Today, Zane Lowe dropped an interviews for his Beats 1 radio show that accompanies release of N*E*R*D's brand new collaboration with Frank Ocean and Kendrick Lamar:
. @NERDarmy x @kendricklamar.#DontDontDoIt!
Hear it Wednesday:
9AM LA / 12PM NYC / 5PM LDN #WorldRecordhttps://t.co/Mb2YQmljlO pic.twitter.com/pCYub8Qk0A
— Beats 1 (@Beats1) December 12, 2017
The collaborative track, "Don't Do It!" appears on NO_ONE EVER REALLY DIES, N*E*R*D's first new album in seven years, out December 15. Speaking to Lowe, Pharrell said the song was inspired by a news report he watched about Keith Lamont Scott, a man with a traumatic brain injury who was killed by police in North Carolina last September.
"His wife is standing trying to get him, the authorities tell her to stand back," Pharrell said, as he explained watching the footage of police killing Lamont. "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.' 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."
Pharrell then spoke on choosing Lamar to collaborate on the track. "Who better to enlist to help us communicate that feeling and that notion than Kendrick Lamar?"
Listen to "Don't Do It!" below:
Image via Getty