbye beloved one
Do you know what I am
You don't see my face no more
I'm a rider, girl gotta face the streets tonight
You say you don't want me to go but I have to
Please don't weep
I love you

I refuse to be a bum
Especially coming where I'm from
I'm a provider girl
And I love you
So it's just like I said before
Heading down 95
Dodging Johnny law
I don't need a ticket though I never got one
If he pulls me over
He can feel my shotgun
I think about life pull down my hat
It's just like this road I don't know where I'm at
I don't want to be another cocaine story
Will I find my sanity
Where I find my glory

Come on
Repeat Chorus
Someday, Someday, this will be over
We'll raise a family
I'll get a job and I'll be a voter
And if I die
It will change you
Change you
I watch over a family
But only as an angel
So don't tell me you don't know what you see
When you're looking at a motherfucker just like me
I'm a provider girl
I said don't tell me you don't know what you see
When you're looking at a motherfucker just like me
I'm a rider girl

Repeat Chorus

I love you girl
I'm doing this for us
I don't know any better
What am I supposed to do
Nothing I love you